Up early and at breakfast by six. However, a heavy fog hung over Hazard. We delayed the start by about an hour and a half. We had a pleasant 20 mile ride to begin the morning, mostly following a stream.
Again we passed an odd collection of nice homes next door to junkyards that pretended to be homes. Pat and I discussed how the neighbors might relate. On Saturday nights do the neighbors come to your house to swim in your pool and the following Saturday do you go over to the their house and sit in one of their abandoned cars.
The area is infested with Kudzu, the Japanese plant that has invaded the south. It looks beautiful to us but is smothering the local vegetation.
The hills are hollers are endless. There are no straight roads. The roads we have been traveling on fit one and a half cars abreast. Approaching cars warily pass each other with one set of wheels on the edge of a shoulderless road. There are few flat roads and that was my problem today. After our initial 20 miles we began a long steep climb out of one of the hollers. About 2/3 of the way up I just didn't have the energy to turn the crank and got off and pushed my bike to the top. A quick downhill and a few more rolling hills and we started the next steep climb. I slipped into my lowest gear and started up. Again I had to get off and push. This time as I was walking I felt something on the back of my leg. A small dog trotted up quietly and gave me a lick. I tried to get him to go back but he was happy with his new friend. With a little renewed energy I climbed back on the bike and continued up. He happily jogged along with me. It was a little disgusting me working really hard and the dog trotting along oblivious to the hill and wagging his tail. I lost him on a fast downhill.
On the next serious climb I threw in the towel for the rest of the day. I know that part of the climb was over 13%. I was soaked with sweat and struggling to push the bike. Rod picked me up and took me to the top where Pat was waiting. I told him to go ahead. He sailed down the hill made another smaller hill and rolled into Elkhorn, Kentucky.
We drove to Piketown, Kentucky because there were no motels in Elkhorn. Tomorrow we will start from Elkhorn. Hope I have a little more stamina tomorrow.
Thank you all for your kind comments. We look forward to bei
Again we passed an odd collection of nice homes next door to junkyards that pretended to be homes. Pat and I discussed how the neighbors might relate. On Saturday nights do the neighbors come to your house to swim in your pool and the following Saturday do you go over to the their house and sit in one of their abandoned cars.
The area is infested with Kudzu, the Japanese plant that has invaded the south. It looks beautiful to us but is smothering the local vegetation.
The hills are hollers are endless. There are no straight roads. The roads we have been traveling on fit one and a half cars abreast. Approaching cars warily pass each other with one set of wheels on the edge of a shoulderless road. There are few flat roads and that was my problem today. After our initial 20 miles we began a long steep climb out of one of the hollers. About 2/3 of the way up I just didn't have the energy to turn the crank and got off and pushed my bike to the top. A quick downhill and a few more rolling hills and we started the next steep climb. I slipped into my lowest gear and started up. Again I had to get off and push. This time as I was walking I felt something on the back of my leg. A small dog trotted up quietly and gave me a lick. I tried to get him to go back but he was happy with his new friend. With a little renewed energy I climbed back on the bike and continued up. He happily jogged along with me. It was a little disgusting me working really hard and the dog trotting along oblivious to the hill and wagging his tail. I lost him on a fast downhill.
On the next serious climb I threw in the towel for the rest of the day. I know that part of the climb was over 13%. I was soaked with sweat and struggling to push the bike. Rod picked me up and took me to the top where Pat was waiting. I told him to go ahead. He sailed down the hill made another smaller hill and rolled into Elkhorn, Kentucky.
We drove to Piketown, Kentucky because there were no motels in Elkhorn. Tomorrow we will start from Elkhorn. Hope I have a little more stamina tomorrow.
Thank you all for your kind comments. We look forward to bei
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