The VA Creeper Trail

I finally got around to riding the VA Creeper trail. While I enjoyed the trip, I didn't really enjoy the trail itself. Between Abingdon and Damascus, the trail was a disgusting mix of stagnant water and horse/cow poop. From Damascus to the NC state line, I was going against the traffic. And the "traffic" was hundreds of folks who weren't paying attention to where they were going. I was run off the trail four times! Also, it was 18 miles of 2-3% uphill. That's the kind of uphill that will grind you down slowly. There was no coasting at all for three hours. I stayed at "The Place" in Damascus both nights. It was fun talking to this year's group of thruhikers. I saw a girl named Bookworm, who I have met several times (four?) before. She must have the worst memory ever. There were two other guys there, each of whom had met her before. One guy hung out with her for several days just a month ago. She didn't recognize anyone. Now, I know all thruhikers look alike, but how much time do you have to spend with a person to at least recognize them? All in all, it was a fun trip. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and do the Skyline Drive / Blue Ridge Parkway trip. Wish me luck!

Toys

Got my fancy new bike trailer today. Assembled it, put some slick tires on Amy (my 1996 Klein Pulse mountainbike), loaded the trailer with 20 lbs or so, and took it all for a test ride. Wheee!!! Good fun. Got a flat tire on the trailer, though. Next weekend I'm going to head up to Virginia and do an out-back ride on the Virginia Creeper trail. If I enjoy myself, I'll make final plans to ride the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Benefits of unemployment: Time. Drawbacks of unemployment: Declining bank account balances.

Adventures

A few years ago I read a book of famous quotations. One of them was a quote from Mark Twain where he said "20 years from now, you'll regret the stuff you didn't do more than the stuff you did." It struck me as a good quote. I wanted to start doing stuff. Having adventures. Seeing strange sights. Meeting strange people. So I set out to have at least one good/daring adventure per year. In 2000, I did an eleven day/134 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. In 2001, I hiked the entire trail in 193 days. In 2002, I climbed Mt. Rainier. In 2003, I went skydiving. In 2004, I left my former employer, but I haven't really done much else. I've been training for triathlons, reading, learning how to cook, and hanging out with my girlfriend. But how adventurous is any of that? I need an adventure. I'm going to go for a bike ride. A long one.