Fijis Across America

Day 47

Following our rest day in Blacksburg, VA we were ready to finish the last 5 days of the ride.  We were able to stay in a townhouse of a Fiji grad brother (special thanks to Henry) and were able to receive a tour of the campus of Virginia Tech from brother Dana Hesse.  We enjoyed our time in Blacksburg and felt well rested for the remainder of the ride.

This day of riding would turn out to be a very interesting ride.  When we woke up the sky was full of clouds and fog rolled down the streets.  For the first few miles of the ride, from the campus of Virginia Tech to the first town, we stayed dry.  However, that didn’t last long as the rain began to fall hard.  We enjoyed the rain as we sang and laughed at our bodies being soaked to the bone. 

We rode 40 miles before we broke for lunch.  It was around 1230 and we decided to save some money and get into the MRE’s (Meal Ready to Eat) we had packed.  Since it was raining, all of piled into the trailer to enjoy our meals.  We felt like 2nd graders as we traded the different items in our packages.  I had beef frankfurters, potato sticks, mixed fruit, hot cocoa mix, and some crackers.  Some guys got lucky and got bags of M&M’s and grilled chicken.  But, we all had fun eating in the trailer on this rainy day.

The last 40 miles of the trip we almost lost our minds, but in a good way.  We were laughing and singing loudly and when we pulled up for our first water break, which was almost unnecessary since we were covered in water, people gave us strange looks as we did push up and jumping jacks in the rain.

We finally rolled into Lexington, VA and were feeling a little tired after riding in the rain all day.  Lexington is a very historic town and has a lot of character.  We rode past Stonewall Jackson’s gravesite, Virginia Military Institute, and the Washington and Lee Fiji house.  We were very blessed when we rode up to the Holiday Inn (special thanks to Dana Hesse) and the manager had upgraded all the rooms to suites since he had heard about our ride. 

We continue to move forward on our journey and tomorrow look forward to the great challenge of climbing the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We have faced many trials in our journey and have tasted victory in most occasions.  We know that throughout life there will be many times where we face the bitter taste of defeat, but we can always look back and remember the thrill of climbing mountains and traveling rough terrain.  May we never live in the gray twilight of fear but instead always embrace all challenges even if we are not sure of victory.  For it is better to fight than to never try at all.

In His Adventure,

Chaz Vittitow