Building Empires on Peanut Butter and Bread

Hey everybody what’s happenin. I’m currently in Haysi, VA after a long hard day. A couple days ago we stayed in a town park in Wytheville in a really interesting amphitheater. It’s amazing how we can just get on our bikes and ride to a destination and hope there’s a place for us to camp out. We we’re very fortunate last night to roll into Meadowview after a series of unfortunate events. It started out in Marion where just as we were heading out of town my tire began to warp. We had just passed the last bike shop we would see for about 700 miles through Kentucky so we had to turn around and cycle back into town. Unfortunately the outdated bike shop didn’t have the tire I needed for my 80’s Nishiki so dad came through in a clutch and sent two tires overnight. We ended up having to camp at Hungry Mother state park and got caught in a torrential downpour. Luckily our gear dried out fairly quickly the next morning. So after I fixed my tire, Rob ended up getting a flat tire that had to be re-patched a number of times before we could even leave the town of Marion. Eventually we made it to Meadowview where we had to ask a country storeowner where we could crash for the night. She mentioned a pastor who lived next to a church who would let us stay on the church’s property for the night. So after an ordeal of getting in touch with the pastor, we get some laundry done and are greeted by a neighbor who was also a member of the church. His name was Tom and was as kind as ever. He offered us full use of the facilities at the church and even dinner and breakfast. We declined naturally as to not impose but to our surprise we woke up the next morning with 30 dollars he had left for us to get breakfast. It was like getting a visit from the tooth fairy. A little more trail magic if you will. So after a huge breakfast, we had to climb some serious hills, which was about a 2000 foot increase in elevation over about 3 miles. Exhausting. It was nice to reach the top and meet three other Eastbounders. A father and son and a really hardcore Irishman who was quite a character. He wore a full brimmed hat and was riding a front suspension mountain bike. He has to be out of the country by August 24 because of his visa so you should have seen him cranking up this hill. We met him at the next town sitting in the shade eating a loaf of bread with a jar of peanut butter. He had a great quote as we were talking about finding a diner to eat at. He said, “You know, whole empires were built off of peanut butter and bread.” Great stuff. After lunch we had another substantial hill to climb with a wonderful, downhill descent and we finally pulled into Haysi in the hopes that we can find a place to stay. Library time has however, proven to be a priority to everyone in the group. I’m always glad to hear from people along our journey so keep in touch and I’ll post again sometime in the near future.