Day 5 - Rain or Shine to Blackstone

Today was our first day of rain as the clouds could hold off raining no longer.  The downpour started exactly as we climbed on our bikes and got on the road, so several of us hammered away to get on down the road.  For the first hour and a half we averaged nearly 21mph (20.7 to be exact), arriving at and finding a spot for "lunch" around the 30 mile mark, halfway for the day.  Having consumed breakfast before my stomach was even awake at 7am, I was still hardly hungry come 9am when we stopped.  The van got to us several minutes later and we hung out for a good long while.  By this point the rain had stopped and despite being wet, there was no need to keep up the pace we were at.  We were slowly drying, and while my shoes would be pools for the rest of the day, the weather felt actually really good.

Lunch is quickly proving to be a misnomer for our first food stop of the day.  It's more like brunch, or better yet second breakfast, but not the typical Sunday brunch I'd so love it to be.  People are already becoming quite creative with their sandwiches (I won't go into what's been eaten), but for the time being I'm pretty content with regular old PB&Js.

Ice cream break!  One of the most consistent pieces of advice we've gotten as a group is that you should always, I repeat ALWAYS stop for ice cream.  It's always a good idea.  We came across Dairy Freeze around 10:15 in the morning, but a swirl cone has never tasted so good.  The "small" was anything but and kept me going until we got into Fort Pickett, our lovely home for the evening.

We arrive at Fort Pickett--military barracks!  Such a lovely place to stay!  Actually tonight we're being spoiled with hot showers, laundry, individual rooms, AND BEDS in said rooms.  A shower is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated 5 minutes of my day and today's did not disappoint.  Our arrival into the base was deceptive because we had probably another 2-3 miles to bike once we got through the gates.  The ground here are sprawling and the building we're in is completely removed from all others.

CocoRoooooos!  Around 8:45 we had a large post-dinner cereal eating party in the little kitchen here in the barracks.  The rules: enter the kitchen and you have to have a bowl of cereal, find a place to sit, and plant yourself there for at least ten minutes.  I was happy to oblige.  Off to Dillwyn tomorrow (wherever that is!).  I'm sweep so I'm hoping for some good roadside attractions to keep me busy while others ride on ahead.