Miles Today: 43.10
Average Speed: 9.6mph
Total Miles: 3,464.63
We woke up after our day off full of energy, and excited to meet up with Mason for coffee. First, though, we said good morning to Lena.
Then we walked upstairs and found Kristin behind a dresser that she had pushed into the hallway and then gotten stuck behind. So we rescued Kristin, who is moving to Illinois in a couple of weeks, said our goodbyes, and headed into town for coffee.
Mason and one of the riders, Cassie, showed up and we had a nice morning story-trade, wandered to the hardware store for stove fuel (no more gasoline!), and left town. Goodbye, Blacksburg, you were so good to us.
More glorious countryside today, and no rain all morning!
We met Stan and Danielle, riders from the Netherlands who are, like everyone else, headed the other direction.
After chatting with them about Warmshowers and trying to sell them on a visit to Blacksburg, we kept riding. The clouds were beginning to look a bit ominous, but it hadn’t started raining yet, so we pushed on.
Then, a few miles out of Catawba, the clouds opened up, and we were suddenly stuck in a massive downpour with lightning straight overhead.
We huddled in a little ditch, far enough away from our bikes so as not to be struck by lightning, and hoped it would pass.
At one point, a car that had driven past came back the other way, and a man opened up his window and offered an umbrella. Unsure what we would do once finished with the umbrella, how we would return it, and already completely soaked, we declined but asked how far it was to Catawba.
It was a mile, and there was a gas station with an awning!
We took refuge there once we could get to it, avoiding certain death with great skill…. And then we hung out and drank coffee and ate free cheeseburgers. Thanks to the gas station lady, who was closing in an hour and let us have cheeseburgers!
The rain passed, and left us with damp belongings and a thick fog in the air.
It was pleasantly warm, though, and the views were amazing.
We rode on a ridge, across a gap from the Appalachian Trail hikers who were on the other ridge. I wondered if anybody from Trail Days in Damascus had made it there yet, and whether they were staying dry.
I will sum up the rest of our ride by saying that it was quite loud, because it’s Cicada season.
They will hit you in the chest as you ride, they will land on your shirt, they will scare you as they buzz by, and if you stop, you’ll be covered in them.
We stopped for a rest and ended up leaving with our ears ringing.
I can’t remember much of the rest of the afternoon, other than the part where I was freaking out about cicadas on me. That probably sums up the rest of the afternoon, now that I think about it.
Anyway, Troutsville!
We went straight to the Town Hall, because our maps listed the city park as a camping place. We were greeted by Mary, the town clerk, and Cheyenne, who were running the desk that afternoon. They told us about showers and laundry at the fire house, gave us a map of town and the number of the park director, and sent us across the street to sign the grocery store’s visitor register.
After our chocolate milk, we headed to the park, where a nice pavilion waited for us.
There were hikers inside, too! Indy and Mission are hiking the Appalachian Trail this year, and had stories and food to offer us. We enjoyed some sugary cereal, which I haven’t had in quite a while, and then we did laundry and set up camp in the pavilion. It was good to be under a pavilion because, for the zillionth day in a row, rain was forecasted for the evening.
And so, with evening setting in, we settled into the pavilion, Indy and Mission put their sleeping pads on the picnic tables to camp, and we enjoyed the sounds of crickets and trains and children playing in the park.
Troutsville is a pleasant little town, and I’m glad we decided to stop here.
abbiacrossamerica 
NO caption for the cute fire hydrant??