Time for a Litte R&R

Rest and relaxation. So necessary today. I literally did nothing today. We ate at a Chinese buffet in Charlottesville. It had sushi, good sushi too. I typically can't stand Chinese buffets because the food is usually sub-par. But this place was incredible.
Anyways, we also went to the bike store to see if Jacob could get a granny gear on the front gear set. No such luck. But, I got some handlebar tape. Mine was falling off a little on the right side. I think the combination of the salt from my hands and me wrenching on the bars going up some hills sped the deterioration process up a little. I also think the tape they used was just really cheap,. Either way, it needs replacing soon as the only thing holding it on is duct tape.
Tonight we're staying at the Massaro house again. To clarify, Andrew Massaro was a friend of mine from college, and we're staying at his family's house in Charlottesville.Courtney and Mike Massaro and AnnaMike's dog Lilly
I also got to talk to a lot of friends and my parents today, so that was good. We also go to do laundry, which is definitely required. I had multiple salt rings on my shirt when we arrived in Charlottesville. Pretty cool, but I'm sure I smelled like a pole cat. I don't really know what a pole cat is, but I'm told they smell like death.
I'm not nearly as sore as I thought I would be after 3 days of riding hard, but my legs are definitely feeling a little soreness. I'm probably going to do some good stretching before going to bed.
The Appalachians will make themselves felt tomorrow. 5,000 feet of elevation gain, and we get to end the day with the longest and steepest decent of the entire trip (at least I think the day ends that way.) So in preparation I'm going to try and get as much rest as possible. We'll probably leave around 7 or so tomorrow. I hate getting up early normally, but I'm getting used to it. I imagine I will be able to wake up with the sun in the weeks to come.
As my day of R&R comes to an end, I'm looking forward to seeing the first set of mountains on our trip. I'm also looking forward to the incredible amount of thigh-shredding riding ahead. I just hope I won't have to walk up too many ascents. I don't like walking my bike, it makes me angry with myself.
Hopefully I'll be able to update the site when I'm in the mountains, but I make no promises. I think we go through some sizable mountain towns, but I may not have time to upload pictures along with all the text, so you may have to wait a while for that. The next few days of riding will separate the men from the boys, so I'll tell you in a few days in which category I belong. I may surprise myself, but I don't think I'll turn out being in the former category. Either way, I look forward to telling everyone how it was.