Cookie Lady 1984
A blog reader recently left a comment that “Cookie Lady” June Curry's fabled Bike House in Afton, Virginia, was closed earlier this month when the bicyclist stopped for a visit.
To find out more details about what was going on, I contacted her good friend Joyce Cooke, formerly of the Milepost Zero Bicycle Club. Among other things, the bike club assists June with keeping the Bike House clean and well-provisioned for cross-country bicyclists who pass through.
Joyce said that the Cookie Lady is not doing well and has been sidelined with severe pain associated with sciatica.
Bad news
This is certainly terrible news for the 11,000-some bicyclists who have paused for refreshment or stayed overnight at the Bike House over the years. If you consider the cross-country bicycle tourists as a loose-knit family, June would certainly be its mother.
Apparently June is not able to walk to the Bike House and is supposed to get as much rest as possible. A woman who comes to help June can only show up three times a week.
Joyce writes:
“If a biker arrives when Debbie happens to be there, June may let them stay but she is unable to let them in or take care of them the way she used to. If Debbie is not there, she tells them that she just can't do it.
“It's very sad. So sorry to give you this news.”
Plans for big summer
The infrequent openings at the Bike House have been going on all summer. A message in March from the Cookie Lady on the bike club website sounds like she was ready to have another blockbuster season feeding and housing bicycle tourists.
June has been a fixture of the TransAmerican bicycle route since is opened in 1976. Its location halfway up Afton hill leading to the Blue Ridge Parkway made it a perfect spot for weary cyclists to pause for cookies and lemonade.
By the time my friend and I had passed through in 1984, June had many albums filled with pictures of cyclists who had stopped for a rest. The Bike House, where many spent the night, was papered with postcards from previous guests.
Award
For her efforts, the Adventure Cycling Association named June as the first winner of the Trail Angel Award in 2003.
Two years later she suffered a stroke and a broken wrist, but, with assistance, opened the Bike House and offfered her hospitality to people on bicycle tours.
If you'd like to send along your best wishes, you can send them to:
June Curry
3252 Afton Mountain Road
Afton, VA 22920
More reading about the Cookie Lady:
TransAmerica bicycle route's unforgettable Cookie Lady, March 16, 2005
“Cookie Lady”s Bike House opens for cyclists, May 11, 2005
The Cookie House Registry — 30 years of bicycle touring in pictures, Jan. 5, 2007
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