Smyth County

We were uncertain about going today, due to forecasted rain. However, we knew if we didn't it would be a while before we got back here and we had been looking forward to this for months. So we packed our rain gear and took our chances.

We had previously gotten permission from St John's Episcopal Church to park our rig in their parking lot for the day. It was only a block from the shuttle pick up in Abingdon VA.

We met our shuttle driver, Hughes, who is 75 years young...boy he really knew those curvy, narrow mountain roads. He's been doing this for years. Not easy hauling a trailer loaded with bikes. He was quite talkative, and we enjoyed getting to know him. He dropped us safely at Whitetop , at 3500 feet. It was cool and overcast, and the trailhead was busy.

We rode all the way down ( and a little back up) to Abingdon. Our odometer said 36.5 miles. We hit the trail at 11:27 am and arrived at the other end at 5:07 pm. In between was a marvelous ride!!

Once we began riding, the trail was not too busy. Much of the time we were alone. Occasionally, we would pass a group. Or one would pass us. The sun came out and it was beautiful. Much of the ride felt like a magical tree tunnel. Colors are changing. There was one valley that looked every bit as colorful as NH! We followed a river most of the way. We passed over almost 50 tressel bridges! This is, after all, all rail-trail. Some short, some long, some curved.

The halfway point, Damascus, was a small town that took a bit to get through and was ok...kind of boring. But once back out in the country it was lovely again. It was different than the first half. Coming down the mountain changed to biking through rolling pastures and forests with mountains in the distance.

Toward the end of our ride...maybe 5 miles from the end, we started to feel misty rain. We really didn't want to have to break out the rain gear, so we put our bikes on assist 4 and raced for the finish line. We did 70% of the ride with no assist. We got the bikes loaded and headed for our last campsite just as the rain started.

We really loved this ride and would love to do it again.En savoir plus