The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Back Roads of Appalachia

May 14th to May 24th

Ride Director: Bob Mueller
Ride Co-Director: Ellen Mueller
Report by: Deborah Chamitoff

You don’t have to go to Europe to enjoy world-class cycling, beautiful scenery, and new cultural adventures in a historical setting.  You can even learn a new language on this tour.   It’s actually pronounced App-uh-latch-uh and there are no one-syllable words in this neck of the woods. (grits = gree-yitz). 

Ellen and Bob Mueller’s enthusiasm and pride for their home turf shone through their leadership and their desire to introduce us to the Appalachian way of life.   Although this tour was rated 3B, every day offered options for 1A to 4D rides.   Bob’s cue sheets were not only accurate, but also included all the points of interest along the way which made for a very pleasant, stress-free tour.  Every happy hour featured something homemade from Ellen’s kitchen and some local brew.  The accommodations they selected were a nice variety of major chains interspersed with several beautiful historic inns. 

The tour was divided into two sections.  The first half was in Tennessee which followed breathtaking river valleys on fun, roly-poly terrain and the second part was in Virginia which featured some long, “breath-taking” climbs over ridges which could rival anything in Europe.  There were fifty shades of green and the sweet smell of honeysuckles everywhere!

The biggest and most pleasant surprise was how courteous the motorists were!  We all agreed that we never experienced this level of respect anywhere!

 Since we didn’t have the drivers to complain about, the daily topic of discussion was about the dogs we met along the way.  Luckily we had a “dog whisperer” in the group who explained dog behavior and how to respond to it.  Most of the dogs were restrained so really it was a non-issue.  There were a few loose ones in the more remote areas, but we were well prepared. 

We experienced Appalachian hospitality everywhere we went.  Signs welcoming the Bicycle Adventure Club were seen in three different places.  We had a stop at a library where we were greeted with drinks, bananas, granola bars and a very vivacious librarian who was very interested in what we were doing. During one of our happy hours, a traditional story-teller came and shared some of his boyhood tales.  We visited the very impressive Saltville Museum during one of our lunch stops where the curator eagerly explained the historic importance of his town.  Every day we cycled past people mowing their lawns, or sitting on their beautiful porches who acknowledged us with a big wave and a “howdy y’all”. 

It wasn’t all about the cycling.  We learned new skills to add to our repertoire!  Some of us now know how to shoot a musket, how to “clog” (the dance of Appalachia), how to record our own songs in a music studio, and how to make moonshine.

Some other tour highlights included: driving around a NASCAR race track in a 12 passenger van, seeing the Carter Fold where the “Royalty” of Country Music played their many hits. Some of us went to the Barter Theatre where Kevin Spacey and Ernest Borgnine once performed. Some rented mountain bikes and rode down the world famous Virginia Creeper Trail.   There were street musicians playing everywhere and we were even treated to some great fiddling from two of our very own tour members who entertained us during happy hours.

I have done many “epic rides” with the BAC, and I would rate this tour in the same category.  Thanks again to Bob and Ellen for providing many wonderful memories.