Trish & Phill's Tandem TransAmerican

Tour 2003 

May 13th Afton - Mallard Duck (West of Vesuvius)

We said good by to the Cookie Lady this morning and set off with fresh cooked biscuits she had made us. She is an increasable woman with a heart of gold. I thought we had just about peaked the mountain when we stopped at her house last night WRONG ! We climbed on and on and on.

Look at the road in the background (huge hill)

There is a roadway that basically runs across the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Problem is they haven't leveled out the gaps between one peak and the next so as you can imagine there was a huge climb nearly all day.

The highlight of the day was to see a couple of deers on the road in front of us. They walked across the road about 100 metres from us. We also saw eagles, ground hogs and incredibly a copperhead snake (poisonous) Trish had taken a call of nature in the woods not far from were we had seen the snake so it shows us we have to be very careful in these parts.

The weather was warm about 75'-80' F , but the wind was always with us, mostly in the wrong direction.  The ride was so pretty that even the torturous ride could not take away the pleasure of the day.

At the end of the section we descend into Vesuvius. That involves dropping about 1600 feet in 4 miles or so. The road is swish back bends with incredible steep slopes. We had the Drum brake on the bike and also the handbrakes on most of the way. I kept the speed down to about 15 miles/hour. Unfortunately because of the heat from the rims of front wheel the front tyre must have built up pressure inside the tyre, as we rounded a bend the tyre blew out and down we went.

Trish grazed her hand and bruised her hip, I cut my hand slightly and pinched my finger some how.

Now the problems started. I changed the tyre and tube and limped into camp, slowly. The new tube was leaking slowly and so I pulled out the spare tube to find it was a shraider valve too large to fit into my wheel. OK, so I will patch the leak, only to find the repair kit is missing the tube of glue. How I ever missed that before I set off on this ride is beyond me. Ok so I will use some glue off one of the other riders. Her glue has gone off and the stuff does not set. In the end I use the tube I borrowed from the leader (Larry) to get me to Lexington Bike shop tomorrow.

On top of all this it's our turn to cook. The guy who owns the camp site runs us to the local store about Four miles away to get food. He was driving a beat up Ford F150 Ute (truck) dressed in demin and had a beard. He tells me he is a part time farmer and is proud to show me his field and livestock as we drive past. He hunted beers in these parts for 35 years before he became a Christian.

Page owned & maintained by Trish Collins email to  trishphill@aapt.net.au.  Last Updated 28/07/2003