Changing Gears: Rey's Ride Across America

July 21st — Pippa Passes , KY to Rosedale, VA — 101 Miles We met the VA border around 11:30 a.m. Yeah! We still have a long way to go: around 420 miles left with 4 days to cover them. Today the grades on the climbs were very severe, averaging over 8% to 15% in some spots, which will give any rider fits in getting over the top of them. It feels great to be in my home state, of course, and I feel like we have accomplished so much getting to this point in the trip. We need to stay focused for the next 3 days, and I should have some buddies joining me in a few days to make the last 2 days more enjoyable.

Tomorrow will be more climbing as we reach 3,000 ft. I look forward to the end of the mountains and the beginning of flatter terrain and lower elevations as we get closer to the ocean. The scenery here is awesome with the mountains getting much larger and elevations reaching 5,000 ft. I'm seeing mountain goats in the lush green mountain pastures with larger mountain summits in the backround. It's beautiful country in southwest Virginia. 8 hours on the bike today.