Last day in Dupont: Big Rock Trail

September 28, 2022 How glorious it is to be in a hotel room tonight, albeit the LaQuinta, and surprisingly there is no Denny’s next door. Oh, the horror. I am in Salem, VA. The morning consisted of my usual coffee in the “lounge” at the Dupont Bike Retreat as I prepared for my day, eager to ride another day at Dupont Forest. Today, I mostly rode the Big Rock/Cedar Rock Trail system with the Cascade Loop as well. I met up with a couple of riders from Greenville, and followed them down, specifically Big Rock which I mistakenly tried to climb. Bad idea. It was very technical downhill, and that’s what I love, I guess I rode about 7 miles, making it one of my shorter days, however, a lot of climbing. The texts and phone calls have been flying as the hurricane Ian changed course from up the West Coast to go right over the Florida peninsula above Orlando, and the I 4 corridor. That makes Cocoa Beach on the bad side for winds and rain on the outer bands. Its slow moving, so hopefully it blows itself out somewhat, however, Rebecca is prepped with the generator at the ready. She did go out to the Hunker Down, and was not overly concerned, other than possible power loss. Did a fairly long drive this afternoon from Brevard to Salem Virginia. Lots of terrain, especially between Asheville and Johnson City. I didn’t realize I had to take a road West, as I was on 26 W however it seemed like I was mostly going Northeast. The glorious part is taking a long hot shower, and doing a load of laundry in the hotel, after 3 nights of camping out in a tent. I will be riding the Carver’s Cove area tomorrow.