Mission Velocipede
Itinerary: "Heart of Appalachia Project"
Slide Show Now On-Line
Each day the mission will cover the Natural, Historic and Recreational aspects
of places visited. There will be at least one real-time on-line interactive chat session
during which school students will be able to ask questions of the mission staff and guest
interpreters. Mission Velocipede staff will also answer general e-mail questions from the
public when technically possible. I am going to have some more chat sessions with the
general public, on Monday evening and Tuesday
evening. If you would like to participate, just come to the chat room at 8 PM both nights.
I should be there if I'm not lost in the forest someplace.
Click the links below to
explore the natural and historic places along "The Heart of Appalachia" scenic
bike and driving route.
Day 1: Monday, September 28, 1998
Start: Burkes Garden VA.
End: Thompson Valley or Frog Level.
I hope to have local Burke's Garden resident Ernie Coeburn riding with me
today. Ernie and his wife Terry and my father and I all biked around Portugal in 1996, so
this will be a great reunion. I'll ride the side routes in the valley and talk with Ernie
about the unique geographic features found here. Then I'll head out to ride over the south
end of Garden Mountain (a big fat climb) then drop into Shannon Springs and Ceres. I'll be
passing by Roaring Fork and I'll explore the side trail (a 6 mile round trip) up the
creek. I'll need to make it to the Frog Level area before dark and I'll be facing another
1000 ft climb to VA 16 so I can't mess around! This will be a challenging day! Read more about my plans for the day.
End: Frog Level
Lodging: Grama VanDyke's cabin in Tazewell (Thanks Jerome!)
Day 2: Tuesday, September 29, 1998
Start : Frog Level
End: Wardell– Highland Bull Pub, Riverwind Inn
I'll be taking it a little easier today as I leave Frog Level and make my
way into Maiden Spring and the Cove area (Lassie Country). I have to investigate this area
and see it for myself because everybody tells me how pretty it is. If you have a favorite
place I should see around here or if you were in the Lassie movie, e-mail me! The first person I meet who was actually in
the movie gets a MV T-Shirt!
I hope to be joined today by an old riding friend who has shown me many
a good ride during our friendship. His technique is to tell everybody how bad he is
feeling before the ride, then get on his bike and leave you in the dust. Sly as an old
fox, that Teddy Helton is.
I really think the cave that Little
Creek comes out of in Maiden Spring is really a cool place. It would be really
cool if I could see where it goes underground as I hear there is a big whirlpool there!
Stay tuned and check the journal, because you never can tell! Then it's on to Wardell and
the Highlands Bull Pub for a special Highlands
Bull Burger. This pub is famous for it's burgers (they raise their own beef) and about a
bazillion brands of beer that they serve. I don't partake of the brew myself, but I think
it's fun looking at all those different labels. Lodging tonight is up the road at the
Riverwind Inn.
Lodging: Riverwind Inn
Day 3: Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Start: Wardell and visit the Pinnacle Natural Area Preserve
End: St. Paul
We'll have a Chat session this morning, starting about 10 AM, with Bill
Kittrell from The Nature Conservancy. Some of the area schools will log on to participate
in what promises to be a most informative and interesting chat session. Check it out in
the chat room. After, I'll ride through the Stuart Land and Cattle
Company area following the Clinch River most of the way. I'll be taking a side trip to the
Pinnacle area to see if I can get a look at the endangered Birdwing Pearlymussel and the
White Cedar grove. I'll also get a picture of the pinnacle itself. Later I'll be riding
into St. Paul to camp on the river. I'll need a good nights rest because tomorrow it's
singletrack time!
It looks like I'll be riding solo today so I'll have plenty of time to
reflect on the things I've seen and try to anticipate what lies ahead. I enjoy riding solo
as much as I do riding with a partner. After all, everybody needs some time to themselves.
Toward the end of the day my thoughts always seem to wander toward "I wonder what I
should have for diner tonight?" Bikers get very hungry. If you have any
recommendation on a place to eat while I'm in St. Paul, let me know via my bikeguy@naxs.com e-mail link.
Lodging: Camping on the Clinch River.
Day 4: Thursday, October 1, 1998
Start: St. Paul, VA
End: Guest River Gorge
I'll be riding my mountain bike for this
leg today because I'll be riding some brand new trail, some of it singletrack, that goes
from St. Paul to the Guest River Gorge area. There are all kinds of historic sites on this
leg, including and old abandoned French settlement. Local
biker/lawyer/outdoorsman/historian and all-round nice-guy, Frank Kilgore, will guide
me on this leg of the journey. He is the founder of the "Heart of Appalachia"
trail so I feel confident we wont get lost.
Day 5: Friday, October 2, 1998
Project Wrap-Up from Mission Velocipede World Headquarters in Damascus Virginia! I'll post my
after-thoughts and overall impression of the route and the area. Then I'll take a nap.
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