Day 30 (5/24/22): Milestones, the KY Slog Begins, Deja Pew, and More
Start: Cave-In-Rock, IL
End: Utica, KY
Mileage: 81 miles
Elevation: 4,114 feet
Milestones (from the guy who counts everything)
I passed 2,000 miles today! That’s just incomprehensible to me.
With Kentucky, we entered our 9th State.
Week 5 is in the books. Four more to go…maybe.
30 rides down, 20 to go…hopefully
The KY Slog
Although our schedule is completely out of what due to our efforts to avoid the rain this week (it’s a very shifty moving target), there are likely 10-11 days of riding in the Blue Grass State. Tish and I separate on Sunday as it gets really back-woodsy for me with very little for Tish to do (but wait for me…not an option). She’s going to head to South Carolina to visit her sister, niece, and grandniece, and I’ll be hauling all my gear and camping most nights. I’ll hit the Appalachians next week which feature lots of climbing.
KY started in a very quaint way (see the picture accompanying today’s post). I took the ferry from Cave-In-Rock across the Ohio River to get to Kentucky. And then the climbing began. The first 15 miles were very difficult. The route became slightly less punitive, and then a 1,000-foot gain hit me during the last 10 miles. Beautiful farm country though. Very scenic.
I’m a bit tired. Just under 800 miles and 35,000 feet in the past 11 days with just one rest day is starting to hit me. I had hoped for an off day tomorrow, but it looks like it will be a much better day to ride than Thursday when the rains are supposed to be quite heavy.
Deja Pew
(I take credit for this term.) When I went to Penn State, there were chicken coops on campus near my dorm. (Penn State is a big ag school.) When we’d arrive in the summer, the smell was just unbearable on hot days. I hated the winters in State College, but the one silver lining was you couldn’t smell the chickens as much. I “rediscovered” the smell today throughout my 80-mile jaunt through western Kentucky. If I closed my eyes, just for a moment I was back in school (sorry Dan Fogelberg). Disgusting. What’s even more gross is when a semi loaded with chickens passes you and you get the joy of the smell whizzing by you at breakneck speeds.
More
Attention. Attention. There are armadillos in Kentucky. They’re all dead of course, but I can confirm roadkill sightings.
Passed a lot of bikepackers heading west on the Transamerica trail today including a young woman who was doing the trip solo. Erin is from Michigan and is doing the full Virginia-Oregon trip. I kind of dug a little about how safe she feels, and she said when she cycled the U.P. of Michigan last year, her Dad followed her. I’d be in a van following right behind Lexie if she said she wanted to go cross-country alone. I appear to be the only person heading east on this route. More on some of the different approaches people take to their journeys tomorrow.
A lot of bugs flew into my mouth today. Don’t think I swallowed any..
Forgot a funny story on yesterday’s blog. Tish had time to kill in Carbondale, IL in the morning so she decided to go see Dr. Strange. She was the only person in the theatre. She was very excited about her private screening.
Another forgotten note. Coming into Eminence in the rain last Thursday, I messed up my front brakes to the point where they were essentially useless. I managed through it on my 99 miler into Farmington on Friday, but had to find a bike shop to bleed the brakes (air had gotten into the hydraulic channel) for the rest of the way. We found one, and they managed to make the fix in 2 hours on Saturday morning. Total charge was $15. Last time I had that done in San Diego, it was $50. While I hate starting sentences with the words, “I think we can all agree”…I think we can all agree having both brakes working is a very good thing on a bicycle.
So I guess I should start counting the days when the flags aren’t at half staff on my trip. So tragic and so ridiculous that we allow this to persist. It’s shameful for our society.
What I’m Grateful for Today
In no particular order and with a less serious bent than usual:
The wonderful, sometimes delightfully overpowering smell of honeysuckle I’ve been treated to in MO and KY.
Packing that 3rd winter compression shirt. I’ve used it the last 3 mornings. Many of you know I lost about 55 pounds about 15 years ago. The downside is I’ve been cold ever since and am constantly bundling up in all but the warmest weather.
My newly found love for milk. It tastes so good at lunch and at the end of a ride.
Hostess coffee cake. 650 calories of garbage that tastes almost as good as the milk in the middle of the day.
The TV in our room tonight works. We’ve not had good luck.
Powdered Gatorade. Not sure how I would have managed if I had to continually buy/carry the pre-made stuff.
Dog owners who say, “No! Get back here.” It happened today. It really happened.
8-9 hours of sleep a night. A necessity.
Not having read a newspaper or watched a newscast (other than for local weather) since we left.
Bailey housesitting, although last night he informed me he’s taken over my desk in the office with his electronics gear and the living room is a mess. He assured us the mess could be cleaned in less than 30 minutes.
Somehow getting the miles in this week, although man do I need a rest day.