Whytheville to Christiansburg, VA

Ride Stats:
Distance - 54 mi.
Average Speed - 10.0 mph
Climbed -  3550 ft
Weather - 38 to 78 F, morning fog, then sunny, light wind

Finally, an easy day with nice weather.  I did have to wear gloves and ear muffs to start the day.  It took until mid-morning for the sun to burn through the fog and start to warm me up.  The route led along country roads and the kind of hills you get around pastureland. No mountains to climb.

The Virginia roads continue to be great for biking, with reasonable pavement, polite drivers, and no dogs running loose.  I can hear birds chirping and cows mooing, and even saw some deer.   I talked with some bicyclists and walkers on the New River Trail who confirmed it's a great recreational environment.

For my first time ever, I had a bee fly through a vent in my helmet and sting the top of my bald head.  Ouch!  Luckily, I'm not allergic.  I won't hold it against Virginia, unless it happens again.

We're staying at a nice B&B tonight, and got out to a sports bar in time for the Packer game.

Fog in the lowlands at dawn.  It was cold down there!

Nature's own Halloween decorations.

 

 

I rode for awhile on the New River Trail, another converted railroad.

Here's the actual New River, near Draper, VA.

Rosedale to Wytheville, VA

Ride Stats:
Distance - 69 mi.
Average Speed -  9.7 mph 
Climbed -  4520 ft.
Weather - 55 to 75 F, Cloudy all day, Rain through middle of day, light winds

We had a great night's sleep on the floor of the church meeting room after using their kitchen to make a nice dinner.  We're travelling with plenty of food and a full cooler, so there's no danger of us going hungry.  We get up and eat breakfast at 6 am, and I'm typically on the road by 7:30, when it's just light enough to be seen.

Right out of the gate this morning the route went over a mountain that was exactly a 1,000 ft climb, and it took me an hour to reach the summit.  It was pastureland at first and then woods most of the way up.  Only two cars came by, so it was a tranquil experience, and a very nice way to start the day.  I got the brunt of the climbing done early, then followed a shortcut ( to avoid some climbs ) on old U.S. Hwy 11, also known as Lee Hwy through a series of small towns.  One of them had a parade this Saturday morning that was just wrapping up, with riders all dressed up leading their horses back to the trailers. We stopped there to eat at a lunch counter and had to answer lots of questions about why I'd be riding in the rain, and how this bike touring thing works.

A stately old Virginia Farmhouse 

Some fall colors are starting to show up.

Great vistas everywhere you look.

Our destination today, after some route modifications, is this city named after one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, George Wythe. 

 

Lookout, KY to Rosedale, VA

Ride Stats:
Distance - 62 mi.
Average Speed -  8.3 mph
Climbed -  5460 ft
Weather - 52 to 68 F, cloudy and rain on and off all day, light winds

This was my heaviest day of climbing so far, and it was mostly due to a few individual big climbs over mountains and ridges, as opposed to a lot of small ones.  My legs are holding up surprisingly well considering the bruising and pain and stiffness in them.  We rode into Virginia today, and I immediately noticed a reduced amount of dog activity, as well as better shoulders to ride on.  The cars still race around NASCAR style, and certain drivers try to startle you, but I haven't used my pepper spray all day. 

Our home for the night is another church community room, this time a United Methodist Church.  It worked out great, and we made a donation and signed their logbook.  Some of these places have been providing this kind of service to Trans America bicyclists since 1976.  It's a pretty cool system.

I won't miss Kentucky's dogs and rumble strips on the edge of their roads.

This is that Kudzu Vine that is threatening to take over the Southeastern US.

Here's a view to the east of some mountains yet to climb.

 

On a break, studying the last climbs of the day.

 

Our host church for the night.

 

 

Hazard to Lookout, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance - 71 mi.
Average Speed -  9.5 mph
Climbed -  4500 ft.
Weather - 55 to 70 F, partly sunny, heavy rain the last 90 mins. of ride

I left the Hazard area riding on a 4-lane superhighway with a nice wide paved shoulder, and then dropped off into scenic rural two lane roads that generally followed creeks.  Lots of people here live in modest homes fronting on creeks, with little driveway bridges to get access to the road.  I can't imagine what it must look like after heavy rains. 

There are also roads that lead over mountains and ridges to get from one valley to another.  Those are the tough climbs.  The cars and trucks race up and down these treacherous steep narrow roads like they're in a race; and they really like to rev their engines as they blow by.  Sometimes the driver will honk  or a passenger will shout something out the window as they race by.  They're trying to startle me into falling off the edge of the road, but it hasn't worked.

Today's destination was a rural Baptist Church that makes it's community room available for bicyclists.  We got to meet another touring bicyclist, Hugh Donovan from Enterprise, OR; who's riding the full length of the Trans America Trail.  He's a nice young man taking a break from college to see the country.  We had a nice evening of sharing stories while we waited for the caretaker of the shelter to show up.

These signs showing the designated Transamerica Route just started appearing.  The '76' refers to 1976 when the route was first organized and ridden as part of the Bicentennial Celebration.

Coal is a big part of the economy here.  This was a small mining operation near the side of the road, but most are huge projects not easily seen from the road.

The Halloween decorations are out in full force.  I'm seeing lots of large inflatable decorations like this purple spider.

View from atop one of the 800 ft. ridges I had to climb.  It was a 12% grade almost all the way.

 

Hugh Donovan and his recumbent bike and trailer.  45 pounds of stuff in that trailer.

 

McKee to Hazard, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance - 68 mi.
Avg Speed - 9.0 mph
Climbed - 5280 ft.
Weather - 52 to 80 F, Sunny, light Winds

We had a good night of sleep in our old fashioned Motel room, and awoke to a nice dry day.  With my lack of a cell phone, we've now resorted to a more traditional SAG approach.  Angela meets me about every hour along the route to provide snacks and beverages, and to make sure I'm still alive. It worked well today.  I needed plenty of snacks to get through the climbing.

Both yesterday and today were big climbing days, with most of it coming in a few big long climbs.  I've gotten through them alright, but my legs are definitely feeling it,  One of my problems is that the climbing slows me down to a point that I'm spending more time on the bike than I probably should, so my butt is feeling the effects of that.  It feels like Utah all over again.

We made it to just outside of Hazard tonight, as in "Dukes of Hazard."  There's a lot of new development in the area and we got to stay at a more conventional modern motel.

Good example of the kind of countryside I've been riding through.

Picture worthy lawn ornaments at the end of someone's driveway.

This was where we stopped for our 11 am break.

Harrodsburg to McKee, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance -  79 mi.
Avg Speed - 10.0 mph
Climbed - 5170 ft.
Weather - 55 to 75 F, Thunderstorms most of day, mostly side Winds

We had a great breakfast that helped erase some of the pain from the Packer's loss last night.  There was rain in the forecast, and it hit hard with a big line of thunderstorms at mid-morning; and continued raining really hard until mid-afternoon. I got lost twice; once due to an error in the map and the other due to my not studying the map closely enough. I also made the mistake of trying to use my phone in the rain.  Bad idea. The battery is ruined, and AT&T is not being very helpful with replacing it.  It's a work in progress. 

Today's route was an interesting combination of really busy highway riding, and very remote rural roads.  I was on the rural roads during the rainstorm.  One of the few places I could stop to dry out was a Grocery Store run by an older couple.  He told me about a Korean journalist bicyclist that stopped and interviewed him and took a picture of him in front of some mounted deer heads that he'd killed.  He included the photo in a book and sent him a copy.  He figures he's famous in South Korea.

Late afternoon, the terrain changed to what definitely qualifies as foothills of the Appalachians.  At the town of Big Hill, I hit my first big climb of 800 ft with 6 to 9% grades.  It was about 45 minutes of just pedaling uphill in my lowest gear, with no breaks. The climbing really added up for the day, and my legs we're still reliving some of the stress during the night.

This is an example of a quilt pattern square on a barn, which I've been seeing throughout the state.  Not sure what the significance is.

When the sky darkened and the line of thunderstorms first hit, I found this dilapidated garage for refuge, and then pretty quickly moved on. 

These big hills started to appear later in the day.

Lots of  wooded recreational land here.

New Haven to Harrodsburg, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance - 61 mi.
Avg Speed - 10.0 mph
Climbed - 3950 ft.
Weather:  37 to 77 F, Sunny, light but favorable Winds

It started out pretty frosty this morning, and I had to use my winter gloves and custom knitted ear muffs ( by Angela ).  They worked well and got me through to when it warmed up around mid-morning.  I'm hoping this was an aberration because 30-something is pretty cold for biking.

I deviated from the ACA Route by taking a more direct but busier US Hwy and shaved about 6 miles off.  There was still plenty of roller coaster effect to the roads, and the climbing added up pretty fast.  My legs held up well all day, but it was a below average distance.  Tomorrow will be a better test.

We're staying at the really nice and historic Beaumont Inn that used to be a college, and has it's own restaurant.  Very comfortable compared to some previous stays.  They have a huge property and walking trail that Angela will stick around to take advantage of tomorrow.  We're hunkering down tonight for the Green Bay Packers game.

A well preserved Old Kentucky Home.

 

Starting to see some Horse Farms now, but not the one's with stone fences yet.

Good pose.

These two had blinders on, I suppose to keep them calm with the nearby traffic.

Interesting windows on this church.

 

At the bottom of the roller coaster terrain is a creek or river like this.  They are relentlessly carving valleys through the limestone bedrock.

Our home for the night.

Mammoth Cave

Today was a "rest" day for me, to try and work out some of the stiffness and soreness in my legs.  We had planned to go to Mammoth Cave all along, since it's a National Park we've not been to before. .  It was a beautiful cool sunny day, and it was nice to do some driving and hiking instead of biking for a change.  It was a good break for Angela too, since she doesn't relish moving to a new location every day.

Angela has taken up walking for exercise in the mornings, and tries to get in 15,000 paces on her pedometer each day, so I had trouble keeping up with her.  We came pretty close to reaching her goal, and that was a lot of hobbling for me, but it served the purpose of loosening up some tight muscles.  We'll see how that translates over to biking tomorrow.

2 nights at The Sherwood Inn, a vintage 1913 railroad hotel in New Haven, KY.  Don't interpret that as a recommendation...

The original opening to Mammoth Cave, as found by primitive cultures and then pioneers.  Over 400 miles of caves have been explored and mapped. 

Stalactites that took thousands of years to form.  Please don't touch!

View of surrounding forest from one of the hiking trails.

Hudson to New Haven, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance - 48 mi.
Average Speed - 11.4 mph
Climbed - 1850 ft 
 Weather - 55 to 75 F, Sunny, and mostly Favorable Winds

Today would be an important test of my finess for continuing.  I still felt pretty stiff, and was walking gingerly as I went thru my morning preparations.  Once I got biking, the motion was relatively pain-free, but I didn't have as much power in my legs as usual.  Fortunately it was a pretty level ride, with the wind mostly at my back.  Angela and I arranged to meet for lunch at Lincoln's Birthplace Park, and we made a pretty leisurely day of it, arriving at our destination in mid-afternoon.

Coincidentally, this morning I experienced another sneak attack by a Boxer, this time on a right turn after an uphill climb.  Without barking until he was right next to me, he'd been quietly waiting behind some bushes for me to come around the corner.  I reacted by yelling at him and shaking  a fist as I turned and accelerated away from him.  He didn't give chase, and when I looked back at him I could see that he was lame in one of his back legs.  He had to rely on stealth to be effective.  I have to admit, my nerves were being frazzled by  these sneaky dogs.  I found myself concentrating too much on looking out for dogs, instead of just enjoying the ride.  We'll have to see if I can use my rest day to change my mental appraoch.

Amish family out for a Saturday morning ride.

Lots of churches along the route.  This was one of the more beautiful.

This little hayfield is across the road from Lincoln's Boyhood Home.

Utica to Hudson, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance:  71 mi.
Avg. Speed:  10.2 mph
Climbed:  4400 ft.
Weather:  58 to 78 F, mostly cloudy, low winds

Using the Fire Station's kitchen and our well stocked camping pantry, Angela whipped up a fine dinner of Indian cuisine; and we slept great through an emergency-free night.  This morning's ride took me through some pretty rugged wooded countryside with ever increasing hills.  I thought I was getting into the Appalachian foothills, but it was too soon for that.  Eventually it flattened out again into corn, soybean and tobacco fields.

The towns that this trail goes through are really small, often with no restaurants, and certainly no normal accomodations.  Our next stop near Hudson is a country Grocery Store that makes it's backyard available to touring bicyclists, just because the owners get a kick out of meeting them.  They turned out to be really nice, generous folks. He also delivers Mail, so we could commisserate about the dogs.

The dog situation hasn't gotten any better.  As much as I've written about them, I've really only described a minority of the confrontations.  Late in today's ride I came over the top of a hill and heard the clickety clack sound of dog's nails on pavement. I looked over and it was a full size boxer within a foot of my leg. I swung my leg over to the other side while applying the brakes and trying to keep the bike between myself and the dog, but dismounted before I was fully stopped; and both the bike and I crashed to the pavement.  I swore at the dog as I was going down, and when I picked myself and the bike up he was nowhere to be seen. 

My injuries consisted of muscle and ligament strains in a thigh, a knee, a thumb and a wrist; but no bleeding.  I got my hands out in front of me when I hit, and rolled with impact.  This is why I wear a helmet and gloves.  I stopped at a little grocery nearby and looked for something frozen to ice my leg with.  The best I could do was an ice cream sandwich, which I stuck into the leg of my riding shorts, and continued riding the 8 miles to our destination.  Oddly, the injuries hardly hampered my biking motion, but when I tried to walk it was difficult and painful.

I wisely built an extra day into our itinerary, with a side excursion to Mammoth Cave and the thought that if I was running behind or needed a rest day, I could forego that loop.  So tomorrow I'll ride a shorter day to a B&B in New Haven and then take a rest day.

Historic old cabin that someone keeps up next to their modern home. That's a well in the frontyard. 

Kentucky has certain counties that are "dry," which sets up interesting economic oddities, like bars and liquor stores just outside of county lines.

Nice example of the mixture of farm fields and woods that I rode past all day.

How about teaching them not to chase bicyclists.

View of the sunset from our camp for the night.

Marion to Utica, KY

Ride Stats:
Distance:  72 mi.
Avg Speed:  11.2 mph
Climbed:  3450 ft.
Weather:  58 to 83 F, Sunny, and Favorable Wind

We had a great night in Marion, eating fried catfish with all the fixing's and retiring to our quiet B&B.  We were the only one's staying there.  This area of Kentucky is known for it's deer hunting because of a large herd and liberal laws that allow baiting and other trickery to draw them in.  Our host pointed out that it's not illegal to shoot a deer under the apple tree of his backyard in the city with a rifle!  He's a former policeman, so he should know.  It's just bow season now, but once gun season starts, he expects to be busy.

In the morning I rode through hilly areas with just pastureland and woods, but later the terrain flattened out into corn and soybean fields, and quite a bit of tobacco.  The tobacco has already been harvested and is hanging in barns to dry.

Here's an example of a tobacco barn.

Another major activity in this part of the country is Tyson Chicken farms.  I rode by at least a half dozen just on the roads I took.  They typically have 4 or 5 big buildings associated with them, with windows covered up and fans ventilating them.  They smell not so good.  One of them was unloading the adult chickens into cages and stacking them onto big tractor trailer rigs for transport to the processing plant, which must be nearby. 

The Tyson signs are rather small. No bigger than a realtor's sign.

I rode for a couple of blocks on the legendary Highway 41, running from Miami, FL to Copper Harbor, MI.  It was made even more famous by The Allman Brothers Band.

My father was a gambler down in Georgia.  He wound up on the wrong end of a gun.
 I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound Bus, rolling down Highway 41.
Lord, I was born a ramblin' man.  Trying to make a living and doing the best I can.
( Lyrics from Rambling Man, by Allman Brothers Band )

I saw a few farms with Burros or Donkeys, not sure which.  This one was waiting under an apple tree for some fruit to drop.  Not a bad strategy.  It'll work eventually.

We get to stay at the Utica Volunteer Fire Dept Building, which they make available to touring bicyclists, since there are no other accommodations nearby. 

We get to use their modern kitchen, bath and shower, and can sleep on some mattresses indoors or pitch a tent.  Since we have the place to ourselves, we'll sleep indoors.