Catching up: Kentucky!

So again, I am behind on blogging. I am still trying to catch up, even though we are now on our last day in Missouri, ack!!! It doesn't seem possible. Anyway below is the breakdown of our days in Kentucky. Enjoy!

July 11th: Breaks, Va to Bevinsville, Ky. 47.78 miles. Today was our first full day of riding with Don. We all started out early and rode into the fog, down the long hill about 10 or so miles, to breakfast. We stopped at a small diner called the Rusted Fork. I had oatmeal, fried apples, toast, a bit of biscuit, and a glass of milk. I adore food. We are in the heart of coal country. We are passed constantly by coal trucks, and by the end of the day I am usually coated in a film of coal dust. Sitting down to breakfast, we shared the restaurant with several truck drivers. All sat around drinking their coffee and smoking the first of their many daily cigarettes. It is strange to sit in a restaurant and watch people smoke. We are definitely in small town America. Anyway we ended the day in the very small town of Bevinsville. They opened up a small church for us so we could us the bathroom, and then they let us camp outside. While we were setting up camp, a storm moved in. The clouds were moving so fast, swirling like a milkshake in a blender. I tried to set up my tent, but before I could get it staked down the wind was too strong. Thankfully Ivan has a two man tent so I just bunked with him. I managed to get almost all of my stuff into the tent, and my bike wrapped in the tarp before the rain hit. As the rain broke I threw the rest of my things into the tent and then literally dived in myself. It stormed all night and into the morning, delaying out start in the morning. There was a short dry spell that allowed us to get our gear packed up, our bikes loaded, before we headed out. As we were packing, a big fan full of teenagers pulled up to the church for Vacation Bible School. Before we left we were, all of us--Don included, were herded into the church for a prayer circle, where God was asked to keep us safe on our travels. Amen!

July 12th: Bevinsville, Ky to Hindman, Ky. 28.50 miles. Due to the weather today was a short day. We ended in Hindman at the Knott Historical Society, which is located on the top of a very large hill. David, the proprietor, met us at the top with glasses of the most delicious iced tea. For $25 we were shown to a large base camp tent, complete with large full-sized air mattresses. As we relaxed our laundry was done, we got a hot shower, as much ice tea of we could hold, one beer, a lovely baked potato (mine was sweet and Ivan's was Irish) with all the fixings, a shot of cognac before bed, and in the morning David made us a beautiful breakfast. It was hard to leave. The Society sits on a beautiful piece of property, and there is the most adorable infestation of cats ever. There are about 20 cats in all, including the five or so that were just born a couple of days ago. All of them are well tended, well fed, and happy. David is therefore, known as the cat-man. I have never seen so many of the feline in one place at one time. My cousin, Thad, would have loved it.


July 13th: Hindman, Ky to Booneville, Ky. 62.80 miles. Today was a hilly day. We climbed and descended about three mountains. I was walking most of the hills towards the end, but it was a beautiful day. I was on my own for most of it, being slower than Ivan or Don. I got to finish out the day as the sun set, riding through the rolling hills and fields of Kentucky. I was tired, but the sun covered everything in butter, and the sweet grass glowed as I moved by. We stayed behind a Presbyterian church that had built a shelter just for cyclists. There was a shower, an outhouse, and we didn't have to set up tents. Ivan and I made a dinner of mac and cheese with hot dogs. It was wonderful, though I think both of us are set on salt for a while.


July 14th: Booneville, Ky to Berea, Ky. 61.65 miles. Today is the day we parted ways with Don. It wasn't necessarily intentional--by the time we got into Berea Don's phone was completely dead (needing the help of the local Verizon store). So we headed towards the RV park, Oh! Kentucky Campground, where we were going to stay, and Don headed to a motel. We didn't hear from him again. Ivan has since checked Twitter and we know that Don is still plugging along somewhere. By the time we got to Berea I was in need of a salad and a large sweet tea. Thankfully, McDonald's obliged.


July 15th: Rest day in Berea, Ky. Berea is the small town where my Grandmother went to college, all those years ago. It was neat to ride down the streets that she walked daily. We spent the day with Chris and his father. Richard drove us out the a bike shop where I got the drop out on my bike replaced. It is a small metal piece that holds the rear derailleur to the frame. I think it must of gotten bent when I crashed, way back in the beginning. So for 20 bucks they fitted a new one, tuned my bike, and voila! the final remnants of the crash was fixed. After the bike shop we went and saw the new, and final, Harry Potter. It was incredible; the end of an era, marking the end of my childhood.

July 16th: Berea, Ky to Bardstown, Ky. 79.25 miles. I believe that today was our longest day yet. we managed pretty well, the terrain wasn't too bad, and we pulled into town around dusk. It was a little hard to leave Berea--our rest day went by too fast, but I can say I was a little glad to be back in the saddle. Chris and his Dad have joined us for good, at least for a while. Richard started the morning by asking me why I wouldn't put my gear in his car. I now realize how incredibly stubborn I am. I said I would get myself, and all my stuff, from point A to point B. That is exactly what I am going to do. Even though the idea of riding without any weight being pulled behind me sounds amazing. Anyway, we stopped in Bardstown at a camp ground, which I believe was named something like Oh My Old Kentucky Home Campground or something like that. I do not really remember.


July 17th: Bardstown, Ky to Big Clifty, Ky. 49.2 miles. Today was a shorter ride, but because we had ridden almost 80 miles yesterday I did not mind. We camped outside the Double L Grocery in Big Clifty. The Double L grocery is owned by Arnold and Lucy Lucas, and we were greeted by them and their daughter Lauren. Arnold was full of jokes, Lauren was wonderfully hospitable, and Lucy looked like a cross between my mom and my Aunt Sue. I wanted to hug her and never let go. But I didn't; I didn't want to get arrested for harassment. Anyway they let us into the grocery to shower, and fed us some pickled dog (bologna), pickled cucumber, and gave us large glasses of ice water. Chris and his dad set up a tent in the back, Ivan slept on an old futon that was on the side of the building, and I got to sleep in a hammock. It was bliss. In the morning we feasted on homemade biscuits and gravy.


July 18th: Big clifty, Ky to Utica, Ky. 70.49 miles. Today was a long day, ending with us riding in the dark. We try not to ride after dusk, but sometimes it is unavoidable. The day was filled with small hill after small hill. Sometimes when you are climbing up one, the curve of the road makes it look like when you get to the top that you will just fall off the other side. It is always surprising, when you get to the top of a hill like that, to see more hills on the other side. Riding like this, though, convinces me that the earth is round. I do not need to see a photo to believe it. Anyway we got to the Utica Fire Station around 9 pm. It was dark and the gnats were out with a vengeance, by the time we made it. Strangely enough I seem to ride better certain adverse conditions, like rain or darkness. I do not know what it is about being cloaked in night or drenched in rain, but my legs seem stronger and my fatigue seems to go away. Maybe it is because I know it is unsafe so I keep moving as best that I can. Maybe it is that I have to focus on other things, like trying to see the road and traffic, that I forget to notice how hard this all is. I am not quite sure, but I ended this ride strong. It felt good, and the fire station was the perfect place to stay. There were showers, we got to do our laundry, and there was a gas station across the street so I got to have a huge glass of milk before bed. Thank you Utica, population 500.


July 19th: Utica, Ky to Shawneetown, Il. 68.76 miles. Today we managed to leave the fire station bright and early. It was a nice ride through rolling country side, though it did get rather hot during the middle of the day. I hate to say it, but I did end up walking a lot of hills. This I can safely say can be attributed to the heat and not the height, nor length, of the hills. Chris had a flat tire incident, but I was already ahead of him so I could not help. Luckily for him Ivan was behind. It was a flat in the most inconvenient of places: near the valve of the tube. Long story short, instead of being able to patch it they had to over inflate one of Ivan's spare tires and ride into town on that. It worked like a charm. Mean while I waited for them to catch up outside of a diner, names The Diner. When we were all reunited we ate at The diner. For around 7 bucks, I got three large slices of roasted ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and a very large slice of homemade pecan pie. I adore small town America. We ended the day by crossing the Ohio river. I may have uttered a profanity or two when the bridge came into sight. The 5 or so miles leading up to the bridge are completely flat. The bridge however it not, but we made it up and over to stay in the small town of Shawneetown. One of the local policemen was kind enough to find us a church where we could shower and sleep.

And that is the beginning, middle, and end of Kentucky. Two states down, eight more to go, and a little over a month to do it in. Ug.