Day 13 - Saturday, May 23
Start - Damascus, VA
End - Council, VA
Miles (on the route) - 50.5
Miles (total) - 58.55
Avg Spd - 9.4mph
Max Spd - 40mph
Total Ride Time - 6:11
Got a late start in the morning, talking with some of the campers and doing laundry at the laundromat. I had breakfast at the diner across the street while waiting for the wash and it gave me time to further observe this town of Damascus. It was definitely different from the other smaller towns out here. With a population of only 980, I didn't expect much going on or much money in the town. But looking around, all the locals at Fatties the night before were very well dressed and drove nice cars. And looking around this morning, none of the vehicles are the older worn down trucks and beat up cars I've been seeing in many of these smaller towns. I guess some people must be doing alright here with the tourism.
While leaving Damascus I took a wrong turn and briefly went off course. Nothing too bad, just a few miles out of my way. It was another day of frequent climbing. Not much on my travels this day, more horse farms but not much in the way of towns. I came to what turned out to be my most challenging climb so far. The mountain climb just after Hayter's Gap was 4.3 miles straight up the side. All you can do is just put it into the lowest gear and keep turning the wheel. It's a bit discouraging to look at the cyclocomputer and see you are only moving about 4mph, and someone could easily walk right beside you and chat while you sweat your way up the mountainside, but it's all you can do. Every turn leaves you hoping for sign of the top, but it took over an hour for that satisfaction. I caught up with Jed and Sean (from Chicago) again at Rosedale and decided to ride with them to Council where we could camp in the town park. Several more climbs, and several more nerve racking steep winding downhills, got us there just as dusk was setting in. We set up the tents by a pavillion, cooked some dinner, and talked for a few hours sharing stories of what we had going on before the trip and what we think we'll do afterwards. They seemed pretty set on going back to Chicago and their previous jobs, and Jed has a girlfriend there so that pretty much settles that. I'm still trying to keep an open mind and not make any plans, but I think I know what direction I may go.