Virginia bikers come to Alvarado

The Bike Virginia Tour made its way to the Virginia Creeper Trail today and the Virginia Creeper Trail Club was ready. Between 1800 and 2000 cyclists arrived at Alvarado Station, the first around 7:30, only 30 minutes or so after our 20+ volunteers arrived to setup. And they kept coming all morning, pulling in from long climbs up the hills of southwest Virginia, but (most often) with a smile on their face. It was obvious that these riders were having a good time.

The club participated by holding a rest stop around mile 20 of the morning's ride. Some riders were planning to go for a 100 mile day, others chose to make today a light mileage 'recovery' day after some tough climbs yesterday. The Creeper Trail was a popular alternate route for many who had the right tires or had arranged with one of the many bike rental/shuttle companies in Abingdon or Damascus to rent a bike for the day.

Club members, led by our events committee chair Wayne Miller, pulled off quite a logistical operation to feed all these hungry riders. Peanut butter sandwiches, bagels, pretzels, homemade cookies, and fruit, as well as lots of water and two types of Gatorade were all available. Club member Dean McCall represented Mountain Sports Ltd in Bristol and set up a bike repair tent that. He looked to be busy all morning repairing all manner of tires, chains, and gear cables. Entertainment was provided by Ashton Blaylock, a very talented local teen guitarist with his eye on Nashville stardom one day (from the sound of his singing and playing today, it's his if he wants it).

Many riders made the short side trip to Abingdon Winery and then on to Damascus where they ate lunch. The routes diverged from there and many found their way back to the tent city in Abingdon via the Creeper Trail.

The Creeper Trail Club was thrilled to have the chance to help introduce our beloved trail to so many new riders today. We hope they enjoyed their brief visit and will come back again to ride the Creeper.

Update: More photos are available from yesterday's rest stop at Alvarado.