The Luck of the Barn (Day 3)

After yesterday's long and tough jaunt south and west, our legs were cooked. We had planned to start early to beat the rain, but the skies cleared up so we delayed to a more leisurely hour. Just in case the skies did open, we planned for a flexible route that wasn't too tough. We had a few others join our group too.

Whether it was karma, luck, or science, rain never came.


We headed down the "front" of Howards Lick Road toward Route 259, detouring for a lap on the Lost River Classic Course. We met Jay coming down the descent on Jenkin's Hollow, then crossed 259 and headed up Upper Cove to Middle Cove (where Jay dropped off his jacket in his mailbox because it was so nice).

At Lower Cove, we headed right up into GW National Forest. The road eases up until the dirt sections, which are hard packed with bits of gravel, and tolerably steep. It's a great dirt road.


...but it was a bit muddy today.


At the fork, we regrouped before the dirt descent. The right option takes you to Virginia, but we headed left, back down to the Lost River valley. A few miles of gravel/mud/dirt descending, and we sped down Mill Gap Road.


There, we had awesome paninis and coffee for lunch at the General Store.


It was scrumptious, and Dan spent some free time between swigs of coke (in the glass bottle) chasing the house pet: a Hen (yes, a chicken) named Henrietta.


With full stomachs, we then headed back across 259, taking the scenic Kimsey Run up to Dove Hollow. Dove hollow is a painful, gradual climb back to Lost River State park, and then we tortured ourselves up the front side climb back to the barn.


Our bikes were filthy from the gravel and dirt climb/descent, but the weather held out for us.


Like well-behaved cyclists, we promptely cleaned up our rigs...




...with a beverage in hand.


Links to the public facebook album (which keeps growing), and the garmin route/elevation data.