Days 10 and 11

Day 10: Blacksburg, VA to Wytheville, VA, about 62 miles.  I've figured out how to reset my speedometer so now I can get more accurate mileages than reading the map.  Started the day going along the Huckleberry Trail between Blacksburg and Christiansburg.  Christiansburg marks the border between sections 11 and 12 of the TransAmerica Bike Trail, a significant milestone.  I had an awesome lunch in a town called Drapers, a country style buffet where I loaded up on mac & cheese.  One of the workers there claimed that he and a friend initially started the Huckleberry Trail.  My own waiter was an awesome guy who wants to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) next year.  As I was leaving, I saw the Penn State group go past.  Joined up with them for the rest of the day and camped out in a city park in Wytheville.  We ran into another cross country cyclist at the park.  One of the Penn State guys' dad came from North Carolina to meet us and got us all dinner at a Chinese buffet.  I eat so many calories from all the cycling, so buffets are great.  I am often still hungry after two full meals.

Day 11: Wytheville, VA to Damascus, VA, about 58 miles.  Finally hit the point where we can stop moving south and start heading west.  The day started out badly.  My joints were in pain, from my right Achilles tendon to my left knee.  Strong headwinds and rolling hills made me feel that I would need to take a short day.  We made it to an awesome Amish country store at Rural Retreat that fueled me for the rest of the day.  There was a big mountain between Sugar Grove and Damascus, Mount Rogers, which looking at the map had me feeling nervous about whether I would make it.  It turns out that the mountain was one of the best parts of the trip.  Less steep than the little country hills throughout Virginia, low traffic, and lots of forests on both sides of the road.  After a relatively easy ascent, we had a beautiful descent through wooded switchbacks next to a stream, where I would often exceed the speed limit on my bike.  The bottom of the mountain put me right into Damascus, an awesome town where cyclists meet hikers on the AT, where we stayed at a mixed hiker/biker hostel.