Jen's Bike Blog: Excellent.

I enjoyed my road ride today. WOW, can you believe I just said that? Amazing I know. I was dreading today. I didn't want to ride alone, much less road bike alone. I was having a hard time getting motivated to plan a route since I always seem to ride the same places and have to endure the idiots behind the steering wheels. I figured the trails would be a sloppy, soupy mess since we were soaked with rain this week, so if I wanted to ride it was going to have to be skinny tires.

My dear friend, Tim offered to meet up with me for a ride. I am so glad he did. He's an extraordinary rider and could leave me behind if he wanted; but time and again he's taken his time to ride with me. I love riding with him because he knows all of these cool places to ride. Today would be no exception. I met up with him at Hotel Roanoke, well the Link Museum and we headed up Mill Mountain. Amazingly, I climbed it without feeling like I was going to die or roll backwards back down the road. Once we arrived at the Parkway, we debated going towards Rt 24 which would be a route I've ridden many times before. I wanted to do something different so I asked where we would end up if we went the other way. Off we went. This was a great decision because not only did I get to ride a section of the Parkway that I've not ridden before, but I learned where most of the bailout points are along the way. This section of the Parkway was recently paved so the added bonus of smooth asphalt was awesome!

I feel comfortable enough with where we rode today to go back, and that's a good thing! I really want to build up more endurance and long road rides are going to be important for this when it's warm enough to ride. As we neared a bailout point (Dawnwood Rd), Tim asked if I wanted to go up to the first overlook. Sure, why not. How far/hard could it be? OOPS. The work was worth the reward today as there is a cool waterfall on the left side of the Parkway near the overlook. The sounds of the water cascading down the rocks was awesome, as was the view. I guess all that rain paid off because I can't honestly remember seeing this here before. Maybe I just drove by in the past without paying attention, but this was definitely a highlight of the ride. Once I was through taking pictures of the waterfall, we headed back down to Dawnwood Rd. I was able to reach 38mph on the descent. WOOO! I also got chilly on the way! After a quick stop to take a few more pictures, we walked the short path to Dawnwood.

Dawnwood would take us on a fairly, rural jaunt back to Poages Valley Road. Again, we were treated to the sight and sound of running water in the roadside stream. At one point, we stopped and Tim shared a story of playing in this stream as a kid. This road was great to ride on since there was little to no traffic. We arrived at Rt 221 where we made a right followed by a quick left and continued on Poages Valley Road. I had no idea this road went this way. Found a house that I would love to buy had I not just refinanced my own. Further on, we came to the intersection of Poages Valley Road and South Roselawn. Here there is a little, old house that has been refurbished. It reminds you of something you'd see in a post card. Amazing to think that someone could have lived so simply and undisturbed here.

Eventually we wound our way back to the hustle and bustle of the real world on Brambleton Ave. Of course we had to deal with traffic and stoplights, but I thought we made pretty good time. A left past Mojo Coffehouse and we were weaving our way towards Patrick Henry HS. Laughed at a weird structure that apparently is doubling as a shelter at the busstop. Headed towards Grandin Court, Memorial Avenue Bridge through some less scenic areas onto 10th St. 10th Street as you may remember from previous blogs crosses the Lick Run Greenway which I ride quite a bit. We would take this greenway back to Valley View Mall. Soon we would be near my house and Tim bid me farewell. What an awesome ride! Loved the beautiful day, loved the ride and the company! I am happy.