We are finally out of Virginia! And Kentucky did not give us a very warm welcome. Within the first 5 miles of entering its borders, we were greeted by multiple unrestrained dogs, and not in the most friendly of ways. At one point, I was surrounded by a group of about 6 dogs. I slowed down and paid them all compliments, as they all were pretty darn cute. They accepted my flattery and let me pass unscathed. Sheena, however, was not so lucky. I’m sure she’ll talk about that in her corner. Not only did the dogs not welcome us, but a bird was not too thrilled to have us enter its state either. I must have startled a crane that was perched high up in a tree. After hearing it take flight, I looked up and noticed that when it flew away, it broke a huge branch that was headed right for my head. Due to my excellent cat-like reflexes, I pedaled really quickly out of the way right before the branch crashed to the ground. It was a close call!
It was an extremely hot and humid day (which made roadkill all the more appealing) that added an extra challenge to an already challenging day. We got out early and we were half way done by 10:30 am. But once the heat hit the pace changed drastically. We sought shelter for an hour or so at a nice little diner in Bevinsville called Fatdaddy’s. We were starving so it was a much needed stop.
Flat continues to be a four letter word we know better than to dare utter, but wish we could anyways. Everywhere we ride is either a gradual incline/decline or a horrifically steep up/downhill. It’s physically and mentally exhausting and can get extremely frustrating. After my couple of wrecks on Friday, I am traumatized by going fast downhill so my brakes (and hands) have been getting extreme workouts.
I was in cooking group for tonight’s dinner, in which we lucked out and got pizza. But we still had to grab groceries for breakfast/lunch. About 2.5 miles before hitting camp, we came across a grocery store. I joked with Mary, who is in the cooking group, that that was probably the grocery store we had to do the shopping. The joke was on me when I came to the realization that it was indeed the store. In attempt to not bike an extra 5 miles on an already extremely fatiguing day, we looked at a convenience store for any semblance of a well balanced meal. No dice. And I still was not willing to bike to the store. We came up with the great idea of asking one of the church volunteers to take us to the store. We asked just in the knick of time, as he was just pulling out just as I approached his truck. I must’ve been convincing because he was a saint and was happy to take us! Bubba told us that he volunteers at the church for youth ministry and also does backlighting for major concerts. He was extremely nice and we appreciated his efforts to help immensely.
Tomorrow is another long day and looks like a carbon copy of today. Lots of hills and heat!
My bike computer broke again, but according to everyone else, it was a 71.4 mile day.
Emilie Bikes and Hikes 