Day 17

This morning I got up and went to breakfast at the camp lounge which we thought was a buffet, but there was no buffet today. George, Ryan and I got a late start. We caught Lee and Rachel because Lee's bike had another broken spoke. Lee had to ride in the van to the first rest stop, and we added Rachel to our pack.

At the first rest stop we got some groceries and a bit of lunch, and we were the last group to leave. We made good time to the next rest stop, but took a long break. Once again we were the last group to hit the road.

We began to ride fast in a paceline as we saw a storm approach. Unfortunately, we could not outrun it. We ended up waiting out the storm at a gas station about 10 miles away from our destination.

When we got to the church, there werr showers and a ton of food for us. It was fantastic. We even went down to road to enjoy some live music for a bit.

Day 16: Surrounded By Dogs

Today was an easy day. I woke up with less enthusiasm than usual, and I chose to ride at a slow, easy pace. This also offered a chance to ride with Ike (The Mirage) and Amber on her final day of the trip. I dropped back from Ryan's group. Ryan thought that I was still there and was talking to Ethan thinking it was me.

I spent some time riding alone which put me in a sticky situation when I encountered a pack of five excited dogs. They blocked the path of some cars, causing me to stop. Then, the dogs went after me, barking for about 10 minutes. Only one dog seemed really aggressive, and a couple others were following his lead. They seemed to be calming down enough for me to take off, but then something excited them to the point that they started to bite my legs, so I took off. I had to protect my legs and avoid hitting the dogs as I rode with them keeping pace with me even over 20 mph as I left them behind with my first flesh wound of the trip.

I met the rest of the riders at the rest stop at the top of a steep climb right on the county line as well as well as our first time zone change crossing from Eastern to Central Time Zone. Dr Bridget bandaged my dog bite, and I continued riding to Rough River Dam campsite. Once we settled in, we all went to the lounge to raid the internet and the buffet. We'll need the fuel for tomorrow's 70 mile ride.

Day 15: Out of the Saddle

Today I woke up as rain clouds began to form. I got ready and left camp to find shelter with everybody in a nearby McDonalds. We waited out the storm there and raided the McInternet for a couple hours until the storm ended. The time setback was not a problem since today's ride was only 44 miles.

As I started riding I didnt want to sit because the seat was wet, so I joked about staying out of the saddle for the entire day. Then I thought about Brittany who had big saddle problems yesterday which gave me a reason to stay out of the saddle, FOR BRITTANY! I spent the entire riding day out of the saddle in the back of the pack with George, Amanda, and Ryan.

When we reached Hodgenville, we took a dip in the pool and went to dinner. Paula's Hot Biscuit wasn't open, so we went to a Mexican restaurant. Then we jumped a few tents and went to sleep.

Day 14: A Two Hour Drive

We had a 90 mile ride today, but I rode over 100. Ryan and I got a later start than most of the others, but we rode so fast that we passed almost everybody. We missed a turn and rode down a crazy hill where I reached 50 mph. Then we realized that we had to go back up the hill...

We passed everybody a second time and had a rest stop at the halfway point. We stuffed our faces at Lee's Chicken Buffet and then hit the road again with full stomachs.

We stopped to investigate the Lincoln Homestead State Park, and before we knew it, we were at our camp in Bardstown. Everyone was very excited to be in a town that served alcoholic beverages because we had stayed in a lot of dry towns lately.

Day 13: I Love Bees

The ride into Berea was about 40 miles short with mostly rolling hills. There were only a few difficult climbs. I almost didn't make it up the steepest climb of the day because I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe.

Everybody got to camp really early, so we got to hang out for a while, but George was stuck fixing our bikes which we greatly appreciate. We even got our Verizon hotspot device working so everybody can access high speed internet whenever the trailer is around.

I got stung by a bee yesterday and my allergic reaction caused the sting to be one very swollen and irritated. I had to make sure it didn't get too swollen or else my bike shoes wouldn't fit...

Day 12: Breaking the Habbit

Day 12 was another day of riding on dumb Kentucky roads. There were grueling climbs and fun descents and annoying head winds.

My credit card was declined at the first rest stop, so I may have some difficulty buying things like food for a little while...

We reached the church in Booneville fairly quickly, so we spent some time with random shenanigans, and I got to set up and play on the slackline. I'm the last person to get to bed which has been a trend for the entire trip. I will try to break that trend tomorrow.

Day 11: Welcome to Kentucky

I woke up ready to ride and fully fed from last night's buffet. The ride started with a nice descent right down to the Kentucky boarder where we got some nice group pictures. The rest of the ride was completely different from What we became used to in Virginia. The roads were full of pot holes and coal trucks, and there was rarely a decent shoulder to ride on.

I rode in the back again, but not at as slow of a pace. George, Amanda, Ryan and I were able to catch up to another group of riders but we werent fast enough to outrun the rain. We waited out the storm on the side of what appeared to be an abandoned old building. As we left, we discovered that it was a tanning salon that was open. We were also a VERY short distance from a Dairy Queen which would have been a much better place to wait.

After a very giggly meal at Dairy Queen, we got to the church in Hindman were we got to sleep inside.