Friday, June 9, 2023
Waynesboro, VA ->Lexington, VA
40 miles. 1800 ft elevation gain.
Hi all, this is Lucy with my first blog post of the trip! Today was a (thankfully) short ride since it's my fourth day riding in a row. Fortified with overnight oats and trail mix, we left Francine's house around 7:20 while there was still some chill in the air. We started out on route 11 but fortunately didn't have to deal with much traffic before turning onto quieter back roads. The smoke was better today so we could enjoy the views of surrounding hills and fields. We passed quite a few tobacco fields, cows, railroads, and streams. I love rural places and quiet towns--feels much more like home than DC. I've been listening to the Sherlock Holmes books on my rides (mostly because I could download them all as one 60 hour chunk and can listen without service), and they've been really entertaining. They remind me a little of the James Herriot books because they're easy listening and transport you to a unique place with an amusing cast of characters. We reached our new hosts before lunch(the ride was ~3/4 of a Sherlock Holmes book). After our ride, the bike team just relaxed in the shade.
It was nice to be able to sit for a little after days filled with so much activity. The team had lunch, unloaded, and met our wonderful hosts Dirk and Chrissy (and their friendly Golden Retriever named Roxy) then Kat, Andrew, and I headed into Lexington to look around.
We walked around Washington and Lee University which was very pretty--the red brick and white columns are iconic. A professor of chemistry even saw our somewhat lost looks and told us some good spots. Ice cream (the pinnacle of sports nutrition) was acquired, and then we looked around the art galleries in Lexington. Lexington is a great town, unexpectedly artsy and tourist friendly. Mostly Kat and I enjoyed the galleries (paintings, sculptures, jewelry, oh my) while Andrew grabbed a power nap.
We figured we should get Andrew to a real bed, so the rest of the afternoon we stayed at Dirk and Chrissy's. I've been capturing video throughout the trip and spent the afternoon preparing this video. Check it out! (https://youtu.be/ChNgmURm8hY) I would love feedback since there are many more hours of video and editing in my future. I went to bed early, excited for sleep and my rest day (i.e my turn to drive) Saturday.
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