Day 9: Stick me with a fork..

My Momma always said when you can see the underside of the leaves, it's gonna rain.  It did.  sometime overnight it started and it was still going when I woke up.  I wanted to leave by 7, and considered waiting to see if the rain would let up.  I decided, instead, to put on my Elmer Fudd orange rain jacket and dig in.  I was done today, in every sense.  Physically, mentally, emotionally, I was done and wanted to go home.  Or at least finish riding and see my wife and daughter again.

I rode in the rain most of the morning.  This cut into my average MPH, because I couldnt' scream down the mountains.  Visibility was just aweful and traction would be questionable as well.  I didn't care.  Get me home, no mater how slow.  Heck, if someone in a truck took pity on the wet cyclist and offered me a ride to Front Royal, I would have thrown the bike in the back even if he were wearing a hockey mask.

One good thing about the early start was the wildlife sightings.  On the Blue Ridge Parkway, the animals are a little more skittish, being so close to people all of the time.  Here on the Skyline Drive, they are protected, unhunted and fearless.  I saw a rafter (bunch) of turkeys walking along a stone wall early on.  They jumped off the minute I stopped to take a picture.  I got a couple of great shots of deer right next to the road at Big Meadows.  One of them was 5 feet away from me and didn't even look up when I took her picture. (where's my compound bow??)  the kicker was around milepost 8, at the end of the day.  BEAR #2.  I was blazing down a mountain (rain had stopped) and there he was, getting ready to cross the road.  I said a few ungentlemanly words and hoped he didn't try to cross.  At that speed, with a loaded bike there was NO WAY I could have dodged him.  I think he heard me and took offense, because he skedattled the other way at the last moment.

I knew I had 3 big hills for the day.  Experience told me I should rest often (see day 4), but I just wanted to be done.  My only stop for the day was at Elkwallow Wayside for lunch.  I even splurged and got onion rings with my burger  :)  I knew I just had to make it to milepost 6, after that it was one last downhill to the entrance.  Those last 6 miles were an ear-to-ear grin as I knew I had made it.  My butt hurt, my knees were sore again, but I was DONE!  I made it.  500 miles.  Woo Hoo!  The only complaint was that I couldn't find anyone to take my picture at the entrance in Front Royal.  Once again, we get a shot of my bike, like  it did the ride without me  :)

Last ThrillCam of the trip.  About 7:30 in the morning, riding in the rain and fog.

There's no zoom on this one, I was right next to Bambi.

Okay, I had to zoom on this one.  There were about a dozen deer just grazing away, right next to the road.  I snapped this one because of the coat rack on his head.

Finally stopped raining around 11ish.  Down below, maybe a different story.

Skyline Lodge Entrance.  It's only about 9:00 in the morning.  No reason to stop.

The bike finished the ride without me, that's why I'm not in the picture.  I was still about 15 miles up the Drive looking for a lift.

503 miles, though you can add about 7 more miles to that for the booze run in  Roanoke and the gremlins on day 8.

58 miles on the last day and a respectable average considering the 3 big hills for the day.

I know it's a weird last shot.  I wore sandals the whole way, you can see my suntan from the last 9 days.