20. Catawba

As cyclists ride through the Catawba valley west of Roanoke, they observe two strikingly different examples of how twentieth century Americans have thought about the relationships between health, physical activity, and the natural environment. Immediately to the south of the Transamerican Bicycle Route is McAfee Knob, one of the most famous landmarks along the Appalachian Trail, which extends for more than two thousand miles along the eastern United States. Immediately to the north of route 76 in the same valley is the location of the Catawba Tuberculosis Sanatorium, opened in 1909 to fulfill a very different vision of the relationship between health, exercise, and nature. This episode explores this vision of physical well-being in a location that is adjacent to two of the major routes for strenuous physical activity: the Appalachian Trail and the Transamerican Bicycle Route. This episode is connected to the community of Catawba, located just over 330 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and about 220 miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound rides enter Virginia.