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Blue Ridge & Shenandoah Tour
Day 2 Front Royal to Big Meadows

We ate breakfast at a Howard Johnson's restaurant across the street from our motel.  After breakfast, we packed up our gear and rode through Front Royal to the Northern entrance to Shenandoah National Park.  We paid the $5 fee and entered the park.

A 105 mile long road named Skyline Drive runs through the Park from Font Royal in the North to Rock Fish Gap (near Waynesboro) in the South.  The National Park Service prohibits commercial trucks.  Prior to the trip, I read of cyclists having problems with RV's.  But, we never had any bad experiences with them.  Traffic was relatively light.

Immediately upon entering the park I noticed the lush vegetation and the sounds of the birds and insects.  We met a couple riding a tandem at the Dickey Ridge visitor's center near the 4 mile mark.  Skyline Drive climbs steadily up to where Dickey Ridge meets the Blue Ridge near the 10 mile marker at Compton Gap.  

We met a large group of cyclists on racing bikes.  It seamed unusual to me at the time that they were all black.  Riding around New England, I occasionally meet black cyclists at on the road or at local centuries.  However, the sport is overwhelmingly white.  I can't ever recall seeing so many black cyclists in one place before.  This is a good thing as our sport could use a little diversity.   I got talking to some of these guys while riding.  They were all from a bike club out of Baltimore on an annual outing to Skyline Drive.  These guys were all very strong and dropped me and my loaded like a stone on the next big climb.  

After Compton Gap, Skyline Drive continues it's steady climb along the Blue Ridge up to Hogback Overlook at 3385 feet.

Overlook
Dave stops at an overlook

 Skyline drive has many scenic overlooks.  All overlooks have signs describing the view and interesting features of the area.  Climbing Skyline Drive with a loaded bike is very doable on provided you have a triple chain ring.  For most of the day, I plodded along at a steady 6 to 7 miles an hour.
We descended over 900 feet to our lunch stop at Elkwallow Wayside.  After lunch, we continued on to Thorton Gap. We waved to the some of the black cyclists who were taking a break on the roadside.   After Thorton Gap, we passed through Mary's Rock Tunnel.  The 10 mile section between the tunnel and Skyland Lodge contained the steepest climbing of the day. 

Tunnel
Mary's Rock Tunnel

I caught up with Steve, at a sign announcing the highest point of Skyline Drive (3,680 feet).  Since we were across the road from the Skyland complex, Steve and I stopped in for a a snack.

There were no major climbs between Skyland and Big Meadows.  However, by this time  I was getting tired.  We only cycled 60 miles. None of the climbs were especially steep.  Yet, the cumulative effect of all those hours we spent climbing with a loaded bike wore me down.  We would climb for two hours and descend for fifteen minutes followed by another two hours of climbing.   By the time I got to the entrance of the Big Meadows complex, I just wanted to get off the bike.  That last mile to the lodge seemed to last forever.  Every little rise seemed steeper than it really was.   As I arrived at the lodge, a deer walked across the road right in front of me.  Things were looking up.

Big Meadows lodge is very nice.  The lodge is built with built with native wood planking and stonework.  The place is very rustic and charming.

I got out of my stinky bike clothes and took a nice hot shower.   I suddenly felt like a new man.  I grabbed my camera and took some photos of the deer browsing in front of the lodge. 

Deer
A doe feeds outside Big Meadows lodge.

 I was able to approach within 10 feet of the doe on the left.  I also took some pictures of a fawn.  But, the fawn wouldn't let me get nearly as close.  The doe was obviously used to humans with cameras.  She was not the least bit threatened by my presence. 

Dave had still not arrived as we gathered for supper in restaurant at the lodge.  We were not alarmed by his absence. Dave's style of touring requires him to stop and look at everything.  And I mean everything!   This is probably why he always comes home with really cool pictures like the Monarch butterfly on the right.  Dave is an expert bike mechanic and the most self-reliant member of our group.   Dave has this way of showing up just in the nick of time.  Tonight was no exception.  Dave appeared outside the lodge just as our waitress finished taking our order.

Butterfly
Monarch butterfly
(Dave Baumgartner Photo)

After supper we went downstairs to the lounge.  This guy was singing old folk songs.  I remembered some of these songs from my grade school music classes.  The guy's singing was OK.  But, he rambled endlessly between songs.  There was a card on the table advertising some "moonshine" drinks.   I'm not a big whiskey drinker.  But, I decided to to the tourist thing.  I ordered a round.  I didn't notice anything special about these drinks.  Steve skeptically asked our waitress if they were made with "real" moonshine.  She replied, "If we served you real moonshine, it would kill you".   The performance mercifully ended and we retired to our rooms for the night.

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