Day 8 - Troutville, VA to Christiansburg, VA

Thursday April 28, 2016, 48.4 miles(77.9 km)

The ride today was mostly on quiet country roads. Like most days in Virginia it was hilly with over 4000 feet of climbing but spread over 48 miles it was not bad.  Like many days it was a little foggy in the morning but cleared quickly except at the higher elevations as you can see in the photo below.

View of Countryside

I have noticed many abandoned buildings along the ride.  Some that looked like they were quite nice homes at one time and others like the one pictured below where the original purpose is not apparent.  Probably some type of farm outbuilding.

Old Abandoned Building

There are many large cattle farms in the area.

View of Countryside

And also quite a few horse farms.

Goat Farm oops Equestrian Center Mail Box Post

I have notice a few barns in the area with quilt patterns on them.  The one pictured below had a total of three as there is another on the other end and the road turns so the other end of the barn is next to the road.

Barn Quilts

This herd of deer raced be down a long field.  I won as the finish line was on the other side of the fence and they stopped before reaching it,  I didn't, I crossed the finish line. :-)

Racing Deer

The highway went through this narrow viaduct under railroad tracks.  I had to take a few photos of it. (It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places)

Riding Through An Old Railroad Underpass

Christiansburg seemed to be a nice town.  Very hilly to get to it and very hilly in the city it self.  First city on the route that I have seen signs welcoming cyclists.

It Feels Good To Be Welcome :-)

This day represents a sort of milestone.  I have reached the end of the first map for the route.  The TransAmerica route has 12 maps and they are organized west to east but as I am traveling east to west I can now retire Map 12.  Yay!!