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.
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