"Walkin' due South, outta Roanoke..."

Crashed at a little motel outside Buchanan, Va. last night and cruised into Roanoke for lunch this afternoon. It's over 90 degress and very humid, but the terrain is so far forgiving. A lunch counter clerk looked at me with a wry smile and said, "You know you're going to have to go over a mountain out of Roanoke?"

I just looked at him as if to say "I've been doing this for three days now - I have been over a lot of mountains." The reality is, I have many more to go...

Either way, I rode for a few hours yesterday with a guy named Doug who just graduated from Emory University. He completed a full Iron Man Triathlon this year, so he was quite an athlete ... he was on a tight schedule and dusted me after lunch.

Meeting people has been the best part about the trip so far - today there was Linda, a lady who had grown lonely and decided to end her AT hike early and Wayne and Maxine, a couple I met at a pizza buffet. Lotsa fun. I'll make for Christiansburg tonight, so at some point I can get back on the route tomorrow.

Regards,
John Z.