It’s taken a while for me to update my trip as I’ve been getting used to the schedule of biking everyday. We’ve also hit a few spots with no wifi or cell service (ehem West Virginia). Anyway I’ll attempt at updating this with my trip so far. As of this post I am situated in Summersville, West Virginia. Leaving for Charles Town, WV tomorrow.

After two days in Yorktown, VA spent gearing up for the trip and getting to know my fellow riders, we set off on our long journey. We rode down to the beach to do the customary wheel dip in the Atlantic where my parents, brother and buddy Mark were waiting to see me off. Here are some pics from the event:

with the fam-

 

 

it got real rainy…

 

 

My buddy Mark

 

The crew (we roll deep)-

After the wheel dip our trek officially began, armed with our turn-by-turn cue sheets, water bottles, snacks, and water bladders full.  Oh..and rain jackets on. Because not long after we set off the skies opened up… like monsoon style. It was pretty intense downpour for a while but it was actually a lot of fun to ride in. It was one of those “is it even possible to rain this hard??” moments. But hey, getting rid of the rain early right? Not really. It rained on us on and off for the first 3 days or so; it was nice when we finally didn’t have to begin the day with our rain jackets on.

That being said the trip has been absolutely phenomenal so far. Its been really cool going from the flat vastness of the coast and piedmont to the Appalachian Mountains! We’re also taking back roads for the most part (not the quickest but definitely the most beautiful way to go). We’ve ridden through endless wheat fields, historical site like Colonial James Town, and the high rolling mountains of the good ol’ Blue Ridge which I was fortunate enough to grow up in. The flatter areas have been great because you can travel fast without the hills, but I was really excited to get into the mountains. They are not disappointing! Our first real day in the mountains was a big one- 90 miles, 9000 vertical feet gain, in temperatures nears 90 degrees. It was a day full of 9’s and 0’s. But so much fun. The views were spectacular, the climbs long and steep and the downhills a superb rush. The past couple days have been pretty consistent at around 75 miles and just over 5000 feet of gain. Loving it. Here are some more pics from the east. 

  Getting into the Appalachian Mointains!!-

Art exhibit in Charlottesville, VA

Old buddy I ran into on the Blue Ridge Parkway! Crazy cool-

First state crossing-

Sunrise in West Virginia-

Scenic route through the Blue Ridge-

Till next time

Lucas 

As you all know, mainly from the constant Facebook posts, I have been raising money and getting ready to bike across the country through an organization call Bike and Build. I will be biking with 28 others, non of whom I know, to raise awareness for affordable housing. Along our route, which goes from Yorktown, VA to Cannon Beach, OR, we will be making 11 different stops specifically to help an organization build an affordable house.

That said, the past few weeks have been consumed with getting ready for this endeavor. I had an idea for a prosthetic and once I spoke with a doctor I realized just how much it would cost (original estimate of $1200). I laughed when I herd the number, as I could buy a freaking pony with that, and asked if I could just buy the cast molding or half of it, and I’d Jerry-rig the rest. However, after starting a Gofundme page and talking the price down a bit, I was able to make it happen with the full prosthetic! I’ve been able to use it a bit and it works quite well; especially for taking the excessive stress off the left side of my back. Thank you so much to all who have donated to that! I am definitely blessed it worked out. Pretty sweet!

I have also needed to ride a lot as we have a 500 mile pre trip requirement. This has been filled with long rides in Colorado, as I was living there, and rides back in North Carolina. One ride in particular was when my buddy, Mark, and I decided to attempt to ride the entire Blue Ridge Parkway, all 469 miles and roughly 66,000 overall feet of vertical climbing ….in 5 days. We were under a time crunch because we couldn’t get a ride to the northern terminal but my dad just so happened to be coming back from the area for a business trip at the time. Mark was also taking vacation so he had to make the trip quick. Well after just two days, 94 miles and almost 10,000 feet we decided to call it quits because of pain in a knee I was nursing and we were a little (a lot) behind schedule. Well, it was still an amazing experience and one I’m sure we will be back to tackle. Here was Mark’s tan line aftermath of that trip:

and another from the parkway:

 

So we’ve been biking around town a lot to get more miles. I find it quite easy to get vertical gain around here. Here’s one from when we biked up to Jump Off Rock, as we’ve done a few times, a good climb in my hometown.

Now I’m just getting packed and ready to head out to Virginia! I’ll be driving up there for a two day orientation where I’ll meet all of the other riders and then we’ll be off. We’ll be starting the journey from Yorktown, VA around 9 am on Saturday the 21st if anyone wants to come out!

I’ll be updating this blog once or twice a week over the course of the summer so follow my trip here! Thanks again to all who have donated.

Here’s my new sweet bike with the prosthetic:

Until next time,

Lucas