Day 44 was a great ride of about 125 miles from my hotel room in Berea to Lee & Missy’s lawn in Hindman. The heat eased a bit – down to a high of 95, and I took advantage.
Dan and I had seen a bunch of foggy mornings in Kentucky, but this morning the fog was thicker than I’ve ever seen it. The first 30 miles were very nice in terms of traffic – almost none, temperature – nicely cool, and road – perfectly smooth. However, the fog was so thick I had to stop about once a mile to wipe off my glasses! The thick fog also meant that visibility was extremely low.. fortunately, it was a very still morning, so I could hear cars well before they got close (and I only encountered a couple of them anyway).
The heat has been terrible the past few days, and you feel it even early in the morning. This day was finally different.. it started off sensibly cool, and I wouldn’t see the sun until about 9am. This gave me a chance to put in some miles, and I decided to do so. I know there are some hotter days coming, and the terrain will be difficult in parts of the Appalachian Mountains (reportedly tougher than the Rockies), so getting a little further along is a good bonus.
When the fog cleared, I found myself riding through some beautiful countryside. Rolling hills, rivers, and lots of big outcroppings of rock (I think shale). Evidently I was enjoying the scenery too much to take many pictures.. sorry. I did get one shot of the road, and one picture of a church with a funny name. Here they are.
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By about 3pm I had already made just under 100 miles and was feeling ready to take a break. Although there were a bunch of restaurants in the area marked on my map, they were all fast food. I didn’t feel like riding any further, so I settled for a Papa Johns with an indoor seating area and a television. I relaxed for a long time there, eating pizza and watching the PGA championship (Tiger Woods show).
A little before 6, I decided to make the final push of the day into the town of Hindman. Maybe I was just tired, but this stretch seemed slow and required rather more effort than I expected. When I did finally arrive, I went to the all-in-one Historical Society/Bed and Breakfast/Camping place and was most disappointed to find it closed. I called their number, expecting that they would let me put my tent up somewhere.. but no. I then called the number for the hotel & hostel in the next town ahead, and didn’t get through. It was a little late to bike anywhere, so I decided to ask for some help. This is something I would have been very reluctant to do prior to this trip, but so many people have been so generous toward me.. just about everyone seems most willing to help me when I’m in need. I pulled up to an inviting looking house, and rang the doorbell. A pleasant woman holding a puppy answered the door, and I explained my story to her, and then offered her $20 to let me put up a tent on her lawn. She said she’d ask her husband, and quickly returned to say that I was welcome to put up my tent – and they didn’t want my $20. I thanked my hostess, Missy, graciously, and then chatted with her a little about bicycling and dogs. While setting up my tent, I met her husband, Lee, who turned out to be the fire chief. Then, when I was all set and ready for bed, one of the next-door neighbors pulled in. She was a young lady who, as she mentioned, was interested to chat with the “funny” bicyclists. I told her a bit about my trip, but I was ready to crash, so I wouldn’t talk long. Somewhere during our conversation, she mentioned that her husband was the chief of police.. so my bike was leaning on the fence in between the fire & police chief’s houses.. and I went to sleep feeling pretty safe and secure.
