Day 63 – One Last Dog Story

By Mark Heggestad
Today’s bike ride was 80.3 miles from Wytheville, VA to Catawba, VA.  It was another great day.  Scenery was beautiful, but cannot compare to the Appalachian’s of the past couple days.  Weather was good.  Road conditions and traffic were good.  I biked through a couple small cities (Radford and Christiansburg), so that slows me down a little.  There were hills, but a gentler kind: shorter and not as steep as previous days.  With that said, I did climb enough hills today to accumulate 5,213 feet of ascent.  That marks the eighth day in a row I have climbed more than 5,000 feet, or a mile straight up.

It was just a really nice peaceful ride today.  I love the gentle (gentler, ok, not quite as hard) hills, and the scenery.  It was about as stress-free as it gets.

It has been bothering me that I spent so much time in my previous blog posts complaining about the dogs of eastern Kentucky.  I love dogs; in fact I have been missing our black lab (Tess) while on this long journey.  Yet if you read my blog, in 63 days of travel my only mention of dogs is my grumbling about the scary dogs of Kentucky.

While on my peaceful ride today I came across a young couple biking the TransAmerica route from east to west.   They were resting in the shade at the top of a hill, so I pulled over to talk.  Their names are Wyatt and Jessie, and it was a pleasure to talk with them.  They actually started their journey in Pennsicola, FL and then traveled up to Yorktown, VA to catch the TransAmerica route.  Once they get to Oregon they are continuing their bike trip along the west coast.  Whereas my trip will be around 4,100 miles, by the time they finish they will have biked around 6,500 miles.  This trip is part of a move for them from Florida to the west coast.  What an adventure!  They are completely self-supported, so their bikes are loaded down with all the essentials required to make the trip.  But the thing that really impressed me about this smiling adventuresome couple was they also had their dog along.  Not a small dog – a large dog patiently sitting in a two-wheel cart attached to Wyatt’s bike.  His name is Indie.  I could see his great personality in his reactions.  It was a joy to be able to pet a dog that is so friendly and shows so much appreciation for a little attention.  After the dog hassles of east Kentucky it was great to have a chance to connect to a good dog owned by great owners.  Good luck to Wyatt, Jessie, and Indie in their travels!  And thanks for giving me a good reason to write one last dog story.

Indie - a great dog.
6,500 miles across the U.S. behind a bike.

Looking back on the Appalachians.

Crossing the New River as I enter Radford, VA.

Typical road biked today.

Another road biked today.


Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 3, 2017 at 4:27 AM

    Nice pic of the dog in the trailer! Keep up the hill climbing -- 5000 ft for 8 straight days. Also, great pics from today and yesterday....the VA roads are very scenic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blessed Beyond MeasureJuly 3, 2017 at 8:47 PM

      Thanks John. I can't get over the dog in a trailer. Can you imagine pulling that up mountains?

      Delete
  2. UnknownJuly 3, 2017 at 5:18 AM

    You must be on your last map or close to it!! Enjoy the day:)

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    Replies
    1. Blessed Beyond MeasureJuly 3, 2017 at 8:53 PM

      Thanks Jacki. I am indeed on the last of twelve maps. Jill says you are a "mapster" like her!

      Delete
  3. its jessJuly 4, 2017 at 11:28 AM

    Thanks for sharing your blog with us! Much fun reading what lies ahead from someone else's perspective. And Indy says "thanks for the all the pets and head scratches!" Looking forward to seeing you cross the finish line! Good luck!
    Jessie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blessed Beyond MeasureJuly 4, 2017 at 9:32 PM

      Thanks Jessie. It was great to meet the two of you (and Indy) yesterday. Enjoy the journey and safe travels.

      Delete
  4. UnknownJuly 4, 2017 at 1:00 PM

    I loved the Indi pic! How cool to bring along your companion! Mark, I used to travel for work at least a few times a year to Radford (Radford Army Ammunition Plant - part of ATK) and we usually stayed in Christiansburg - college town, more to do. It's a beautiful area and the people are so friendly. Crazy dogs though it sounds!

    ReplyDelete

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