The morning started like most others. Wake up at 5, bagels with Big Momma, and hitting the road asap. The route, however, was not like others. It was a 90 mile trek to Blacksburg, a place I’ve called home for 4 years. Everyone was excited to see what the town had in store for us, however those 90 miles were long and difficult for the riders. The whole route were switchbacks and climbs through the mountains. Impeccable views, but they really had to earn them. In the end it was all worth it though. Especially for the Hokies on our route. Riding through the Virginia Tech campus, into the backside of our chapter house with dozens of our brothers and friends there to greet us was a great feeling. While there, we had lunch and I got the opportunity to show the team around our house too.
After lunch, we all headed to our lodging for the night at a beautiful local church. From there we all went on to explore the town. There was festival going on that evening so there was lots to do. On top of that, David Lyerly, father of one of my chapter brothers and a Pi Alpha, was kind enough to sponsor our dinners in the form of a per diem, giving us the opportunity to pick whichever place we wanted to go. A large group of us chose to go to Sharkeys (where the good friends go), one of my favorite bar/grille down town. After dinner we continued to explore the town a bit along with sharing some stories of the trip with some Delta Alpha chapter brothers, eventually making it back to lodging to rest up for our ride into Roanoke. All around a great day in my favorite town.
Author: Brendan Cafferky, Crew (Delta Alpha Chapter, Virginia Tech)