Day 18: Friend for an hour

Day #18) June 30, 2011. Owensboro, KY to Morganfield, KY: 64 miles in 5:10 hrs.

The heat is just getting ramped up today at 85 in Morganfield. To me it feels like 105! I just don’t do well in the heat. The high is supposed to be like 90-92, so with my early start I beat the really scorching part of the day.

So last night was another Chinese buffet, and it was a LU LU of a time. This was one of those “super buffets” where there was about 5 different tabled rows of food. And let me tell you, half of KY was in this place. And I swear, you go into one of those places and it’s just amazing to see all the overweight people. It’s like 4 for every 5 of the folks in there is considerably overweight. Not trying to be nasty here – just an observation - but wow, no wonder our country is on the verge of stratospheric obesity problems. I mean they keep right up with me in the eating dept., and I’d just gotten done spending 5 hrs in the saddle. I guess it’s kind of hypocritical for me to to diss those folks when I’m eating 4 bloody plates of Chinese food in one sitting just like them!

Now my stay in the Owensboro Motel 6 was a close second to the Berea Day’s Inn – the whole cleaning staff looked to be from Jamaica, what with the braided and corn-rowed hairdos. I even came around the corner and saw a Rasta dude giving this chick a sniff of some dope (gib, pot, marjijuana) that was in this container. When they saw me they gave me this gnarly stare, like “What the F--- you looking at?” My bad dude, and I just kept on walking, right around the corner to my room that I deadbolted, double locked, and put a piece of 2x4 between the door and the bed frame! Crazy place. Then my neighbors up above me on the second floor, well, they were having a “Thank God it’s Wednesday” party out on the balcony for like 4 hours, laughing, drinking, smoking, and who knows what else. Another day of battening down the hatches and working on the computer in my meager little AC room and having a few Fosters Lagers. I really needed a bottle of Jack Black to put me out of my misery!

Got up at 4am to get an early start on the day due to the weather forecast of 90+ degrees for today. Went across the street to a 24/7 gas mart for my breakfast – large coffee, 2 doughnuts and 2 bananas. Went back to my room and worked for an hour and ate and drank coffee. Then was on the road at 5:50am. Now that I’m in the Central Time Zone the sun is rising at like 5am. It’s great for my style of riding because I like to start super early and end super early before the heat and wind of the day. So I got rolling through the west end of town to pick up Rt 56, and as I was rolling up to my turn this guy on a recumbent pulled out and I could see him trying to catch up to me from my mirror. Well, he caught me just before I was to get on this busy Rt 81/56. That’s when he asked where I was going. Told him to Morganfield on Rt 56. That’s when Dan advised me to follow him to avoid the nasty “city section” of 56. “Way too busy,” he told me.

“Follow me,” he added, “I’ll get you to a better spot on 56.” So we got on the sidewalks and I followed him, with us eventually ending up on this asphalt bike and hike trail that kind of skirted the city. Now Dan was doing pretty darned good on that recumbent as we were clipping along at like 14-15 mph. Then he said, “awh, I’ll ride with you for a bit and get you further out on 56.” So he took me on these amazing little backroads through farm country. Now it was like 6:30 am, with the sun just rising up, cool morning air, no traffic, calm as could be and just wonderful scenery. This was the highlight of my day. No way I could have found roads like that. And we began chatting, which felt great for me, having done solo rides for the past four days. Dan is retired and just recovering from cancer, so he’s only been back on the bike for a short time. But he’s doing really well riding, believe me. Said he’s been riding for 20+ years and that the bike kind of saved his life from an unhealthy lifestyle. Reminds me of me back when I was in my late teens! I was a real piece of work back then. He was a true gentleman and a funny guy, kind of poking fun about the hillbillies in KY. I told him that me being an Ohioan, that we Ohioans are goofed on to by people from the east and west coast about being hillbillies and farmers. It’s all perspective. I did tell Dan that down in Southern KY, now that was an eye-opener for hill folk. That was like a totally different world.

So we went across this wonderful landscape of farm country with corn, soy beans and tobacco just chatting away, and finally we got to Rt 56. And Dan said he’d ride a bit further with me, up to W. Louisville. Rt 56 by this time was a very nice little country road that kind of rolled up and down across the farm country, and I had a totally enjoyable time riding with Dan on his home turf – he’s a lifelong resident of this area. Then he went a bit further to St. Joseph, where there was this really stunning nunnery out in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful place, and that’s where Dan bid me farewell, and I continued on my own. It was crazy but it was almost as if I was saying farewell to an old friend, this after just 1 hour of riding with the man. The road continued to roll, with nothing in the little cookie range, but they rolled and dipped nonetheless. The heat was just intensifying in a big way, and I was starting to feel pretty scorched by about 4 hours into the day with the continued climbing in and out of the saddle. I totally knocked off my two waterbottles by that time, but pretty much could tough it out for the final hour.

This is my preferred “siege style” of cross country riding – going non-stop for the day due to heat and wind - to pretty much do the whole ride without taking time off for refueling on food and water. I’m into the non-stop way of riding distance. When I stop, I want to be DONE. None of that stiff legs stuff after a half hour or hour off the bike. Now I’ve done it differently, especially riding with Barney in the Canadian Maritimes, but that’s much easier to do with a partner when you both go in and have some lunch or something. But when I’m solo, I just hate stopping! Period. Now the old buttocks really takes a beating being seated for 5+ hrs, but that’s the downside I’m willing to live with. Matter of fact my arse is so tender that I have to put a pillow down on the chairs when I sit down to work on the computer. And I’m glomming on BodyGlide like it’s butt butter!

Made it to Morganfield in like just over 5 hrs. Now I was tempted to shoot for Shawneestown just across the Ohio River in IL, but that would have been another 20+ miles with the heat on the increase. So I bagged it in Morganfield with just under 65 miles for the day. Have to say with this heat I was kind of groggy for a bit after getting off the bike. Heat just destroys me. Got a nice little motel room and just slammed water for 5 min, cup after plastic cup, non-stop. Then I was directed to the town’s Subway, just 2 blocks from my motel, where I sawed through 2 footlongs. Same response as usual from the wait staff – disbelief in one person ordering two footlongs to eat in house. I finished those subs before some of the people who had been eating there before me – and some just had half a sub total! Knocked out 2 32-oz fountain cokes and I was feeling human again.

I’m working on a big Fosters oilcan at the moment finishing up a half day of work on the computer. More Subway in about an hour and then off to bed early for another early start. Now I’d emailed the Carbondale cycling club this morning about the best route to get me through southwestern IL up to the St. Louis area. The president of the club got back to me asap and gave me a route through IL up to the E. St. Louis area. Then I’d sent another email to the folks who own the bike shop at the start of the Katy Trail in MO, about the best way to get to St. Charles from the east side of the Mississippi River in IL, and they were prompt in sending me a map my ride map of the best route. Looks like I’ll be riding along the east side of the Mississippi River for a day or so. I’m guesstimating that it will take me 3-4 days to get to the start of the Katy Trail.

All the best………Pete

Day 17: Beerthirty

Day #17) June 29, 2011. Rough River State Park, KY to Owensboro, KY: 52 miles in 4:08 hrs.

Would have loved to hang at the State Park for another day – beautiful place and awesome little bungalow - but the price and the time just didn’t justify it, so I was off again by 7am headed to Owensboro. Now the ranger yesterday had told me it was 54 miles on the route I had planned to do. Again, on these little county backroads as opposed to the main state routes – and that spells some serious climbing. Matter of fact once I got off of 79 and turned onto this little county road 736 the proverbial ---- hit the fan. No illusions today, I hit that little cookie on the very first climb, and it was long and steep – not as steep as the motha that damn near did me in yesterday, but steep nonetheless. I mean I began the thing by doing this steep and winding descent - and you could just feel it coming, and I was kind of laughing out loud again at what I knew was coming. And sure enough, WHAM, this stairway to heaven of a climb awaited me.

Made it ok to the top, and PR’d with how early into a day’s ride I pulled out the trusty sweat rag for my head – exactly 40 min into the day! But got to tell you that despite these climbs this road was just so wonderful. It was like a lane and a half wide, just enough for one car to travel full lane, and the scenery was amazing as I climbed to the top. Kind of reminded me of the west, what with the conifers and the smell of pine up near the top. With fresh legs it was very enjoyable. Tell you what, had I gone for Owensboro yesterday with 60+ miles already in my legs, this and the other climbs today would have been pure hell to endure. I think during my entire time on 736 one car passed by. Had a total of 3 little cookie climbs on 736 alone.

Then it was onto Rt 54, and again, another nice county road. First 15-20 miles were rolling with some little and middle cookie climbs. None were as steep as the ones on 736, but I was determined to end the day with legs that weren’t totally spent, so little cookie was the word for the day. I guess that once I broke the ice with the little cookie yesterday, it was a no-brainer. Don’t know what I was thinking, but sometimes I’m just a hard-head and muscle up climbs as if I’m just on my road bike with no gear. But what with all those little maligning knee issues lately, got to have a cool head. So with that mindset, and with fairly fresh legs it was very comfortable to do everything today. And zero knee issues.

The second 15-20 miles on 54 was a different story. All of a sudden, past the town of Whitesville, the traffic got super heavy. I mean I was looking in my mirror constantly to make sure I was off as far as I could go to the right on the berm. Which brings me to this….why in the hell is every road in the state of KY got rumble strip on the berm? It’s maddening. I mean there’s usually about 1-3 feet of berm on most roads. Yet they put that ground-in rumble strip on virtually every road there is no matter how wide the berm. Sometimes the berm is nothing more than one foot of rumble strip for God’s sake. Makes me think that the drivers in KY are so bad that they need that rumble strip to keep them from driving off of all the roads. Are they too sleepy, to DUI, to sloppy of drivers? It’s crazy.

So when 54 got busy, that precious 2-3 feet of berm, that was my home, and be damned if ¾ of that strip was rumble! Now I would venture into the “rumbleland” on many occasions just to stay the hell out of the way. But it was very annoying to hit that strip and feel like you’re riding one of those cheeky massage beds in a dumpy motel room. Got passed by logging trucks, lumber trucks and just regular 18-wheelers. Thankfully everyone was really cool to me, and really went out of their way to give me room. On some occasions I’d dip into the asphalt apron of a driveway to give the big guys more room to get by me. So far so good in KY with the traffic. I’m getting the waves and thumbs up from people as I’m riding along. And when I do make the effort to get out of the way, or wave a driver to pass me, I’m getting waves yet again.

Actually made it to Owensboro in a tad over 4 hours. The distance was just over 50 miles, so this was a short one for sure. I actually felt really good at the end. Hit a Subway for a single footlong and then checked my phone for emails and calls just to kind of take some time such that I wouldn’t get into the city too, too early. Now I was in the same position today as yesterday, make it a short to moderate day or go for the gold with a super long day. My choice was the former, to stay put here in Owensboro and not go another 60-70 miles to Morganfield, KY. Nope, I’m good with an easy day. So I got a 40-buck cheapie Motel 6. And wouldn’t you know it, after 3 days of ending up in dry counties at the end of each ride, I finally landed in a “WET” county. So the first thing I did was to go to a little beer store next to the Motel 6 (yea, that tells you something about the quality of the motel venue doesn’t it?), and bought a Fosters oil can, and then sat poolside with a cold beer in the 87-degree heat. Wonderful!

Been working for the past 3-4 hrs in the motel. There’s a Chinese buffet just across the street, so that’s my future for din-din. Not a great neighborhood here – kind of reminds me of Howe Rd in Akron near Chapel Hill Mall what with all the commercial establishments and the traffic. But it will do. Tomorrow I’m going to shoot for Morganfield, KY or maybe, if I’m riding well and the terrain is moderate, I’ll take it into Southwestern IL and cross the Ohio River.

On to Missouri ……Pete

Day 16: Rolling the rock uphill

Day #16) June 28, 2011. Elizabethtown, KY to Rough River State Park, KY: 63 miles in 5:03 hrs.

Another day of a KY butt kicking. Wow, this state is super beautiful but let me tell you – it’s grueling to ride across east to west. More on that in a minute.

Last night I was ambling over to the Texas Roadhouse for a beer when I got sidetracked – by a sign at Shoney’s for an all you can eat dinner buffet. Now I’m just a total sucker for buffets! So I kind of stood there for a minute weighting my options. On one side I hadn’t had that wonderful cold beer after a ride for like 3 days; conversely on the other side my belly was just doing it’s best to convince me to forsake the beer and eat, eat, eat. The belly won!

Crushed like 4 plates in Shoney’s. Now we’re not taking gourmet here, but I was just on fire nonetheless, going for fried chicken, catfish and pork chops with peppers and onions. And I did my fair share of veggies to. That was like 4 hrs after I’d eaten 2 foot long subs at Subway. It’s like a sickness I swear. I mean this intense appetite thing is just off the charts when you’re riding 5+ hrs a day, especially when the intensity level is high from all the hill and mt climbing. Honestly, there are times when I just want to eat more food at like 9 or 10pm in the evening. I am trying to curb my fat intake from last year’s trip where I was wolfing down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s a night – on top of dark beer. Ok, enough of the eating thing.

Got on the road at 6:45 this morn with the clouds just thick, dark and gloomy as all heck from the line of thunder storms that rolled in last night and pretty much flooded the area over the course of 6-7 hrs of raining. When I turned on the Weather Channel there were flood warnings for some of the counties I would be riding through today. Roads were still soaking wet, and the air was as thick as cheese. The forecast was for clearing skies, but there was the chance for some stray showers up through 9am. Got it rolling anyway. This was to be a big day, as I was hoping to make it to Owensboro. I knew it was a long haul, but not quite sure exactly how long. My gazetteer is just not easy to judge distances from. So I kind of guestimate each day. But it looked to be a solid 80 miles.

Rolled out of town on a fairly main road, and figured that to be about a 40-minute ride. Turned out to be 1:15 hrs on that puppy. Finally got on this super little county road, rt 84 west. It was true bliss – nice and flat to gently rolling farmland as far as the eye could see. Stopped at one point to move a little bird out of the middle of the road, and then I was playing catch-up with a couple of young Amish guys riding a buggy down the road for like 5 miles. Caught them and gave a friendly wave and they giggled at me rolling by. I know for a fact that they were pushing that horse just a tad to try to stay ahead of me. That was an hour or so of riding that was just so awesome – warm early morning, the smell of all the miles corn and soybeans layering the landscape, and those Amish kids rolling down the road, with zero traffic, just me in back of them. It was another pinch me moment.

Now this rt 84 just went on forever. And once I crossed Rt 60 all of a sudden 84 took on a more punishing face – hills, hills, and more hills – steep, crushing hills. And I kind of laughed out loud and said: “here we go again.” Now my legs have been playing tricks on me as of late. I’m getting these ghost pains that kind of migrate from day to day. One day it’s my left ITB, the next day it my left medial quad, and then the next day it’s my right medial quad. Every day it’s seems to be a different ghost pain. Well, today it was the left ITB again. Nothing bad mind you, but just enough to let me know it’s there. So again, I backed off the choice of big gears to climb with in leu of the smaller gears I could spin faster with. And I want to tell you that officially today, June 28^th, I had to use the little cookie in the back.

Forget the pride, the ego, the hard-ass attitude. Gone. When I saw that first steep hill it was like an automatic response. No time to kind of think it over it was just – BAM – little cookie. It at least enabled me to spin in the saddle instead of strain and bust in the middle ring. Ok, so I’d broken the ice with the little cookie. Now it would become a part of the trip. And then, like 30 min later, after about 4 middle cookie climbs I did this crazy descent, like a zoomer down a roller coaster, and I was thinking: “man I am royally screwed, I am totally screwed!” Now this was on a little country road that was about 1.5 lanes wide, nowhere near wide enough for two cars to pass at the same time. So I just slammed the big ring and tried to get my momentum as high as possible. Then I hit it, and it was just unbelievable.

And as I shifted to my new friend, the little cookie, it made me think of one of my clients who had just done reps on Oak Hill back home. She was lamenting at how intimidated she was by that hill, and how slow she was climbing it – at about 3-4 mph. so I looked down at my speedometer and guess what? 2.8 mph! That’s right. So I was out of the saddle just doing all I could to not fall over, and then got over the thing where it leveled for about 30 meters and then ramped up again into the heavens. That’s where I shifted. And it was kind of a panic shift so I wouldn’t fall over. Well, I ended up over shifting and threw the chain into the spokes. The chain and derailleur locked up immediately. And that’s a feeling you just don’t want to experience, especially when climbing a bloody wall for God’s sake. As soon as the chain bound I instinctively unclipped with both feet hitting the road. Keep pedaling and you’ll very likely twist the derailleur hanger right off of the frame or pull the derailleur right into the spokes and break it in half – in either of those scenarios you’re SOL Charley.

Now the dilemma: I had to pull the chain out of the spokes because they were super locked up. Couldn’t even move the bike because when the back wheel turned it pulled at the chain and pulled the derailleur right smack dab into the spokes. So I was stranded: couldn’t move the bike forward or backwards. Couldn’t move it at all. So I one handed the handlebars with the front bags just wanting to twist the front end while I reached down with the other hand and tried in vain to pull the black, greasy chain out of the spokes. Not a chance! Probably could have lacerated my fingers pulling on that chain if I’d of pulled hard enough. Nope, I had to take off the mirror, lay the bike down in place in the middle of the road, yak and all connected, so I could have access to the drive train and so I could go to the side of the road and get a stick to pry the chain out. By that time the temp was like 84 degrees with this gnarly horrible humidity. So I was sweating like a freaking crazy man, just dripping wet and wondering if a car was going to come up out of the abyss on me or down into the abyss on me, or if I was going to find that I’d done some damage to the hanger or derailleur. My one hand was just black with grease, and my head was just dripping sweat like a waterfall.

Got a good sized stick and began prying very carefully, so as to not damage the derailleur or the chain or the spokes or the hanger. Had to use both hands at one point, one to pull the derailleur out to get the stick in, the other hand to pry on the stick which was biting on the chain - just a bite at a time. Finally got it and turned the pedals to flip the chain on, but it just flipped right back into the spokes. Pried again, this time pretty easily, and got it back on a ring. Then flipped to shifter to move the chain to the left. Done. Now getting that whole train back up, that was a feat un to itself. But I did it without damaging anything. Remounted the bike, turned downhill, got clipped in, did a U-turn, and then took another stab at that second hump on the climb. I hadn’t walked a hill in 2 cross country trips, and I wasn’t about to take one today. So I got it going and surmounted the damned thing. Once I topped out I found a stretch of grassy weeds and cleaned my hands off as best as possible, and then I remounted my left hand mirror.

Wiped sweat off of my head like a maniac and then continued. Everything seemed ok. Hanger looked to still be in line, and derailleur seemed to be straight. But that effort just took everything out of me. It was about a half mile long. Not long after that there was this gradual climb that spanned about 2 miles. At the end of it was the end of Rt 84. Loved it/hated it! But I was glad to be done with it. Then I cruised for a while on some good, ridge-top roads continuing west. Turned into Rough River State Park and stopped at a rangers station to guzzle water. Inside I was talking to a ranger telling him of Rt 84. He was ear to ear smile! Then I asked the distance to Owensboro, to which he replied 54 miles. That was it right there. I already had 60+ miles, and piling 54 more on that? Nope, I was done for the day. He told me I could camp or hit the lodge. With 85 degrees and a dewpoint in the 70’s that was a no-brainer. To the lodge James!

Great little place, and kind of reminds me of Salt Fork in Ohio. Got a room and then ……lunch buffet!!!!!!! Yea baby. My kind of place. Took a while for my room to be ready due to me loosing an hour of time, having passed into the Central Time Zone, and me starting so bloody early. I had 5 hrs in, but it was only 11am when I got there and the check-out was like 1pm or something. So they let me park my bike and yak in the office while I cleaned up the greasy mess on myself in the restroom and then went to lunch. Crushed like 4 plates and 6 glasses of ice water.

Just got back from the……dinner buffet!!!!! Another super eating session. Relaxing here in my little room with a full length wall window with a deck outside overlooking the lake. Nice way to end a tough day.

Tomorrow thru Sat is supposed to be very good weather, so I’ll just keep the train rolling west. Late……..pete

Day 15: Sweating down the backroads

Day #15) June 27, 2011. Harrodsburg, KY to Elizabethtown, KY: 71 miles in 5:33 hrs.

Wow…I’m just crushed from today’s ride. The heat and humidity was just crazy today – temp of 86 with dew point of 73 - and after 5 and a half hours of power climbing I slithered into Elizabethtown drenched in sweat with my mouth so bone-dry that I’d felt as though I’d been eating cotton balls. Went non-stop and downed my two bottles of water.

So let’s start from the start. Go up this morning at 5:30 am to face yet another weather advisory, this one for a tracking of severe weather coming in from the west in IL and MO, and the advisory was calling for the potential for very damaging T-storms with hail. So again, there I was in the morning doing my Weather Channel vigil while checking out the Doppler on my computer, and looking out the window checking out the cloud cover. I’m this neurotic weather geek who just goes bonkers with all the information overload. So I went and grabbed some breakfast at the complimentary breakfast. And there I was moseying in and out of the office to the outdoors checking out the wind and clouds. I though seriously about just bagging it and sitting it out – same as I’d done the day before when the deluge hit early morning.

Hemming and hawing, hemming and hawing. Go for it….or don’t go for it. Finally I just went into autopilot and started packing. Having checked the Doppler for the umpteenth time I figured by the speed of the storm that I’d have about 5 hours to “git er done”, so I jammed and was out the door by 7am. Got going west on Rt 152, a super nice backcountry road that trended to Springfield, KY. The road was super and the traffic was negligible, but there was some power climbing. No worries though as the beautiful KY countryside made for a great backdrop to all the climbing. Now by this time I was out of the mts of KY, but in this farm countryside there are still these climbs the come again and again. You see, you kind of descend down to cross streams and small rivers, and then climb back out of the small valleys. And there are a slew of these stream crossings. It was like a roller coaster with all the ups and downs.

Made it into Springfield in like 2.5 hours. The weather was still holding so same strategy as yesterday - kind of pick off the bigger towns one at a time, making a stop at any of the three – Springfield, Bardstown or Elizabethtown based on the weather. Best case scenario was making it to Elizabethtown. So on to Bardstown, and that’s when the ---- hit the fan with the power climbing – just incessant! By then the temp had started to climb and the humidity was just sweltering. Made it to Bardstown by 3.5 miles into the day. My average, amazingly enough, was holding at 12 mph. Never did I use the big ring. It was middle cookie the whole time, and even then I was on that super huge pie plate in the back on numerous climbs.

The ITB issue with my left leg was replaced by a tweeking of my medial quad muscle, just ever so slightly. Has to be all the climbing I’d done for the past 12 straight days. So I really tried to relax out of the saddle and churn the easy gears with climbing in the saddle. So far it’s working out ok. I’m getting off of the bike and feeling good – leg wise. No soreness post-ride and that’s great. I am noticing my wrists, which with all the out of the saddle climbing, and now, what with dragging that yak, are feeling just trashed – sore to move the hand from side to side. And that’s both wrists. There’s a lot of torque on the wrists when climbing out of the saddle and moving around on the bars for 5.5 hours a day. And man, I just had to shake them out every 15 or so minutes.

The hardest part of the day was the trek from Bardstown to Elizabethtown. That puppy was 23 miles of just nasty power climbing. And then there was one longish climb that went on for like 2 miles. That’s the guy that really just toasted my for the day. I was just dripping like a faucet at the top, toweling my face off with my little sweat rag as if I’d just gotten out of the shower. Now don’t get me wrong, I signed up for this, and the scenery was great, but with the humidity at a dew point of 73, that made cycling and climbing just awful. The sky was also beginning to darken to the west and I was getting spit on by just a hint of drizzle at times. There was a point where I’d though my luck had run out and I was going to get slammed by the storm. That was especially apparent to me when I saw a sign of Elizabethtown: 13 miles away. “Yup,” I thought, “time to pay the piper!” But it never really developed into anything other than a spitting for drizzle every now and again.

Seeing the motel signs and all the restaurants meant that I’d finally made it into town without get crapped on by the weather. Did it for the second day in a row. Stopped at a Motel 6 and booked a room for 39 bucks. It’s no Taj Mahal, but it’s a place to work the rest of the day and sack out without worrying about the weather. So next stop was ……….Subway! Yes indeed, I’d gotten the Subway Jones going for sure. So I went in and ordered my two 12-inch subs. And once again I got the looks from the waitresses – the “is he going to eat all those himself” look. Then I pulled out one of my – get this – one of my 5 Subway cards. I had yet to use any of the cards my fitness class had so graciously given me, and the card my cousin Sue had given me. So I grabbed the top card and it happened to be the one from my cousin Sue. So I paid and then the young lady told me how much I had left on the card, and I did a double take. “Say what,” I asked her. And she reiterated how much I had left. And I told the waitress that I had to give my cousin an extra big hug. Sue….thanks so very much, love you!!!!!

I mean I’m going to be munching Subway for a long, long time what with those five Subway cards. Back to my little abode to work for the past 4 hours. The weather is getting pretty dark and storm-like. I’d made it here by a mile. Wanted to do the pool and just jump in, but by the time I’d gotten done working the clouds and wind had picked up way too much. So I’m back here working the blog. So I’m in yet another dry county, and in this one you can go to an establishment like a steak house and buy a beer, but no carry-out beer for sale here. It’s crazy from county to county it’s different. So I just may go to the Lonestar restaurant across the street for a burger and beer.

Tomorrow the weather situation is pretty much the same as today, at least on the current forecast – chance of heavy storms tonight extending into the morning. So could be Groundhog day again for the third morning in a row.

Until tomorrow…….Pete

Day 14: Escape from Hell

Day #14) June 26, 2011. Berea, KY to Harrodsburg, KY: 45 miles in 4 hrs.

Watching the weather last night I was bummed to find that a front was coming through last night and lasting into today, with some very heavy T-storms forecast. So I hit the hay wondering if I’d be stuck in the Hell Hole for another day. And speaking of the Hell Hole Hotel, last night was just amazing. The chicks and the kids and the dudes were out sitting on the sidewalk in front of their motel room last evening for a good 2 hours. I mean that door next store was a virtual revolving door with people coming in and out. Then they were blowing caps off or something around 10pm, just the time I hit the bed.

Got up at 5:30am and immediately turned on the weather channel - to see that this massive storm front was like about 40 miles away from Berea. So I was super bummed to know that I wasn’t getting on the bike to ride right into the eye of the storm at my 7am etd. Nope, with an 80% chance of rain for the day, and that front cranking down on Berea, It looked like I’d be staying the day in the Hell Hole Hotel yet again. And bad thing about that was that one of the 10 or 12 dudes who duck in and out of the door next door, well he was wrenching on his car at 6am right in front of my door. He’d be clanking around of a few minutes and then try to start the car, each time with a no-go on the car starting. He must have been there clanking and wrenching for an hour. Finally – and believe you me I was silently cheering for him to get the freaking thing fixed so he’d high tail it the hell out of there – it started. Then he proceeded to race around the parking lot testing all the gears. It sounded like the warm up to a county fair stock car race.

Then the morning light was replaced by morning dark, and that T-storm front moved in by 7am, and it rained like hell for about an hour. I just hung tight feeling sorry for myself being stuck in the Hell Hole for another day. Watched the Weather Channel like I was addicted to it just hoping against all odds that the thing would move out and I’d be able to escape. So I got my KY Gazetteer out and mapped out an “escape” ride, a ride to get me just a few miles down the road, or maybe even 40 miles down the road. Anywhere other than the Day’s Inn Hell Hole of Berea, KY.

So then I ambled through the rain and into the lobby for the “Complementary Continental Breakfast.” Yea right – wonder bread, stale dried cereal, milk and little plastic spoon-full containers of jelly (the kind you get at Bob’s Big Boy to go with your toast). So I indulged in two pieces of toasted Wonder Bread with jelly for my breakfast. I had coffee from the push-mug and then poured it out after one taste. My suspicion was that it was yesterdays coffee warmed up! The owner wasn’t even up yet and no one was in the lobby for breakfast, so that told me that most everyone at the motel LIVED there. No guests like me. Nope, no one that stupid. God I had to get the hell out of that place, it just gave me the creeps.

So the rain had began to let up after my stellar breakfast. And that’s when my escape planning proceeded in earnest. Did some map work, then looked at latest Doppler map, did some map work, looked at Doppler. More people in and out of the next door room. The weather looked like it had passed to the east so I quickly packed my gear to make for the nearest road out of there. Locked the motel door with key inside at 9:30am and headed into a very slight drizzle. No worries though…….I was FREE! Past the owner in the parking lot on my full rig. Told him the key was in the room and then I pedaled the hell out of there. Problem was that I took a wrong turn and ended up on a dead-end road. Had to ask the guards at a gate for a big company how to get to 595 N, and they pointed me in the right direction.

Got on several really nice little backcountry roads and suddenly Berea, KY was far over my shoulder. Now I had to contend with a bike that went from 40 lbs in weight to like 120 lbs in weight what with the front panniers and the yak in tow. OUCH! That first ride with full gear is always an eye-opener. But I was rolling and that was better than sitting. The wind was very strong out of the SW, and made riding to the west on that dinosaur of a rig even harder. Was middle cookie the whole time. Not even a chance in hell I’d be able to push the big cookie. And to make matters worse my left IT band was kind of barking at me. So I had to keep it light on the pedals and go with easier gears on the seated climbs. Now I hadn’t ridden with full gear for nearly a year, but it came back super fast, and within 15 min I was out of the saddle climbing and rolling along at like 9-10mph. It was slow, but hell, hauling all that gear up and down the backroads of KY, I was ok with it.

And speaking of hills, I’d noticed today that the really big stuff was back behind me to the east. Nor more big mts in front of me or at my sides. It was all just rolling countryside. It was farm country. But even the littlest of these hills was a toughie with all that gear on the bike. Now since I’d planned on doing a lot of backroad on this trip I tried something today that I’ve never used before on a bike – a mirror. Yea, I’d always been one of those snooty Roadies who wouldn’t be caught dead with a mirror on my helmet or handlebars – it’s a Roadie thing - but I thought it would be a very good idea to mount one on my handlebars once I got going with full gear. Well, today was the first day for the mirror. And I really liked being able to see back down the road on those narrow backroads, especially when I’d have to go out of the saddle. Yup, I’m a mirror guy on this trip!

So the going was slow and occasionally there would be a spritzing of drizzle for 5 or 10 minutes, and I was wondering just when the heavens would open up and I’d get a drenching. But, nonetheless I had escaped from the Hell Hole, and I was willing to take my medicine for it. Made it to Lancaster in just under two hours. Scenario one was done and I was good to go for scenario two – Danville, another hour down the road. The weather was holding so I went for it. Made Danville in another hour and decided to go for the whole enchilada – Harrodsburg. Weather was still holding. So I got directions to Harrodsburg from a sweet old lady coming out of a church and she had told me to take 127 N for 12 miles. She proceeded to tell me all about Danville and it’s history and how I could stay the night at their house if I wanted to. I thanked her but told her I had to keep moving for the day because I’d gotten a late start. So when I came to the sign for Harrodsburg it read: 6 miles. Done! Rode 127 on a super large berm all the way to Harrodsburg.

Got close to town and saw a couple of creepy motels, and just kept rolling. I was still stinging from the Berea Day’s Inn. Then got into town and saw a couple more seedy places – the Kentucky Inn and a flop-house looking place. But I’d seen a sign for a place called the Country Hearth, and it sounded nice and homey. So I held out and kept riding. Rode all the way through town and kind of felt resigned that it was going to be the Kentucky Inn by default. So I U-turned and then saw the sign for the Country Hearth. NICE PLACE! And for like 45 bucks, a super bargain. No derelicts, no seedlyness, no guests rolling in and out of the room next door.

Got situated and then went to DQ and got three of the big “solo” burgers: chicken crispy, beef with onions and mushrooms and the bacon cheese. Yea, the chick looked at me like, “is this all for you?” Gone. Going to get a great night’s sleep tonight and put in a good day tomorrow. Looks like chance of rain at 40% tomorrow and then 30% on Tues, and then the rest of the week around here is all sun. – well that’s what they say right now anyway!

This, as has been the case for almost everyplace around here, is a dry county. No beer! This state is killing me. Nothing better than an icy cold one after a full day of riding. Water? Gatorade? You kidding me?

Want to send a shout out to all my good friends in my fitness class at Summa. I haven’t even had a chance to get those Subway cards rolling yet, but I will! And all the goodies that you gave me? Awesome! Those lasted us for about 2 weeks of snacking, and I finished off the last bar and the salted peanuts yesterday. Thanks again everyone I was really touched by your kindness……….Pete

Day 13: The inevitable Goodbye

Day #13) June 25, 2011. Vincent, KY to Berea, KY: 60 miles in 4:25 hrs.

Up and adam at 5:30 this morn to get a good ride in early to allow Bill and Judy to get on the road early to get back home. Snagged some coffee and gassed up and then hit the road to get me back to Vincent for the start, and we, Judy and I, got going at like 6:30am – Earliest start yet. Now these were some serious backroads way the heck out in Daniel Boone National Forest. And they were just fabulous roads. Couple that with the early morning fog hanging in the lowlands and the sun trying to burn through, and it was just crazy beautiful – but there was a price – yep, a boat-load of steep power climbing. The first few climbs were kind of long and gradual, with us climbing past huge overhanging cliffs of limestone and shale. Then the next road was a total beast, with these super steep power climbs that had you out of the saddle torquing with all you got to make it over the crest. Judy did yet another fantastic job of climbing. Couple her good climbing with her superb sprinting every time a dog came out to chase and she was getting a monster day in!

That stretch of Rt 587 was only about 5 miles in length, but it just sucked a gallon of energy out of us with all the power climbing. I mean we were rocked by the time we hit the next road, which thankfully was all along a stream valley. This was a spot where the sun was burning off the last vestiges of fog off of the mt tops, and it provided for some incredible sights. The next two backroads were not nearly as bad as 587 – steep climbing wise - but there were a slew of power climbs, and it totally put the hurt on Judy. She managed to log 3.5 hours of ride time on some very serious terrain. I rode solo the remainder of the way with more power climbing. Made it to Berea about an hour longer than we’d thought it would take to get there. Despite all the climbing and the longer than expected ride time, this was just an awesome day on the bike, what with the scenery and the last several hours riding with Judy before she left.

Checked a hotel downtown but too expensive. So we headed to the north side of town where all of the interstate motels were. And that was my mistake, going to a place called Day’s Inn – not the Day’s Inn your daddy used to go to that’s for sure! Place was like 60 bucks and deserted, seeing it was only about 11am. The lobby was empty. I actually had to go get the owner who was cleaning rooms. We unloaded all my gear, and it kind of freaked my out – just a ton of stuff! How in the hell was I going to carry all that? So we got all my stuff in the room and suddenly this chick opens the door next to my room and asked us for a ride to her apt.? Say what? Yea, she wanted to know if we’d give her a ride to her apt. We told her that they couldn’t because they were leaving on the interstate immediately.

That’s my neighbor! And there’s been a steady caravan of traffic in and out of this backside of the motel ever since. Like even the pool, just across the parking area from me, it’s got all these people there partying. I mean there can’t be but me a few people in the whole motel, but it looks like a bunch of locals are just hanging out and swimming in the pool. So I’ve been sitting here trying to get caught up on my work the whole time, and then a couple of dudes drive in and visit the chick next door. They sat outside the room, on the sidewalk smoking cigarettes and talking for about an hour. They left and now the chick and one of her friends are out there jawing and smoking. This the motel from hell. Oh, wait, the dudes are back in the chevy with a bad muffler. What a place for sure! I’m hoping they all 86 this joint for the evening and go party somewhere so I’ll have some peace and quiet.

Going to head west tomorrow and hopefully not the kind of power hill climbing that Jude and I encountered. Talk to you tomorrow…….Pete

Day 12. Charting a new course

Day #12) June 24, 2011. Middlesboro, Ky to Vincent, KY: 81 miles in 5:34 hrs.

Finally, after like 4 days of waking up to cloudy, drizzly, threatening weather, we got a sweet day. Temps were in the low 70’s to start with the cloud cover just burning off of the mts. Got going with Judy round about 7:40am on route 25E right outside of the motel. Now my idea for today was to ride up about 80-100 miles north such that I can go dead west once Bill and Judy head back to Ohio. I’m aiming for a motel next to I-75 for tomorrow so I can get all my gear out of the van and into a room to sort and repack for the solo portion of my trip. Figured it would be good in that Bill and Judy will be right on the interstate tomorrow, and I’ll do a short 50-60 mile day tomorrow and then spend the rest of the day in a motel room repacking gear into the yak and my front panniers. Also have to transfer all my electronic gear into separate bags and cases. So that’s going to take several hours to get all the complete. Better that scenario than the one I did last year when they left me in Upstate NY – where I just pulled stuff willy-nilly out of the van on the side of the road and then they took off for home. It turned out that I forgot spare tires, my waterbottles, pumps and several other things. Luckily I went back through Hudson on that trip so I was able to get all the gear that I’d forgotten in NY that raining morning.

So I had trepidations about using 25E due to the high traffic. But look at a map and you’ll discover that down in Southern KY there are a shortage of good through roads. Matter of fact it’s like a maze of little roads that all meander around mountains. To get to some really good backroads that are substantial, it was going to take a long trek on 25E north to reach them. So we got it rolling on 25E, and though the truck traffic was crazy we had a berm that was a full lane wide all to ourselves. So the riding was safe. That’s always primary in my traveling via bike – safe roads whenever possible. You’ll always get a bummer of a road now and then that just scares the bejeevers out of you due to traffic, but I try to keep those to a minimum. Matter of fact we were really able to get a good pace going on that road due to it’s size limiting it’s pitch up the mts. Stayed with a solid 14-15 mph for our 24-mile stretch of 25E. Had a few climbs along the way but they were like 3-4% for 2-4 miles at a crack. Even at those grades you can roll along at 12-13 mph – with no gear of course!

So we flew through that and then jumped on Rt 11 North. That was a treat, going from what seemed like pseudo interstate to a nice county road. Great scenery along some streams and nice road surfaces to ride on. The whole time you could see that we were leaving the higher mts to the south and entering an area that was more of rolling foothills. Didn’t take but about 50 miles of northerly riding to say adios to the high ranges of VA and KY. And can’t say that I’m bummed either, as my legs have been on a sabbatical for about 3 days now. Matter of fact this morn I had a bit of a finicky right knee, my medial quad muscle to be specific. It was just a tad on the sore and stiff side, no doubt the result of days of climbing. I had to kind of undergear my climbing most of the day today just to make sure that it didn’t turn into a maligning over-use injury. That seemed to work because it felt ok by the end of the day. So I just spun on today’s climbing.

Again, Judy did a great job of climbing and riding, doing about 3 hours in the saddle today. I’m trying to encourage her to do some road racing what with the way she’s been tearing up these climbs for the past 3 days. Hopefully she will when she gets back. Bill took over just outside of Manchester, KY. By that time we had a cross headwind out of the northwest, which made the pedaling just a bit tougher, especially on the steep powerclimbs. Went through Manchester and let me tell you, not a place for a vacation destination – it was kind of decaying and gnarly looking. Definitely didn’t want to stop there for food or anything. So we jammed past that and onto rt 421 N. Not much for berm on that guy, but the traffic was tolerable and the scenery was decent. This is really where most of the day’s climbing began, the short and steep variety rather than those long, 40-minute dudes in the mts. No, there were the true definition of power climbing – short, steep and relentless. Singly three or four of those guys are ok, but strung together in a series over like 40 miles, and you’re suddenly in “Ouch Land.” They can suck the energy out of your legs like nobody’s business! And they were. Suddenly we were using that middle cookie more and more – until we finally just didn’t even shift back to the big ring anymore.

Now the scenery was pretty nice, way out on the backroads, but we were definitely paying the price of admission by doing all those power climbs. Off of 11N and onto 30E and that’s when the ---- hit the fan with climbing. The road was way the hell out in the sticks with just magnificent scenery – part of Daniel Boone Nat. Forest - but some of the power climbs were just leg crushers – they just rose right up in the air like a roller coaster start, forcing you to strain over the bars to pull up on the pedals and drive down with even more force onto the pedals. The road was twisting and winding and up and down. But there was hardly any traffic and the sights and sounds were fantastic. I’m sure had I not had like 70 miles in my legs by then I’d have had a more pleasurable experience on all those power climbs.

Our intention was to go as far as the town of Vincent, KY today, and then start from there tomorrow for a shorter day – that due to Bill and Judy leaving and me needing to sort gear. So my mind was set on Vincent, but then we saw the sign: “Road Closed, Detour Ahead.” Not good when you’re on a mission and only need like three more miles to make the day complete. Judy had scouted it out ahead of us and reported that the detour was on Rt 846, just a few miles shy of our destination. So we stopped and I looked at the map to see where the detour was going to put us – and it was downright cruel! This freaking thing took you on a loop that was literally some 30 miles out of the way if you were to get back to where you wanted to go. That’s when I took my helmet off and called it a day. Bill was on the very same mindset. It was already 80-some degrees out and I had been set on doing like 2-3 more miles, not 30! We were done. Now you have to remember that down here in Southern KY, there are a very limited amout of good through roads, so that detour was the shortest available. There was NOTHING else. We had no choice but to go with the detour to Boonesville to get back to Vincent.

No lodging or camping in Boonesville so we got online and found that there were two little motels up in Beatyville, 11 miles north of Boonesville. Done. Got a little mom and pop motel up in Beatyville, did a munchdown at the Dairy Queen which is right next door (there is literally nothing but a couple of little café’s in town) and then Judy and I did a dip in this little pool in back of the motel. Could very well be back at the DQ for another session of munching in an hour or so – they’re open till 10pm.

So tomorrow a short day to Berea, KY, situated right on I-75. I’ll spend the rest of the day repacking gear and working – getting caught up on phone calls and internet correspondence. Might even chill poolside again if I can bag a decent little motel. I’m going to miss Judy for sure, and having Bill and her along for the past two weeks, it’s like time has really flown. We’ve all had a pretty nice time traveling and riding. And part of my motivation for getting away from the American Dirt recon thing was that their vacation would have turned into a super messy support mission that was way more than they signed up for. To do AmDt right it needs to be a group of riders who all take part in the recon and the boat- load of work that goes with it. That’s definitely NOT a vacation – it’s going to be a ton of labor both on and off of the bike.

Sorry for no pics today, as the wifi I’m getting is like two bars, and I’ll barely be able to upload the blog let alone pictures. Late………Pete

Day 11: On to Kentucky

Day #11) June 23, 2011. Gate City, Va – Middlesboro, Ky: 76 miles in 5:24 hrs.

More rain last night – that stretched right on into the morning. By the time we had the van loaded, the rain was steady and an ugly grey cloudbank shrouded any of the surrounding mountains in the area. Stringers of rain dangled out of the clouds giving the morning an even more ominous feel. So we drove back into VA from TN, back to the gas station I’d stopped at yesterday. And I was all for sitting in the van and waiting the rain out. Thankfully Judy, who’s definitely not one to want to ride in the rain, she kind of issued me my riding papers and said: “let’s go!” If not for her encouragement I think I’d of sat in there another 40 min stalling just so I wouldn’t have to get out of that van and get another soaking.

Out we went into the grey, with the steady rain really dieing down by the time I shlepped my lazy arse onto the bike. Started of on a road that more resembled an interstate than a state route. But that’s really it in that area, which is just a super long notch across a mountain cut by the Clinch River. I mean you could go backroad up into the mts, but as I’d found on this trip, that kind of riding is just so off the charts difficult that I’ve scuttled the idea until the time and money allow for a much more ambitious and well prepared effort – and that with no gear to haul! In that area alone the mountainsides are so steep it’s scary. And not only that but what with all the rain over the last two months, the hard-pack gravel roads are just completely washed out and contain these massive aprons of loose, unconsolidated gravel areas from all the run-off. The mountains and terrain of WVa and Va are just so rugged and remote that they’re almost impenetrable.

So to make the situation doable I chose to ride on this Rt 58/421. Other than the lofty, washed-out gravel roads up in the high mts that route is the only way to work your way northwest towards Cumberland Gap. Judy and I got going into a misty drizzle in long sleeved jerseys. And not more than about 45 min in we hit a BIG, BIG mt climb, right up along rocked out walls some couple of hundred feet high. This pup went on for a good 40 min. And once the rain had stopped we were still soaked from the super high, 100% humidity. I mean my handlebar grips were just dripping with sweat. Jude did a magnificent job of climbing, mimicking each in and out of the saddle move I was doing. I’ve been trying to teach her to recover when climbing out of the saddle in the mts, that by shifting down to a bigger gear and just really getting on top of the pedals with a much lower cadence and hitting a slow and steady tempo. It really give the quads a break after you’ve been punching away in the saddle for 10 min or so. Sometimes, on the really long mt climbs, I’ll go for like 20 min OTS just to really relax and recover. Anyway, she really got it, and stayed with me the whole time.

Topped out in the middle of clouds and grey and drizzle, did a gonzo descent, and then proceeded to climb about half as much on the second climb as on the first. I mean it was right back to it – bang! Climbing again. Again, Judy did great. Got in another gonzo descent, rode for another 30 min and then did a third mt climb, that one almost as long as the first. That one we both really felt. I mean heck, we’d probably gotten in a solid hour of climbing alone before that third climb. By the time we reached Bill in the van we’d gotten in 2.5 hrs of riding and covered like 33 miles of road! Bill took over with the clouds starting to clear up and the possibility of rain looking a bit more remote. Now Bill and I did not hit any mt climbs, but climbing was still the word for the day, what with a gazillion rollers and power climbs to traverse. With that added to my legs they were turning to gu pretty quickly, so Bill took over with a couple of really nice pulls – like 30 min long - to give me a break. Oh yea, and there was a headwind we’ve been riding into. Like what with all the mts that’s pretty much of an afterthought right now. The headwind is really with us every day. Just really hits you on the “less” mountainous areas. On the steep stuff you never even know there’s a headwind. Then you flatten a bit and that’s when you discover Mr. Headwind.

Now we were looking for this gravel rail trail that was supposed to go for about the last15-20 miles into Cumberland, so we started looking for it around Ewing, Va. Made a failed attempt for find it one time by riding up this north trending road until it just really started climbing, and that’s when I said forget about it! Back to 58. Then on the second attempt we found it, literally right off of the main road. Got on this thing and it was really primitive, being only about a half a lane wide, and just riddled with washouts and loose stretches of gravel and mud. It was not a whole lot of fun and definitely not all that scenic. But we rode it out for about 7 miles until it just totally disintegrated into this total piece of garbage that was right off of the main road. You needed to go little cookie just to get up some of the trenched out, washed-out climbs. That’s when I rode across the grassy devil strip back onto the main road. Bill was right behind me. American Dirt/American Smirt – no way was I going to go through 3 miles of uphill “ditch” riding when the road was like 10 feet away.

Found Cumberland Nat. Historic Park and rode in to meet up with Judy. And there we were, climbing again up a pretty good incline to get to the camping area. Bill threw out several expletives. So did I! Got to the ranger station and found out that Judy was there, but went back down onto the main road to look for us. I rode down to find her and did as she was riding back into the park. That’s when I flagged her down and threw my bike on the rack for a ride back up the climb to the campground. So the situation was this: Bill is the guy with the tent while Judy and I do Camp Dodge 1500 Van, so I had Bill pick out a side at the place. Wanted him to be happy with a site, and let me tell you they were almost all either on a hillside or situated in the woods in mud. As I’ve already mentioned, the rain has been crazy out here for the past two months, so really none of the tent sites were day. So Bill finally came back from his recon mission with a thumbs down – no go on the tenting. We packed er up and decided to move on to Middlesboro for a motel. I decided to ride to the tunnel so we wouldn’t have to go back into Va tomorrow for my start. If you’re on your own on a bike you cannot ride a bike through the tunnel without a VDOT escort or have your bike put in a VDOT truck bed. And that takes a phone call at a call station at the tunnel. So I just rode to the tunnel and put my bike on the van and proceed to the other side into Middleboro.

Got a motel and then went straight to the Mother of all Chinese Buffets – the King Buffet! It was pure gluttony on a grand scale – not for Judy but for Bill and I. Wow, this was a cyclist’s dream! Especially after five and a half hrs of riding through mts. By the time I was done I felt like a piñata that was ripe for bursting. Ditto for Bill and Judy. All that was needed was some beer to finish the evening. And that was the tough part. You seed Bell County is a dry Co in KY. Talked to a couple workers in the local Wall Mart and they told me we’d have to go back to TN or VA go get beer. So in the van and back into TN we went – to this little beer lounge place. It reminded me of a cigar lounge. The place was a restaurant turned beer lounge, complete with the booth seating where a couple of good old boys were cranking on some bud lights. I picked up a local microbrew – Lazy Magnolia Pecan Nut Brown Ale. Ahhhhhh – wonderful.

Chilling right now with one of my beautiful little Nut Browns. Until tomorrow……Pete

Day 10: raining and climbing

Day #10) June 22, 2011. Hungary Mother State Park, Va – Gate City, Va - 80 miles in 5:34 hrs.

Rained a lot late last night at our campground – right into the morning. Got up and worked for a bit at 6am during some drizzling, and then when finished I helped to put gear away amidst intermittent rain bursts. It was pretty frustrating to get things close to ready to leave and ride, and then get nailed with another 20 min rain burst put us right back in the van waiting it out. So we were in and out of the van getting ready, not getting read, getting ready, not getting ready. Finally, by 8:30 I said ­“---- it” and put my gear on to ride in the rain. I’ll do a steady rain, even a pretty gnarly rain in warm weather, but not thunder and lightening on a bike. Well, steady rain it was.

Judy started out with me, like a total trooper, in the rain. Temp was about 60-something, so it wasn’t warm by any means, but it was doable. Climbed out the Hungary Mother park and then descended into Marion. At that point we were pretty soaked, especially the shoes and socks from the road spray off of the wheels. Next was a stint on Rt 11 south trending towards Abingdon, Va. Eleven was not my idea of a good road to ride a bike because it parallels I-81, but absolutely no roads were available to get us back on the back roads trending to the west – without re-climbing Walker Mt. Had to bite the bullet to get back into the backcountry. So we needed to do about 15-20 miles on 11.

By the time we’d gotten in about 3-4 miles on 11 the rain had dissipated and we were able to air dry off for a bit. That’s when my bike’s bottom bracket started making these clunking noises. My guess is that the rain and grit somehow got into my BB and now it’s making noises. So we just kept it rolling, and after another half hour the sun actually began popping out. That’s when the long sleeved jersey came off. Jude and I paralleled I-81 for a good while, crossing and re-crossing the interstate several times in the process. Got to our out, CR 80 west and get the freaking heck off of 11 and in an instant we were way out in the countryside of Va. Went from like suburbs to country in 3 miles – nothing but farms and rolling foothill countryside as far as the eye could see. Fabulous!

Met up with Bill in the van and made the rider change at about 2.5 hours in. Made a road change to to a little county road, CR 700 and took that pup west. Very little traffic, very decent road, but wow, it was just a climbing fest of power climbs. I mean that was a total roller coaster of a ride. Very little flats, but a WHOLE lot of up and down. That’s where my bottom bracket was just making some gnarly noises as I went out of the saddle or in the saddle on the climbs, where I applied a lot of pressure on the crank arms. It was really beginning to bug me.

We must have done a solid 25-30 miles of that CR 700, and it just crushed my legs with the non-stop power climbing. Bill, as Judy, did one heck of a job climbing. I have to say that on the three trans-continental trips I’ve done, they have taken part in all three, and on this trip they have just taken it up a notch with respect to their stamina and climbing ability. They’re there darned near all the time. Really good to see.

So the next change was us getting on SR 58/421 northwest to Gate City. Again, another really great backcountry road that was pretty mellow with respect to the traffic situation. By then the sky had greyed over and sprinkles were in the air on occasion. Kind of gave us a sense of urgency to finish the day out before the heavens burst forth with more rain. On the way we had talked about power washing our drive trains in a car wash to see if that would help with my noisy BB situation, and wouldn’t you know it, within several miles of discussing that we passed a little car wash out in the middle of nowhere. Hell, it looked so non-used that the coin machine had cobwebs on it, and we were a bit afraid that it would gobble Bill’s quarters and then not even turn on. But it did and we spayed our bikes down, with me really concentrating on the BB, chain, rear cluster and chain.

Got it rolling again….and there were still some noises coming out of my BB. I’ll have to spay lube the whole thing tomorrow morn and see what the verdict is then. Sometimes noises like that just go away, and sometimes they’re a portent to nasty things to come. Hopefully my deal is of the former. Made it to Gate City and we all agreed to shoot for a motel considering that the call for weather tonight is for some heavy thunder storms to move through. Forecast is that by 8pm the ----is going to hit the fan.

We had to drive across the TN border to Kingston, TN to find a Super 8. Then munched at a local pizza place that had an “all you can eat” pizza buffet. Final consensus: ok, not great, but certainly ok.

Back at the Super right now watching the storm front moving in. Good night to not be camping judging by the worst-case scenario fanatics on the Weather Channel.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to make Cumberland Gap Nat. Park in Va. …….Pete