Day 12 - a tough one

Tough mentally.  First, missed Alicia quite a lot today.  Next - yesterday, every decision I made went well.  Not today.  First, I accidentally killed an hour in Glasgow looking for a restaurant that was closed, then talking to a hiker while I ate some peanut butter.  Similar to yesterday I followed a road by the river, but this time it ended being unpaved, and had a shockingly steep climb back up to the main road.  That took me up to that crappy restaurant.  After a nice swim in Buchanan, I realized that I was on the Trans America trail.  I followed it twice.  The first was nice, but the second time went over some tough hills.  Finally I got back on the main road, and limped into Roanoke.

Tough physically.  After a delightfully foggy start (including foggy mountains - very nice), it heated up again and was back to 90 and humid by lunch.  All those hills and the unpaved road really added up today.  I sort of hit a wall just as I reached the edge of Roanoke, which was just as well because it started to rain.  I destroyed a soup and salad bar for over an hour before I felt better.

Tough logistically.  I'm not sure where to go from here.  The parkway goes right over the mountains.  I can go south, then parallel the parkway to Asheville.  Or I can stay north, then drop into Asheville through Tennessee.  I'm not taking the parkway, and Google gives similar distances for the other two.  I foolishly didn't think to call a bike shop for advice until they had all closed this afternoon (file that under the mental mistakes).

So, I found myself out of time to get out of Roanoke, short on energy to do so, and not even knowing which way to go if I did.  I've ended up in a motel in Southwest Roanoke, sort of the farthest I can get today and still go either north or south tomorrow. I will call a bike shop in the morning and figure out where to go, and then I'll be back on my way.

Getting to Asheville on the 15th is still a possibility, but I don't know for sure.  I'll figure out what changes to make to plans with my brother.

But I should be clear...a day like this is not out of the ordinary for a trip like this, and I remain in high spirits.  Not every day will end with drinking beer and listening to music in the rain after 77 great miles.  I'll be fine, but I figured I'd use this to record all of the trip, both good and bad.  Tomorrow is another day!