Conquering Virginia

Since I last wrote we have crossed state lines. However, it didn't happen without an adventure. Yesterday we woke up at our site and when going to put my bike together I noticed the piece to my front wheel was nowhere to be found. Obviously a great start to the day. After riding shotgun with Davis and letting Cameron knock out 50 miles with Evan we moved his piece to my bike so I could knock out the next 50. What had been a great day up to this point was going to end with being lost in the West Virginian wilderness with no service and cars that don't stop for stranded bikers. Evan was pretty determined to get to the state line before dark so we were throwing down a difficult pace in the mountains that had me wanting to bust out a wheelchair at the end of the ride. Upon reaching the border before dark we realized we had no service and no way of contacting Davis and Cameron. After sending multiple maps and both people going in circles it began to get cold and dark. To sum things up it wasn't until 10pm that we were found and able to finally get dinner and a bed. If you're wondering if I was frustrated, that would be the understatement of the century. I thought I was about to be bear dinner or West Virginian cannibal dinner. Let me just say if I'm gonna die, it will be in the great nation of Texas.

This morning we got a late start due to getting in bed late and things took off smoothly...right until I got on the bike. We still haven't found a store for the part I need so we're doing a lot of bike rotating. We probably won't find a part till we find a larger city along the way. When I got on to ride I popped my front tire within about 10 miles. We had to go ahead and change both tires because my spare was bigger than the ones I already had on my bike. After that we climbed a mountain, in the rain, going the wrong way. After going back down to get to our turn we had to climb another mountain that was gravel so I picked my bike up and walked it for over a mile (because the last thing I wanted was another popped tire and no spares). We have come to the conclusion that bad things only happen when it's Evan and I riding and even more so to me personally. The mileage isn't as exhausting as I thought it would be but the scenarios are beginning to be pretty frustrating. As a matter of fact, it's raining outside as I'm typing this.

Tomorrow is our last day in West Virginia and Tuesday we'll cross into Kentucky. Praying for less difficulty and a bike shop in the near future.