Where to begin.... After our great night at the firehouse lil foot and I had breakfast at a local coffee shop where we ran into the Brits! We hadn't seen them since Kentucky and were excited to catch up. Also along our morning leg of the day we bumped into Mike (from bardstown camping), Amy and Peter all also going west. We continued on and was lucky enough to get a 5 mile ride from Tom the firefighter... Thought this was amazing until I got a flat tire only a mile after our ride. Karma's a bitch for sure. That's the last ride we'll take for a while. Haha. So on we go, and now everyone has caught up to us. About 45 miles in the two of us stop for lunch, the Brits and Brian (connecticut mountain biker) continue to the next town and the remaining three stopped in Johnson Shutt Inns campground 15 miles back. We finish lunch and start the second half of our 85 mile day only to stop a mile later because something is wrong with my back tire - great. I guess the flat just wasn't enough. Afraid of damaging my bike more we hitch a ride in a pick up truck back to the previous campground to see if Peter can help, he used to be a bike repair mechanic so this was my best hope. He informs me that I need new tires desperately and did a little jimmy rigging to hopefully keep my tire from exploding before the next bike shop 200 miles away. Ugh, this was not our day.
With a full day wasted, we set off this morning from Shutt Inns at 6:45am with the hope of doing our first century! By 10:30 we were looking good, 30 minutes later the depressing heat kicked in. It took us an hour more to complete our next 27 miles to Eminence then it should have. By the time we dragged our asses over hole, after hill, after hill, we plopped down at the dairy barn for lunch. During which time we checked the weather... 95 degrees with a heat index of 109, great. Our attempt at a century was tragically cut in half. Now we have to make up a bit of time here and there but our hopes are still up.
Tomorrow we will be waking up at 4:30am and biking by 5:30 hoping to beat most of the heat, and end our day early. Tonight we're camping at the arrowhead Campgrounds, which a pretty crappy, but cheap and next to a river so we were at least able to take a quick dip before bed time!
The last full day of climbing in the Ozarks should be completed by tomorrow then a nice week and a half of the flats! I can't wait for some flatness in my life.
Good night for now people... I will update you on my bike situation as we go along.
Sasq
BTW, Missouri people are extremely friendly!
Oh and apparently lil foot and I have made a reputation for ourselves among fellow cyclists as the girls who are taking down all the dogs! I love that so many know of us before we actually meet them, haha. Loving the trip overall but the last two days have certainly been rough, I'm looking forward to a change of luck for sure.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Loving life!
I'm sure you all enjoyed lil foot's post last night, but now I'm free and back to work!
Last night we stayed at the Eagle's Club, as lil foot mentioned, but our night was just beginning by the time the last post went up. Oh what a night! A few of the restaurant workers ended their shift and had a few drinks, we joined in obviously. Thinking it would be just a couple drinks then off to bed, little did we know it would turn into closing the bar and continuing down at our little shack after. It's moments like these that lil foot and I enjoy most, drinking with locals, laughing and having a good time, who wouldn't enjoy that? Finally around 3am everyone called it a night and we attempted to get some sleep.
Today we began extremely late but only had 50 miles to go so it wasn't all too bad that we headed out around 11 am. We crossed over the Mississippi River and into Missouri, our 13th state also reaching our 2000th mile at roughly the same time! Check out the sweet red caterpillar we are creating on the track our tour tab... I think it makes our trip so far look pretty impressive and we are almost halfway done (mileage wise). During our riding we came along a mother and daughter duo going east, we exchanged some advice and continued on our way. With only 15 miles to go we arrived at a local brewery, so we decided to do some tasting and a tour. The Crown Valley beer wasn't all too good but after 8 little samples we both had a nice buzz to keep us entertained for the last leg of our day. Also after the night we had last night, beer should have been the last think on our minds, but Hell when in Rome!
We strolled into Farmington at about 8pm, luckily we spoke to Tom at the firehouse and he said we could spend the night. This place is hooked up, tv, full kitchen, laundry, beds, showers, and good company! Though we originally wanted to sort some planning out, we got side tracked in some convo and didn't get any work done. I guess there's always tomorrow, the big problem is lack of sleep, tonight will probably only be a 6 hour night of sleep... No good.
Well I'm exhausted now and its passed midnight so bed time for this big footed girl!
More details to follow tomorrow!!
Sasq
Last night we stayed at the Eagle's Club, as lil foot mentioned, but our night was just beginning by the time the last post went up. Oh what a night! A few of the restaurant workers ended their shift and had a few drinks, we joined in obviously. Thinking it would be just a couple drinks then off to bed, little did we know it would turn into closing the bar and continuing down at our little shack after. It's moments like these that lil foot and I enjoy most, drinking with locals, laughing and having a good time, who wouldn't enjoy that? Finally around 3am everyone called it a night and we attempted to get some sleep.
Today we began extremely late but only had 50 miles to go so it wasn't all too bad that we headed out around 11 am. We crossed over the Mississippi River and into Missouri, our 13th state also reaching our 2000th mile at roughly the same time! Check out the sweet red caterpillar we are creating on the track our tour tab... I think it makes our trip so far look pretty impressive and we are almost halfway done (mileage wise). During our riding we came along a mother and daughter duo going east, we exchanged some advice and continued on our way. With only 15 miles to go we arrived at a local brewery, so we decided to do some tasting and a tour. The Crown Valley beer wasn't all too good but after 8 little samples we both had a nice buzz to keep us entertained for the last leg of our day. Also after the night we had last night, beer should have been the last think on our minds, but Hell when in Rome!
We strolled into Farmington at about 8pm, luckily we spoke to Tom at the firehouse and he said we could spend the night. This place is hooked up, tv, full kitchen, laundry, beds, showers, and good company! Though we originally wanted to sort some planning out, we got side tracked in some convo and didn't get any work done. I guess there's always tomorrow, the big problem is lack of sleep, tonight will probably only be a 6 hour night of sleep... No good.
Well I'm exhausted now and its passed midnight so bed time for this big footed girl!
More details to follow tomorrow!!
Sasq
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Muddy River
I finally pried the phone outta sasq's hand and managed to tie her up long enough to tap out a blog post. Haha. We've tallied it up. She's got 12 posts, I've got 4… and a half. Let's make it 5, before she gets loose!
It's been a pretty nice day. After getting hooked up in Carbondale, we rolled outta BMX Joe's at an average leaving time. We actually would have had a decent jump on the day but got caught up chatting away with Joe. He's a wicked friendly guy with a wealth of local and x-country cycling experience. There are a couple routes out of Carbondale, and after Joe assured us that the flooding wouldn't be an issue, we settled on taking the Mississippi Levee route to Chester. This proved to be an interesting choice. If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the photo's I posted on FB. 10 miles or so into our ride we managed to navigate through a closed bridge (there are occasional perks to being on bicycles), although perhaps we should have taken this as a sign. There was some serious flooding that had taken place along most of the route, but it didn't affect us too much… until we approached a road that had a sign reading "water in road". We didn't think too much of it, until we got close & had a proper look. Our first thought was "let's find a detour"! So we turned round and headed for a detour. A few miles later we approached another flooded road, except this one was signed' "road closed". It was significantly more flooded than the original route and clearly could not be passed. So after snapping a quick pic, we turned back around AGAIN and headed back to the first flooded road, peeled off our socks & shoes, hung them over our handlebars, & splashed our way to the other side. Good thing we just got those chains cleaned up & replaced! Once we made it to the other side, we suited back up only to realize the road was flooded up the way a bit. Oh well!
Another 25 miles later & a couple subway footlongs, we decided that Chester was looking pretty nice. Not only is it the home of Popeye the sailor man, but it also boasts another bicycle touring haven--the Chester Aerie chapter of the fraternal order of eagles. This place is basically a bar and restaurant that has built a small building that sleeps 9 with AC, has a shower, & provides breakfast… for free! They also have outdoor beach volleyball courts and a tiki bar. No complaints here! So, we've posted up here for the evening and will hit the road pedaling hard in the AM.
Better go free sasq up before she attacks!
godspeed,
little foot
ps. tomorrow is a big day! We'll be cycling our 2000th mile & crossing into MO!
It's been a pretty nice day. After getting hooked up in Carbondale, we rolled outta BMX Joe's at an average leaving time. We actually would have had a decent jump on the day but got caught up chatting away with Joe. He's a wicked friendly guy with a wealth of local and x-country cycling experience. There are a couple routes out of Carbondale, and after Joe assured us that the flooding wouldn't be an issue, we settled on taking the Mississippi Levee route to Chester. This proved to be an interesting choice. If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the photo's I posted on FB. 10 miles or so into our ride we managed to navigate through a closed bridge (there are occasional perks to being on bicycles), although perhaps we should have taken this as a sign. There was some serious flooding that had taken place along most of the route, but it didn't affect us too much… until we approached a road that had a sign reading "water in road". We didn't think too much of it, until we got close & had a proper look. Our first thought was "let's find a detour"! So we turned round and headed for a detour. A few miles later we approached another flooded road, except this one was signed' "road closed". It was significantly more flooded than the original route and clearly could not be passed. So after snapping a quick pic, we turned back around AGAIN and headed back to the first flooded road, peeled off our socks & shoes, hung them over our handlebars, & splashed our way to the other side. Good thing we just got those chains cleaned up & replaced! Once we made it to the other side, we suited back up only to realize the road was flooded up the way a bit. Oh well!
Another 25 miles later & a couple subway footlongs, we decided that Chester was looking pretty nice. Not only is it the home of Popeye the sailor man, but it also boasts another bicycle touring haven--the Chester Aerie chapter of the fraternal order of eagles. This place is basically a bar and restaurant that has built a small building that sleeps 9 with AC, has a shower, & provides breakfast… for free! They also have outdoor beach volleyball courts and a tiki bar. No complaints here! So, we've posted up here for the evening and will hit the road pedaling hard in the AM.
Better go free sasq up before she attacks!
godspeed,
little foot
ps. tomorrow is a big day! We'll be cycling our 2000th mile & crossing into MO!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Time for a warm shower!
We made it to Carbondale, Illinois an almost 80 mile day after taking yesterday off! The start of the day was earlier than usual but a little later than we had hope. We pushed off from the River Rose B&B by 7am and headed to Eddyville where the water is drinkable and clear! The weather was pretty damn nice for once, thought it was going to be a hot one, but there was a cool breeze for the most part to even it out. It still reached the 90s and sweat poured off of us but for some reason it wasn't nearly as bad as the few days before. It was clear that the rest day was indeed needed. After 50 miles or so we took a lunch break at the Sub Shack, the name alone caused the song "Love Shack" to get stuck in my head and now by typing that its back in my head, damn it. At the Sub Shack we relaxed for about an hour and a half, filled our bellies and took a nice cat nap! The women working there were lovely, ,before we even had to ask they offered to fill our water bottles with ice and water, what lifesavers. Haha.
Now it was time to finish off our day, another 25-30 miles til Carbondale. Luckily we made it to Bike Surgeons with 15 minutes to spare, the guys working agreed to check out our bikes and help us out. It helps being girls sometimes! ;-) as the guys began they checked our chains and both of us needed new ones, it appears the mountains got the best of them. My bike was finished first and while we waited for lil foot's one of the guys offered us an ice cold PBR, we obviously accepted without hesitation. On top of that I had to buy three spare tubes and wasn't charged for them! This shop is great, if you're ever cycling through check them out.
Completely going out of order here, but I'm tired so I'm not going to go back and rewrite it.... When we first arrived to the shop, lil foot began talking to a guy named Joe. It turns out he has a warm showers account (the post title) and offered to house us for the night! He was headed off for a ride for a couple hours so once we were finished with our bikes, we bought some groceries and had some dinner, Joe met us where we were eating. After dinner if it off to Joe's to shower up and sleep. Just so everyone knows, Joe is in his early 20s and goes to Southern Illinois University, so we didn't go to some old creepy man's house, and the guys in the bike shop also confirmed that he's a cool guy. NO need to worry mom.
That about covers it, we're going to get some sleep and attempt an early morning tomorrow for when we hit 2000 miles and Missouri! Woohooooooo!!!
Nighty night.
Sasq
Now it was time to finish off our day, another 25-30 miles til Carbondale. Luckily we made it to Bike Surgeons with 15 minutes to spare, the guys working agreed to check out our bikes and help us out. It helps being girls sometimes! ;-) as the guys began they checked our chains and both of us needed new ones, it appears the mountains got the best of them. My bike was finished first and while we waited for lil foot's one of the guys offered us an ice cold PBR, we obviously accepted without hesitation. On top of that I had to buy three spare tubes and wasn't charged for them! This shop is great, if you're ever cycling through check them out.
Completely going out of order here, but I'm tired so I'm not going to go back and rewrite it.... When we first arrived to the shop, lil foot began talking to a guy named Joe. It turns out he has a warm showers account (the post title) and offered to house us for the night! He was headed off for a ride for a couple hours so once we were finished with our bikes, we bought some groceries and had some dinner, Joe met us where we were eating. After dinner if it off to Joe's to shower up and sleep. Just so everyone knows, Joe is in his early 20s and goes to Southern Illinois University, so we didn't go to some old creepy man's house, and the guys in the bike shop also confirmed that he's a cool guy. NO need to worry mom.
That about covers it, we're going to get some sleep and attempt an early morning tomorrow for when we hit 2000 miles and Missouri! Woohooooooo!!!
Nighty night.
Sasq
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Some much needed rest!
Finally found some service. Let's see, yesterday was a pretty interesting day to say the least. Woke up in the house of god, weird enough to fill the whole day but I'll continue. Lil foot and I set a single goal for the day, find beer to celebrate the 4th of July the way real Americans do! We began late, as usual, because the insane storm that we were expecting the night before decided to hit in the morning. We finally hit the road at about 8:30am, and it was 9am when we had to hide out under someone's carport for 20 minutes during the heavy rain and lighting flashes. We caught a short break and made a run for it, only to reach a grocery store to buy a couple things and hide out again for over an hour this time. This was shaping up to be a terrible celebration and still no beer on my hand. Ugh. Lil foot tossed on her rain gear before we braved the storm again. As we began another piece of our day the rain stopped and the sun began to shine! At the same time we were climbing a hill so the sweat began falling off of us, lil foot hauled ass up the hill and peeled her rain gear off, she only had it on for 15 - 20 minutes, so that was short lived. Haha
Finally we reached the Ohio River after 26 miles, tons of rain, lighting, thunder and still no beer. In no time flat we made it to Elizabethtown Illinois, and the sun was beating down! We sat down to have some lunch, and made a decision to stay the night at a River Rose Bed & Breakfast. They have a pool, lots of tv channels, ac and most important there was a liquor store literally around the block. Now it was time for some real celebrating!! A 12 pack later we walked up to a local bar, oh man what a hole. The bartender was very friendly but I think she was just excited to have someone new in the place. Lil foot had a pint for $1.75 and my beer was $2, very pricey. We didn't stay there long because we were afraid we may be kidnapped and our teeth might be stolen, believe me these people didn't have a full set of teeth between all of them. CREEPY. It was time to head back to the room, I didn't last much longer, but lil foot was a trooper and polished off the remaining beers and even took care of my half drank beer!
We woke up this morning not in any mood to even look at a bike seat, nevermind ride on one. It was time for a much needed rest day! The sun was beating down, so by 10am we were suited up and laying by the pool, hopefully our tan lines aren't nearly as bad now. You should see our legs, its pretty funny. Lunch time rolled around so we went to the same place as the day before and stuffed our faces, we also went there for dinner. We asked the innkeeper if we could pitch our tent for the night instead of paying a ton for another night, but an arrangement was made and lil foot and I had two nights in a bed for the price of one! Love this place, just not this town.
Tomorrow we'll make it to Carbondale, Illinois where we will get our bikes checked out and tweeked. Then Thursday we shall be in a new state! I think crossing boarders has been my favorite part of riding, but of course getting into shape is up there too! In case you want to know how we're looking, I'd say 5 weeks of riding has done a number to our leg muscles, oh and lil foot can now do 2 1/2 push ups! She's so strong now, Hahaha.
That's about it for now, good night people!
Oh wait, we found out today that we should never drink the water here cause the water tower and pipes break all the time. Would have been great to learn this yesterday before a downed a ton of water, so I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get sick.
Peace out...
Sasq
Finally we reached the Ohio River after 26 miles, tons of rain, lighting, thunder and still no beer. In no time flat we made it to Elizabethtown Illinois, and the sun was beating down! We sat down to have some lunch, and made a decision to stay the night at a River Rose Bed & Breakfast. They have a pool, lots of tv channels, ac and most important there was a liquor store literally around the block. Now it was time for some real celebrating!! A 12 pack later we walked up to a local bar, oh man what a hole. The bartender was very friendly but I think she was just excited to have someone new in the place. Lil foot had a pint for $1.75 and my beer was $2, very pricey. We didn't stay there long because we were afraid we may be kidnapped and our teeth might be stolen, believe me these people didn't have a full set of teeth between all of them. CREEPY. It was time to head back to the room, I didn't last much longer, but lil foot was a trooper and polished off the remaining beers and even took care of my half drank beer!
We woke up this morning not in any mood to even look at a bike seat, nevermind ride on one. It was time for a much needed rest day! The sun was beating down, so by 10am we were suited up and laying by the pool, hopefully our tan lines aren't nearly as bad now. You should see our legs, its pretty funny. Lunch time rolled around so we went to the same place as the day before and stuffed our faces, we also went there for dinner. We asked the innkeeper if we could pitch our tent for the night instead of paying a ton for another night, but an arrangement was made and lil foot and I had two nights in a bed for the price of one! Love this place, just not this town.
Tomorrow we'll make it to Carbondale, Illinois where we will get our bikes checked out and tweeked. Then Thursday we shall be in a new state! I think crossing boarders has been my favorite part of riding, but of course getting into shape is up there too! In case you want to know how we're looking, I'd say 5 weeks of riding has done a number to our leg muscles, oh and lil foot can now do 2 1/2 push ups! She's so strong now, Hahaha.
That's about it for now, good night people!
Oh wait, we found out today that we should never drink the water here cause the water tower and pipes break all the time. Would have been great to learn this yesterday before a downed a ton of water, so I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get sick.
Peace out...
Sasq
Sunday, July 3, 2011
I get by with a little help from....
What a day today has been! Let me start off by saying the fire house last night once again was amazing, we were able to clean our clothes, shower and use their kitchen so we had breakfast for dinner then finished it off before starting our insane day today.
Spencer's, the guy going east, took off at 5:45am and probably ended his day by noon. We however like sleeping late and not getting early starts, so our day of riding began at 8am. The first 25 miles from Utica to Sebree were not bad at all, not too much climbing and almost NO DOGS! At Sebree the heat began to kick in, we took an hour to hide from the sun and drink tons of water. We also began to figure out where we would end for the night, Cave in Rock became our goal for the day! About 57 more miles to go, and we were feeling good! The weather had another plan for us as per usual. We take off and make it 12 more miles to Dixon where the only place with shade was a closed gas station, and considering nothing else was open we took what we could get. During this break we passed out for a good 45 minutes or so, making us look like two dead cyclists on the side of the road. Not a single person seemed concerned about us during this break, which made us a little sad but we understood because we probably looked like lunatics! Finally we mustered up the energy to get to the next town of Clay, KY where there was a gas station that was open and a store to sit in and soak up some AC! We must of looked pathetic because the ladies behind the counter gave us free donuts to go along with our yummy gatorades. At this point the temperature was 93 degrees with a heat index of 105. Yikes, our goal of Cave in Rock wasn't looking too good. When the sun calmed down a bit we tried for our last 34 miles but only made it 9 before having to seek out shelter. The wind began throwing us back and forth like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. We found Enon General Baptist Church and asked if it would be ok to pitch our tent on the grass. Instead we were offered a garage of one of the church members who lives right down the road. Next thing we know, we're being invited to stay for the service, oh joy. Nothing against church goers, its just not my thing or lil foot's either, but we said sure out of guilt. The people here are beyond sweet, before service began, arrangements were made for us to stay inside the church and use there kitchen for whatever we would like! Now I was ok with staying for service, more out of a thanks to the people for being so kind, but man oh man it was hard to understand the preacher. I know my accent and fast talking is sometimes tough to understand but this was a whole other level. An hour and 15 minutes later the service was over and about 8 prayers were said to keep up safe during our journeys across the country, again such sweet people! After giving everyone a hug it looked like it would finally be time to unwind and relax before bed, then Mary and Donald (the couple whom originally offered their garage) came walking in with a box full of food and drinks for us to eat now and take with us. We were just looking for a place to pitch our tent and instead got about 10 people within walking distance looking out for us!
Must say although we didn't reach our goal today, its amazing that we found this place at the time we did!
Now for some of the funnier parts of the day... We have been noticing here and there that some people don't like to wear shoes in public which is gross for the most part but today I noticed a woman walk into the gas station with just socks on. Weird. Next was this little midget, at the same location, we believe to be a drug dealer had the funniest pick up truck... The pick up part was completely missing, it was just the front half of the truck. The smells are still present and today I believe we passed three manure farms, one of which made me come real close to up chucking. Not fun. And finally the conversation at the very end of the night with two of the church member women....
Church lady #1 - Do you girls need sanitary napkins.
Us - No No No, we are all good. Thanks for everything.
Church lady #1 - Ok. I wasn't sure and even though I don't get mine anymore I made it a personal rule to always have them at my house encased someone else is in need.
Lady #2 - I don't get mine either ever since 61, I had a historectomy!
(At this point we have really heard enough but they weren't done just yet.)
Lady #1 - Now I use them sometimes when I'm out in public so when I sneeze or cough I always have something on to protect me.
Me - better safe than sorry, I guess.
All - haha
Lady #1 - We'll be going now, have a good night.
Us - Good night, thanks again.
Aren't you glad I shared that with you, now we can all have creepy ass dreams together!
Night night all! Border in the morning and Elizabethtown by noon with a cold beer in me about five minutes after that!!!
Happy 4th of July!
Sasq
Also as a side note, lil foot and I are still getting along real well! Apparently all other cyclists we've come across think we should be at each other's throats by now, bit luckily we aren't! Though it does look like someone has been beating lil foot at night, I promise it is not me.
Spencer's, the guy going east, took off at 5:45am and probably ended his day by noon. We however like sleeping late and not getting early starts, so our day of riding began at 8am. The first 25 miles from Utica to Sebree were not bad at all, not too much climbing and almost NO DOGS! At Sebree the heat began to kick in, we took an hour to hide from the sun and drink tons of water. We also began to figure out where we would end for the night, Cave in Rock became our goal for the day! About 57 more miles to go, and we were feeling good! The weather had another plan for us as per usual. We take off and make it 12 more miles to Dixon where the only place with shade was a closed gas station, and considering nothing else was open we took what we could get. During this break we passed out for a good 45 minutes or so, making us look like two dead cyclists on the side of the road. Not a single person seemed concerned about us during this break, which made us a little sad but we understood because we probably looked like lunatics! Finally we mustered up the energy to get to the next town of Clay, KY where there was a gas station that was open and a store to sit in and soak up some AC! We must of looked pathetic because the ladies behind the counter gave us free donuts to go along with our yummy gatorades. At this point the temperature was 93 degrees with a heat index of 105. Yikes, our goal of Cave in Rock wasn't looking too good. When the sun calmed down a bit we tried for our last 34 miles but only made it 9 before having to seek out shelter. The wind began throwing us back and forth like a cat playing with a ball of yarn. We found Enon General Baptist Church and asked if it would be ok to pitch our tent on the grass. Instead we were offered a garage of one of the church members who lives right down the road. Next thing we know, we're being invited to stay for the service, oh joy. Nothing against church goers, its just not my thing or lil foot's either, but we said sure out of guilt. The people here are beyond sweet, before service began, arrangements were made for us to stay inside the church and use there kitchen for whatever we would like! Now I was ok with staying for service, more out of a thanks to the people for being so kind, but man oh man it was hard to understand the preacher. I know my accent and fast talking is sometimes tough to understand but this was a whole other level. An hour and 15 minutes later the service was over and about 8 prayers were said to keep up safe during our journeys across the country, again such sweet people! After giving everyone a hug it looked like it would finally be time to unwind and relax before bed, then Mary and Donald (the couple whom originally offered their garage) came walking in with a box full of food and drinks for us to eat now and take with us. We were just looking for a place to pitch our tent and instead got about 10 people within walking distance looking out for us!
Must say although we didn't reach our goal today, its amazing that we found this place at the time we did!
Now for some of the funnier parts of the day... We have been noticing here and there that some people don't like to wear shoes in public which is gross for the most part but today I noticed a woman walk into the gas station with just socks on. Weird. Next was this little midget, at the same location, we believe to be a drug dealer had the funniest pick up truck... The pick up part was completely missing, it was just the front half of the truck. The smells are still present and today I believe we passed three manure farms, one of which made me come real close to up chucking. Not fun. And finally the conversation at the very end of the night with two of the church member women....
Church lady #1 - Do you girls need sanitary napkins.
Us - No No No, we are all good. Thanks for everything.
Church lady #1 - Ok. I wasn't sure and even though I don't get mine anymore I made it a personal rule to always have them at my house encased someone else is in need.
Lady #2 - I don't get mine either ever since 61, I had a historectomy!
(At this point we have really heard enough but they weren't done just yet.)
Lady #1 - Now I use them sometimes when I'm out in public so when I sneeze or cough I always have something on to protect me.
Me - better safe than sorry, I guess.
All - haha
Lady #1 - We'll be going now, have a good night.
Us - Good night, thanks again.
Aren't you glad I shared that with you, now we can all have creepy ass dreams together!
Night night all! Border in the morning and Elizabethtown by noon with a cold beer in me about five minutes after that!!!
Happy 4th of July!
Sasq
Also as a side note, lil foot and I are still getting along real well! Apparently all other cyclists we've come across think we should be at each other's throats by now, bit luckily we aren't! Though it does look like someone has been beating lil foot at night, I promise it is not me.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The smells we encounter and more...
I'm sorry for the long hiatus... With the lack of internet connection its hard to keep you all posted, even Jerry called me cause he was worried I hadn't updated anything in a while. Alas we are alive! Little foot began a post but cut it short due to the time so I'm going to continue on. The guys we met in Hindman ended up being our lodging buddies for two nights!
The first night was in the Knotts Historic Center, which was definitely a night to remember. We arrived just in time to put our stuff away in our "room", one part of a three room tent that had a queen air mattress in it and smelled like wet cat, then the flood gates of Hell opened up and poured down for the better part of the evening causing the electric to cut out. All of the cyclists (6 including lil foot and myself, the two Brits and a couple brothers) and Dave gathered in Dave's house and sat in the dark. Dave is the grounds keeper and has been hosting cyclists for 15 or so years, which is amazing. Everyone got to know one another and we began to meet the many many cats which Dave has. I would say 30 or so cats and a bunch of kittens as well. Now we know why everything smelled like wet cats, even the tops of our beers made us a little nervous before drinking them, but who are we kidding, let the beer flow! After the storm cleared and we all ate, Dave made us possibly the largest sundae I have ever attempted to consume! It was delicious but I failed in completing mine, as did everyone else. Then it was time for bed as lil foot and I hoped to get an early start and reach our first 100 mile day.
Although 8am is petty early it wasn't the start we originally wanted, but our hopes were still high. As the day went on we encountered a few dogs which we did not hesitate to spray, I think some of them use the scary as mouth wash and just keep coming for you. We survived our second day of dogs but did not make it to Berea, instead we bunker up with Chris and Gary, the Brits, in Bonesville Kentucky at Linda's B&B. What a character Linda is! First the voice you hear on the phone does not match the woman you meet. She was nice enough to pick us up at a local grocery store, then take us the mile and a half to our house for the night. In the process of getting out of the truck we noticed the 38 sitting in the side pocket of the driver's door. This did not make us feel so safe in western Kentucky, first the dogs now we may need a gun? Oh man! Linda reassured us she hasn't had to use the gun, but keeps it close ever since her husband passes away, now the four of us could relax a bit for the night. Lil foot and I cooked dinner while the guys took showers and relaxed, they of course did the dishes while we took showers and relaxed! Then we woke up to the smell or Bacon, eggs and toasted bagels! I could get used to this, but that would be the last of lodging with the Brits at unless they go camping! Haha
It was time to start our trip from bonesville to Hardin Springs, KY. A nice 86 mile day was in store for us, and the sun also decided to join us for the whole day. With the mountains finally behind us and the hills a Kentucky ahead we were positive we wouldn't have a problem reaching our goal. As the day went on the sun was brutal, and along our path we met another cyclists! Nina, a Pennsylvania native, but living in Norway for the last 20 something years, came along and joined us for the last 30 miles of our day! We joined up and camped out at Chimney Rock RV Park for the night. This place was great, only $10 per tent and a nice grassy patch next to the office only for cross country cyclists! Lil foot and I got some laundry done, but yet again went to sleep much too late. We chatted with our new friend only for a short time in the morning, then agreed to join up again for another night of camping. We wanted to get more than 50 something miles in but with lack or resources we didn't have much choice. Our destination for Thursday night would be My Old Kentucky Home State Park, where we meet yet another cyclist. Nina did her own thing for the day and stopped off at a couple touristy things while we just took our time and got to the park nice and early! While waiting for Nina to arrive the new guy came over and chatted a bit. His name is Mike, going from NY to to San Fran. He began his trip a day before us and is averaging 40 to 50 miles a day, so this would be the only time we'll be seeing him. Mike good luck with the rest of your trip. Also Nina made it to camp a couple hours after us, we talked about our plans to comes and realized this would most likely be our last night together as well.
Back to biking... From Old Kentucky we had 72 miles til our next interesting place to sleep. More dogs and smells all day during our ride. We are hoping to pass somewhere to pick up more pepper spray, well at least I am, because the dogs are out of control. In some ways lil foot is lucking out because I tend to ride a little ahead and hit the dogs first, if I spray them then they don't bother her. But sometimes it seems like I wake up the dogs and then she has to deal with them. I tried to kick a little one in the afternoon but missed and scared him off! What ever works, I'll take it. Like I said before, if it comes down to me being bit or someone's dog getting sprayed/kicked then peace out dog. As the day went on I think the sun was at its strongest so far, and it would only get stronger and hotter during our adventure. With the sun comes some strong smells, the smells of nasty road kill. We've seen tons of different animals on the side of the road, wish I could see a lot less. You don't notice this type of thing when you're driving by, trust me this is the worst part of the cycling. The last couple hours of the ride were still extremely hot, (not to worry mom Brittany has made sure I block it up just about every time we stop) but the end was in site! Double L grocery store here we come. Boy oh boy we had no idea what to expect. We pull into what looks like an abandoned gas station where a hoarder lives and decided to have a yard sale. Well this is the kind of place that McDaniels KY calls a grocery store. Can't complain too much, we had a free spot to camp, a hot shower (picture a dirty, dirty hostel) and a free bowl of cereal the next morning! I think if you're a fan of Mullets, people with no teeth and hillbilly accents then this would be your heaven, but for us it was just a free place to crash for the night.
Now that we are up to date I'll let you know how today was!
We crossed over our first time zone this morning, that's right we are now living in the past! Western Kentucky seems to be a lot nicer than eastern. Farms all over with beautiful scenery and a lot less dogs! Although while getting loose this morning only three miles in I was ran off the road twice by a dog a sprayed twice and kicked twice. Lucky me, the bastard kept coming but I finally out ran him and I guess he was out of juice because he didn't go for lil foot at all. Now my body was literally shaking from my closest encounter yet. Not a dog fan at all these days, but I miss my "niece and nephew" and appreciate them so much more! Another hot one today as well. High of 96 and felt like 100 at some parts of the day... Woohooooooo. We got most of our ride done early and took a two hour break from the sun from 1-3 before finishing up another 72 miles.
Tonight we are in Utica KY, staying in a volunteer firehouse which I probably the best place to stay so far. (Obviously not counting friends and family that put up with us! It would be nice if we had more of you spread out throughout the middle of America, haha.) Here they leave the door unlocked for passing cyclists even if none is on duty. Another cyclist is also staying the night, he's going East and ending in North Carolina. His name is Spencer and is lucky enough to be credit card touring. He's traveling light and never camps, but was full of great information for a bunch of locations in our future! We decided since we had the luxury of a refrigerator tonight to attempt eating a box of cereal each and we both failed. We fail a bunch, I think from now on if we lower our expectations then we'll succeed a lot more! Tomorrow we will go for 20 miles! Hahaha I wish, but actually tomorrow is still up in the air. Once we find a place to buy beer by somewhere that we can camp and swim, then our final destination will be decided!
Tomorrow we will cross the border into Illinois and then hopefully be in the perfect place to have a hillbilly 4th of July! Beers, burgers, hot dogs and sun.... As long as we have those four things I will be such a happy camper, literally!
Now my thumbs are cramping up and I can't afford to lose more feeling in more fingers, so I am going to end this long ass post here.
Good night to all, and I will try to update the blog much more frequently.
Just incase we are too drunk tomorrow night or don't have service, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!
Sasq
The first night was in the Knotts Historic Center, which was definitely a night to remember. We arrived just in time to put our stuff away in our "room", one part of a three room tent that had a queen air mattress in it and smelled like wet cat, then the flood gates of Hell opened up and poured down for the better part of the evening causing the electric to cut out. All of the cyclists (6 including lil foot and myself, the two Brits and a couple brothers) and Dave gathered in Dave's house and sat in the dark. Dave is the grounds keeper and has been hosting cyclists for 15 or so years, which is amazing. Everyone got to know one another and we began to meet the many many cats which Dave has. I would say 30 or so cats and a bunch of kittens as well. Now we know why everything smelled like wet cats, even the tops of our beers made us a little nervous before drinking them, but who are we kidding, let the beer flow! After the storm cleared and we all ate, Dave made us possibly the largest sundae I have ever attempted to consume! It was delicious but I failed in completing mine, as did everyone else. Then it was time for bed as lil foot and I hoped to get an early start and reach our first 100 mile day.
Although 8am is petty early it wasn't the start we originally wanted, but our hopes were still high. As the day went on we encountered a few dogs which we did not hesitate to spray, I think some of them use the scary as mouth wash and just keep coming for you. We survived our second day of dogs but did not make it to Berea, instead we bunker up with Chris and Gary, the Brits, in Bonesville Kentucky at Linda's B&B. What a character Linda is! First the voice you hear on the phone does not match the woman you meet. She was nice enough to pick us up at a local grocery store, then take us the mile and a half to our house for the night. In the process of getting out of the truck we noticed the 38 sitting in the side pocket of the driver's door. This did not make us feel so safe in western Kentucky, first the dogs now we may need a gun? Oh man! Linda reassured us she hasn't had to use the gun, but keeps it close ever since her husband passes away, now the four of us could relax a bit for the night. Lil foot and I cooked dinner while the guys took showers and relaxed, they of course did the dishes while we took showers and relaxed! Then we woke up to the smell or Bacon, eggs and toasted bagels! I could get used to this, but that would be the last of lodging with the Brits at unless they go camping! Haha
It was time to start our trip from bonesville to Hardin Springs, KY. A nice 86 mile day was in store for us, and the sun also decided to join us for the whole day. With the mountains finally behind us and the hills a Kentucky ahead we were positive we wouldn't have a problem reaching our goal. As the day went on the sun was brutal, and along our path we met another cyclists! Nina, a Pennsylvania native, but living in Norway for the last 20 something years, came along and joined us for the last 30 miles of our day! We joined up and camped out at Chimney Rock RV Park for the night. This place was great, only $10 per tent and a nice grassy patch next to the office only for cross country cyclists! Lil foot and I got some laundry done, but yet again went to sleep much too late. We chatted with our new friend only for a short time in the morning, then agreed to join up again for another night of camping. We wanted to get more than 50 something miles in but with lack or resources we didn't have much choice. Our destination for Thursday night would be My Old Kentucky Home State Park, where we meet yet another cyclist. Nina did her own thing for the day and stopped off at a couple touristy things while we just took our time and got to the park nice and early! While waiting for Nina to arrive the new guy came over and chatted a bit. His name is Mike, going from NY to to San Fran. He began his trip a day before us and is averaging 40 to 50 miles a day, so this would be the only time we'll be seeing him. Mike good luck with the rest of your trip. Also Nina made it to camp a couple hours after us, we talked about our plans to comes and realized this would most likely be our last night together as well.
Back to biking... From Old Kentucky we had 72 miles til our next interesting place to sleep. More dogs and smells all day during our ride. We are hoping to pass somewhere to pick up more pepper spray, well at least I am, because the dogs are out of control. In some ways lil foot is lucking out because I tend to ride a little ahead and hit the dogs first, if I spray them then they don't bother her. But sometimes it seems like I wake up the dogs and then she has to deal with them. I tried to kick a little one in the afternoon but missed and scared him off! What ever works, I'll take it. Like I said before, if it comes down to me being bit or someone's dog getting sprayed/kicked then peace out dog. As the day went on I think the sun was at its strongest so far, and it would only get stronger and hotter during our adventure. With the sun comes some strong smells, the smells of nasty road kill. We've seen tons of different animals on the side of the road, wish I could see a lot less. You don't notice this type of thing when you're driving by, trust me this is the worst part of the cycling. The last couple hours of the ride were still extremely hot, (not to worry mom Brittany has made sure I block it up just about every time we stop) but the end was in site! Double L grocery store here we come. Boy oh boy we had no idea what to expect. We pull into what looks like an abandoned gas station where a hoarder lives and decided to have a yard sale. Well this is the kind of place that McDaniels KY calls a grocery store. Can't complain too much, we had a free spot to camp, a hot shower (picture a dirty, dirty hostel) and a free bowl of cereal the next morning! I think if you're a fan of Mullets, people with no teeth and hillbilly accents then this would be your heaven, but for us it was just a free place to crash for the night.
Now that we are up to date I'll let you know how today was!
We crossed over our first time zone this morning, that's right we are now living in the past! Western Kentucky seems to be a lot nicer than eastern. Farms all over with beautiful scenery and a lot less dogs! Although while getting loose this morning only three miles in I was ran off the road twice by a dog a sprayed twice and kicked twice. Lucky me, the bastard kept coming but I finally out ran him and I guess he was out of juice because he didn't go for lil foot at all. Now my body was literally shaking from my closest encounter yet. Not a dog fan at all these days, but I miss my "niece and nephew" and appreciate them so much more! Another hot one today as well. High of 96 and felt like 100 at some parts of the day... Woohooooooo. We got most of our ride done early and took a two hour break from the sun from 1-3 before finishing up another 72 miles.
Tonight we are in Utica KY, staying in a volunteer firehouse which I probably the best place to stay so far. (Obviously not counting friends and family that put up with us! It would be nice if we had more of you spread out throughout the middle of America, haha.) Here they leave the door unlocked for passing cyclists even if none is on duty. Another cyclist is also staying the night, he's going East and ending in North Carolina. His name is Spencer and is lucky enough to be credit card touring. He's traveling light and never camps, but was full of great information for a bunch of locations in our future! We decided since we had the luxury of a refrigerator tonight to attempt eating a box of cereal each and we both failed. We fail a bunch, I think from now on if we lower our expectations then we'll succeed a lot more! Tomorrow we will go for 20 miles! Hahaha I wish, but actually tomorrow is still up in the air. Once we find a place to buy beer by somewhere that we can camp and swim, then our final destination will be decided!
Tomorrow we will cross the border into Illinois and then hopefully be in the perfect place to have a hillbilly 4th of July! Beers, burgers, hot dogs and sun.... As long as we have those four things I will be such a happy camper, literally!
Now my thumbs are cramping up and I can't afford to lose more feeling in more fingers, so I am going to end this long ass post here.
Good night to all, and I will try to update the blog much more frequently.
Just incase we are too drunk tomorrow night or don't have service, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!
Sasq
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