Monday April 25, 2016, 31 miles(49.9 km)
Had a good early start. The route was along country roads and started out hilly but not too steep or long of hills. I passed through an area with several peach orchards. Many of the orchards had a very untimely frost this spring and will have little if any crop. I stopped at the one shown below, too early for any local fruit but I did get a couple apple cider donuts. They were very good.
 |
| Peach Orchard |
After leaving the orchard the route became much hillier with much more up than down. Along the way I found a few clumps of the flowers pictured below on one hill, I had not seen any like them before or since along the route.
 |
| Wildflowers |
After a long (about 3.5 miles) uphill climb I finally got to the top of Afton mountain and was on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
 |
| Blue Ridge Parkway Entry Sign |
Along the Parkway there are several overlooks allowing views of the valleys below. Between each there would a saddle between mountains, thus my ride was a combination of slow 2.5-3.5 mph climb followed by a short exhilarating 30+ mph downhill run.
 |
| Overview Sign |
 |
| Valley View |
At the Humpback Rocks Visitors Center, which was not open for the season yet, they had a very nice azalea pictured below.
 |
| Azaleas |
Pictured below are more views along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
 |
| View |
 |
| Balanced Rock |
 |
| Overlook |
 |
| View |
 |
| Overlook Sign |
 |
| Valley View |
After cycling 16 miles along the Parkway I camped at Royal Oaks Cabins in Love, Virginia which offers camping spots cyclists and hikers. They have very nice cabins, a small store, and seasonal deli. It was a very nice place to stay with a friendly owner but not so good of internet.
Great pictures! Sounds like a hard day but you can't beat the scenery.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Almost feels like I am there with you.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I believe the red flowers in your second photo are Fire Pinks.
ReplyDelete