4/9 We were planning to sleep in Meadowview. The church hostel had a picnic pavilion with no water except out of the lawn watering taps, and no place to pee. The convenience store looked like it had closed long ago. Luckily, Abingdon had a motel and was only 5 miles away.
2023-04-10
4/9 Sunday Mileage time:
4/3. 41.4
4/4. 30.8
4/5. 21.8
4/6. 19.3
4/7. Rained out!
4/8. 38.6
4/9. 48.2
Total to date: 640.11
2023-04-10
4/10 Today we biked over the Hayter’s Gap pass. We climbed about 2500 feet to a popular hiking area called the Channels. It was a tough but beautiful and rewarding day of cycling. We ate lunch at a takeoff spot for cave exploration.
4/10 After a hard day, it was heavenly to know we had a place to stay in a United Methodist Church with a shower and bathroom and kitchen. Methodists know that Jesus taught us to take care of people who are on the road.
4/11 Today we’re riding to The Breaks Interstate Park. www.breakspark.com/. We started out on the Redbud Highway. There was a long climb up and short, steep coast down to Council, where we ate lunch in the park.
4/11 The Breaks straddles the Virginia/Kentucky border. It is a big canyon, one of the deepest gorges east of the Mississippi. We are also following “The Crooked Road”, a trail of musical talent through Virginia. I don’t think the zip line is operational yet this year.
4/11 Now that we’re in a rural area, people are talking to us. A man on an electric bike invited us to dinner. We ate salad on the patio with James, Kim and Jeb. Then we biked a short distance to the Gateway Motel and stayed in a newly remodeled room courtesy of the new owners.
4/12 The next morning we spent an hour trying to find places to stay the night. Finally we connected with Corey at Hindman Baptist Church who offered us their hostel the next night. Then he contacted the mayor of Wheelwright, who gave us permission to sleep in the city park.
2023-04-14
4/12 With a late start and a long way to go, we entered Kentucky and encountered some much smaller and steeper roads.
4/12 The steep climbs and 45 miles nearly did us in. But in Wheelwright, we found a lovely Mexican restaurant where we refreshed ourselves (both with food and a quick rinse off in the restroom) before we set up camp in the city park. Sure wished for a shower that night!
4/13 We are in coal country now. We’ve had to get off the road to allow coal trucks to pass, and you can see coal on the road where it fell off the load. Strip and deep mines abound. We even saw a rock wall near our motel that looked like it had coal in the shale layers.
4/13 The other thing we have learned about this area is that dry counties still exist. Poor Paul has not been able to find a drop of beer for a few days. He’s even willing to drink a Budweiser if he can find one!
2023-04-16
4/13 Tonight we stayed in a youth center for the Hindman First Baptist Church. It felt like a real teen hangout, with musical instruments and sound equipment, board games, table tennis and lots of soda and snacks.
4/13 The center was also being used to collect clothing and household goods to distribute to people who lost everything in a devastating flood last year. www.wymt.com/2022/07/2…
2023-04-16
4/14 On our way to Hazard,KY. We traveled through valleys where the flood left debris hanging in the trees. Homes and vehicles were destroyed, and the road was eroded in many places.
4/14 Arrived in Hazard just before it started to rain. We ditched the bikes at the motel and walked to the Big Blue Smokehouse BBQ place where Paul finally got his beer! Not a small beer, either. They offer them in pints (small) and 32 ounces (regular).
4/14 Rhe started complaining about some bicycle problems-a wheel out of true (meaning it is not round, and it feels egg-shaped); a tire that keeps losing air; and brakes that are not working properly. Paul took some time for bicycle maintenance and Rhe took a nap.
2023-04-16 4/15 This morning our route took us up a big hill that left us both wheezing. Then we sped down the other side only to find the road was closed due to a bridge washout. The only warning we got that the road was closed was long after we passed the detour. Back up the way we came….
4/15 The bridge and other devastation we saw along the river was due to the same flood last summer. Notice the garbage can in the tree on this side of the river, the mess in the riverbank, and the chair on the far bank. We saw such debris for two days through several drainages.
2023-04-16 4/15 We passed a fork in the road to Krypton and decided to miss that opportunity. We had lunch by the side of the road until a man on foot warned us we were in “a bad neighborhood” and to be careful. Someone’s house was destroyed along with the swimming pool.
4/15 To get to our lodging for the night at Buckhorn Lake Resort Park, we went down a huge hill and Rhe’s brakes completely failed. She was afraid she’d end up in the lake or worse, but there was a “runaway truck ramp” at the bottom that saved her and her bicycle.
4/15 The reward was a dinner of fried chicken and catfish sandwich, and an evening spent on our deck looking at the lake and listening to an unidentified bird call.
4/16 Spent time in the breakfast room trying to find a ride to Lexington to get a U-Haul van to carry the bikes to the nearest bike shop. Jerry Deaton, Jr., was headed that way, so Paul went with him to get the van while Rhe stayed with the bikes and updated the blog.
2023-04-16
4/16 It’s Sunday and time to update our mileage. Last Sunday we had a total of 640.11. Monday: 25.8; Tuesday: 45.8; Wednesday: 41.4; Thursday: 27.8; Friday: 27.0; Saturday: 27.7. Total miles: 835.61. And a week’s total of 15,572 feet of elevation gain on some very steep grades!
2023-04-16
4/16 There are a few signs we whizzed by that I didn’t get a picture of but want to share. We passed the high school in Fluvanna County, VA, that touted themselves as the “Fighting Floucos.” Now that’s a mascot I want to see!
2023-04-16
4-16 Before Easter we passed a church who’s reader board announced the Easter sermon was going to be “The Threat of the Donkey.” My mind immediately went to the Shrek Donkey. Paul thought the minister needed to apologize to all the Democrats in the congregation.
2023-04-16
4/16 What’s the difference between a “holler” (hollow) and a “bottom”? J.D. Vance (“Hillbilly Elegy”) defines “holler” as a valley. We were cycling through what I thought was a holler, but the church was named “Poor Bottom Freewill Baptist Church.” Maybe they are the same thing?
2023-04-16
