Days 25-29: Berea, KY to Cave City, KY

Day 25: 7/10/08 - Berea, KY to Harrodsburg, KY (~45 mi)
Day 26: 7/11/08 - Harrodsburg, KY to Bardstown, KY
Days 27, 28: 7/12/08 - Bardstown, KY to Lebanon, KY (~30 miles)
Day 29: 7/13/08 - Lebanon, KY to Cave City, KY (~60 mi)


Arriving in Berea was amazing because it marked the end of the Appalachian Mountains. If you look to the east in Berea, you see mountains, but when you look to the west there is a wonderful lack of them. Just rolling hills and open sky. We were so used to seeing mountains on all sides of us that it was refreshing to finally see haystacks, silos and farms. It was also refreshing to be traveling at 12 mph instead of 8. Doesn't sound like much to you automobile drivers out there, but we could travel 50 miles in 4 hours instead of 6 - that leaves more time for laundry and all that other fun stuff.

Our new biking scenery.

Resting under the shade of an enormous tree.

This old man was born and raised in this tiny town.
Come to think of it, that's the story with a lot of the old people we meet.

Our newest snack craze:
Ale 8 is from KY, and Zagnut is, well, Zagnut.

Hey Rocco!

At a gas station along the way we met Rocco, another cross-country cyclist going in our direction. We knew his name is Rocco because it's tattooed on his arm. Rocco just got his PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT - not what you'd expect from someone with "Rocco" tattooed on his arm. Rocco travels very light - he has a tent which is basically a Bivy sack that hooks to his bike wheel for support. We, on the other hand, travel very unlight. Heavily loaded, in bike-speak. I haven't discussed our packing or gear situation yet in this blog, so for those of you who are interested, I am going to make a separate blog entry dedicated to the packing and gear logistics.

We didn't get on the road this morning until 11ish, as usual, and by the time we ran in to Rocco we had gone maybe 10-15 miles, while Rocco was on his 60th or 70th mile. We're enjoying our pace - nothing to be ashamed of - but just for comparison's sake, he started the day in Booneville and is headed to Harrodsburg, which means that he is doing in 1 day what we are doing in 2 days. Since he's riding alone, he appreciates finding riding partners from time to time, so he asked to tag along with us for a while since we were all headed to Harrodsburg. He stuck with us for a few miles, but at the first big hill Rocco took off without looking back. We rested and sipped water and collected ourselves. The beauty of being on a solo bike tour is that you don't wait for anyone or rely on anyone but yourself. Go Rocco!

We made it to Harrodsburg and stayed at the Economy Inn, run by an Indian couple who lived in Panama for 25 years. They spoke fluent Spanish and, although they looked very Indian, they had Spanish accents when speaking English. Weird. Then we ate at another mediocre Mexican restaurant.

The next day we were on our way to Bardstown, the Bourbon capital of the world. On the way we stopped at Lincoln Homestead Park. This is the location of the log cabin in which Lincoln's father grew up. I had never heard of it before but it was cool to see. Plus it was hot out and they had cold water.

The bed and dresser were built by Lincoln's pappy.

Old-fashioned pizza slicer??

In don't think were were supposed to touch this,
but no one else was there.

The rest of the ride to Bardstown was very nice, and pretty flat. We made good time for once. We also got to stare at a bunch of corn, tobacco, horses, and moo-cows.

Mystery plant:
Later verified that is indeed tobacco.
Looks like mutant lettuce.

Biking to Bardstown.

Lots of horses in Kentucky.

Lots of moo-cows in Kentucky.

Old Talbott Tavern.

In Bardstown we decided to eat dinner at the Old Talbott Tavern, which is known in Bardstown for its good food, huge whisky menu, and live music. We decided to order a Kentucky Hot Brown, which is a classic Kentucky "sandwich". It is a slice of bread topped with ham, turkey, bacon and Mornay sauce. You can't pick it up with your hands because it's drenched in the cheese sauce. It is deliciously indulgent but very heavy. Talbott's Hot Brown was great tasting but very skimpy in size. The adults in our group ordered pints of Kentucky Bourbon Ale, which is an awesome buttery-bourbony beer made in Louisville. It does not contain Bourbon, it just has a subtle bourbon flavor from the used bourbon barrels in which it is stored. I hear there is a bar in Arlington which carries it on draft, so we'll have to check it out when we get home.

The next day we decided to rest in Bardstown and check out the Heaven Hill Distillery. Tony was thankfully uninterested and biked to the movie theatre.

Heaven Hill makes Evan Williams bourbon. Actually, their distillery is in Louisville so we didn't get to see the big tubs of mash being cooked, but we saw a video and their barrel storage warehouses. We were not big bourbon fans before coming to Bardstown, but we found out that we are just not fans of cheap bourbon. Heaven Hill gave us tastings of their 10 year old Single Barrel Evan Williams bourbon and their 18 year Elijah Craig. They were so good we bought a bottle of the 10 year, and another bottle of a wheat whisky we saw in the gift shop. We filled our flasks and mailed the rest home.

After leaving Bardstown we passed near the Maker's Mark distillery... close enough to make a detour. The Maker's Mark distillery is quaint and touristy, and much more interesting as a tour. We even got to taste the clear distilled grain alcohol before it goes into the barrels to age. Unfortunately, the Heaven Hill bourbon was far superior than what we tried at Maker's Mark. But it still made for a great tour! We got to see the big batches of sour mash and we stuck our fingers in it and tasted it too.

After the tastings it was almost 5pm and was too late to head for Lincoln's birthplace, 40 miles away, so we went to Lebanon, KY instead. A bit off route, but it put us in a good position to head to Cave City the next day.

So we were off to Cave City! We were excited about this for 2 reasons: Mammoth Cave, the most extensive cave system in the world; and Nashville. We are meeting our friend David Hockaday (cool name eh?) in Nashville, because that is where he is from, and he is going to show us around town. To get to Nashville, which is waaay of route, we are going to store our bikes in Cave City and rent a car.

While eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Cave City (more mediocre Mexican, although this was on the upper end of mediocre) an older fellow named Mark Davis approached our table. Mark spotted our funny looking bike clothes and tagged us as touring cyclists. Mark is an avid cyclist as well, and is semi-retired, and bikes around the Cave City area daily. He is planning to do a stretch of the Trans-Am next summer from Kentucky to Wyoming and wanted to talk to us about our experience. When we told him we needed a place to stash our bikes for the weekend, he offered us his house! What a swell guy. So now that that logistical detail has been covered, we will plan on meeting David and Tiffany in Nashville on Thursday night, and until then we'll explore the caves....

(Pictures to come... they take long to upload :P )

The Mammoth Caves are truly mammoth, but they are also truly boring. Luray Caverns in Virginia, for example, are beautiful. They have stalag's, both -mite and -tite, making gorgeous, intricate formations. Mammoth Cave on the other hand is so big because it is so sturdy, and the ceilings of the caves are made of a tough sandstone (don't quote me on that... although I rock, I am no geologist) and so no water seeps through to make the pretty formations. It's basically just a huge, boring dirt tunnel. Still glad we saw it though!

Days 20-24: Eastern Kentucky Summary - Breaks, VA to Berea, KY

Friday, July 5th, 2008 through Thursday, July 9th 2008

I've had a hard time keeping up to date with the blog during this trip. As Kinsey stated, it's been "nigh a fortnight and a half" since the last update. To rectify this situation I am going to summarize what's been happening for the past 3 weeks, in a couple of installments, beginning with Eastern Kentucky. Hopefully this will make it easier to keep up to date.

Here's the itinerary:
Day 20: 7/05/08 - Breaks, VA to Elkhorn City, KY
Day 21: 7/06/08 - Elkhorn City, KY to Hindman, KY
Day 22: 7/07/08 - Hindman, KY to Buckhorn, KY
Day 23: 7/08/08 - Buckhorn, KY to Booneville, KY
Day 24: 7/09/08 - Booneville, KY to Berea, KY

The morning of July 5th we awoke in Breaks, VA to a dreary drizzle. We put our tents away wet, which doesn't help the smell. Anna and Aaron have a leak in their tent which dampened their sleeping bag. That must suck, but my REI half-dome tent has been working splendidly.

Once we got packed up and biked away from our tent site, the rain really began to come down. Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it and keep on truckin', but it was annoying enough - and we were hungry enough - that we decided to eat the breakfast buffet at the Breaks Park restaurant and wait out the rain. We came in soaking wet wearing our funny bike clothes, and the hostess sat us down in the corner, away from all of the regular customers.

Once we were finished it was getting to be 11:30, which is a late start. The trouble is that Elkhorn City is 5 miles from Breaks and the next town with camping is Hindman, which is 67 miles away from Elkhorn. Instead of biking 72 miles in a drizzle, we decided to just bike the 5 miles to Elkhorn City. But at least we made it into Kentucky! Our first state line! And it only took us 20 days!

Our Elkhorn Motel.

Beer bottle opener in the motel bathroom.
Ironically, this is a dry county.

Don, a local Elkhornian.

We ran into Don who recommended the Mexican restaurant in town and told us about the local economy in Elkhorn City. Elkhorn is an old Appalachian coal mining town, though the coal was pretty much exhausted years back. There's still plenty of coal in KY and in the US, as we all know, buy Elkhorn has been dried up and spit out. The town is falling apart and oozes poverty. And the Mexican food was only so-so.

After a Law & Order Criminal Intent marathon the night before, we were back on the road the morning of July 6th, albeit late, since there was more Law & Order on. We've heard so much about the dogs of Kentucky that we've been getting paranoid about them. I bought a dog spray back in Salem, VA, and after a VA dog incident when Anna and Aaron were chased uphill by some mutts I gave the spray to Aaron. Don warned us that there are a lot of loose dogs in the next 5 miles or so, so we rode the entire day on dog alert. We were riding on eggshells, if that makes any sense, just waiting to spray any dogs who dared chase us.

Back on the road in Kentucky.

Slow children at play.
Dem Kentucky kids ain't none too bright.

Is this Kentucky or some Haitian village?

Eastern Kentucky can be pretty sad looking in some parts. Old decrepit homes with confederate flags, trash on the side of the road, 7 year olds with mullets riding around on ATV's, and of course dogs running around loose. The mountains - the most beautiful resource - are often stripped, literally, of their beauty for the coal they contain.

Waiting out the rain at the top of a big hill,
about to pass in to a dry county.

Coal mine operation.

Nice retired old man who likes to talk with passing bicyclists.
Worked on this road his whole life as a flag man for the highway road crews.

After hours of biking, we finally finished the day in Hindman, KY (pronounced high-nd-muhn). We once again got the Blizzard of the Month at Dairy Queen (Thin Mint flavor) and some take home subs at dusk, and biked the next 4 miles to the Eighty Motel on Route 80. We didn't arrive at the motel until dark. Wi-fi is always the big plus of going to motels, so we asked the motel manager whether they have it:

"Do you have Wi-Fi?"
"Do we have what?"
"The internet. Do you have internet here?"
"No, we just have regular TV here."

The motel was dirty and dingy on the level of the Rebel Motel. It felt gross to even walk around on the carpet. But shelter is shelter.

The next day, July 7th, we left Hindman for Buckhorn Lake. We left late again. We were on the road around noon, just in time for the hottest part of the day. The road during the beginning of the day was big, and didn't make for the best bike riding. There was coal on the side of the road too, and we passed various strip mines.

We graciously shared our bike path with big rigs.

Confederate flag sock on the side of the road.
Standard Kentucky litter?

Coal is so plentiful, it's on the side of the highway.

Kentucky strip mine.

"Where is the bathroom sir?"
"Uh, most people just go 'round back."


Typical.

Ups and downs.

My mom likes chickens.
This picture is for my mom.

After plenty of big ups and downs on the bikes, we made it to Buckhorn lake campground and set up our tents, built a fire, made pasta and washed our clothes. Biking cross country keeps us busy on and off the bikes.

The convenience store next door was manned by a nice young guy and Jabba the Hut. By that I mean a man overflowing from his chair - he probably needed another on either side of him for support - who told us to come for breakfast sandwiches the next morning. When we arrived the next morning at the store, Jabba was still there in the same spot. Something tells me he hadn't moved.

After breakfast we began to bike westward. Since we began Kentucky, dogs have been an issue. In general the dogs just bark like crazy and usually stop running at their property line, but occasionally they chase us down the street. And although most dogs pose no threat, they occasionally seem more threatening and one even bit Tony's pannier. Aaron therefore uses his Halt! dog spray occasionally and, of course, judiciously. It doesn't seem to cause them pain, but hopefully they will learn to stop chasing bicyclists and stop running into the street:

Bad dog

At the top of a huge hill (another county line divider), right before the screaming downhill, we met Alan from Victoria, Canada. He was sitting waiting in his van for his life partner Dennis to bike up the hill. He's Dennis' support (SAG), and they are traveling eastbound, opposite our direction. SAG'ing seems incredibly boring to me, just driving a few miles ahead of the bicyclists waiting for them to catch up, but Alan was having a good time. We said goodbye to him and began soaring down the hill, passing Dennis along the way. Dennis must've been really confused when we said hello and called out to him by name!

Alan from Victoria, Canada

Biking uphill, 2 abreast.

Berea is the end of our 2nd cross country map (out of 12), and also marks the end of the Appalachians, so we are eager to arrive. However, when we reached Booneville we saw black skies approaching us, so we rolled under the awning of the Dooley Diner and had lunch, including a delicious Heath Pie dessert.

Waiting out the rain at the Dooley Diner,
Booneville, KY.

Dooley Diner's Waitress, Aaron, and Anna.

A rare group photo.

After lunch, when the rain died down, we did the math and decided that it was too late to press on to Berea, and Booneville was our last chance for camping. So we rolled over to the local church, which welcomes cyclists, and set up our tents.

2 older British men were setting up tents as well. Turns out they were waiting for 3 younger Brits whom they were SAG'ing. They arrived soon after, 2 guys and a girl. The young bicyclists were quiet but the older guys were great conversationalists. We found out they were retired police officers who trained and used police canines. Did you know that when a human runs through the woods (fleeing from the police, let's say) that person leaves a trail of scent and crushed vegetation that is traceable by police canines for 3 to 4 hours? It was news to me.

The older men, both named Paul, were enjoying their first trip to the US, even though they woke up early every day, gave the kids their breakfast, and took down camp while the kids rode away worry free for the day. Then they would meet up with the kids later to give them their lunch, then go ahead to the campsite for the night and set up their tents and make them dinner. We were so jealous of the British kids - how nice it must be to not have to worry about taking down camp, putting stuff away, washing dishes, washing clothes, and making dinner! And to not have to carry everything on your bike! But a couple of years back the kids rode across England on their own, carrying their own stuff, so at least they know what it's like. Here's their website.

Love to see that "Cyclists Welcome" sign.

The Brits.

Another rare group photo.

Finally, on Day 24, June 9th, we are riding to Berea and out of the Appalachians! Berea, by the way, is rich in racial history. It is the site of the first interracial college in the United States, which was later shut down and then reopened. Today it is a thriving college town, quaint, and a welcome change from the small Appalachian towns we've been subjected to up to now.

Go Tony!

Ghost house?
Look closely:
riding with Cocoa Crispies.

We decided to celebrate getting out of the mountains by paying a visit to Papaleno's, an Italian restaurant in Berea. By the way, since the beginning of Kentucky until now, I have not personally seen any black people, although the others claimed to have seen one back near Hindman. But I saw a black couple at the restaurant: they were chuckling at my butt padding when I was getting soda!

Berea College.

Waiting for our rootbeer floats.

Sebree, KY to Morganfield, KY (30mi)

Falls of Rough, KY to Sebree, KY (72.5mi)

Hodgenville, KY to Falls Of Rough, KY (60mi)

Cave City, KY to Hodgenville, KY (42mi)

Nashville, TN (!!!)

Lebanon, KY to Cave City, KY (~60 mi)

Bardstown, KY to Lebanon, KY (~30 miles)

Harrodsburg, KY to Bardstown, KY

Berea, KY to Harrodsburg, KY

Day 19: Council, VA to Breaks, VA

Friday, July 4th, 2008

Today we headed for Breaks, Virginia, right on the border of Kentucky. The reason for not going further is because at Breaks we can camp, and the only other option after that is a motel in Elkhorn City, KY or camping in Hindman, KY which is way too far for us to bike in one day (we are slow and in steep mountainous terrain). Besides, Breaks is supposed to be a nice interstate park so they must have nice campgrounds.

In the morning we met another biker named Scott from Anywhere USA. Nice guy. He stopped at the park in the morning while we were packing up because he saw our bikes. He left about 10 to 15 minutes before we did. When we left we almost caught up to him; we saw him in the distance. I decided to bike fast and catch up with him just for fun, but when I got close I started thinking what I would say when I caught him: "Hey, I caught up to you even though you left before us! You must be slow as hell! Well, I have to wait for my friends now. See you later!" So I slowed down and waited for the group.

Climbing the steep hill out of
the community park in the morning.

Aaron inside the convenience store.
No, he never takes off his helmet.

We stopped at a convenience store and asked the lady if there were any grocery stores on the way to Breaks. She said absolutely not, so we bought a Hunt Brothers pizza (surprisingly delicious) and some ramen and canned corn for the campsite later. Outside, some random hillbilly gave us free firecrackers for the 4th of July. Score.

Upon leaving the convenience store we immediately passed a grocery store. A few miles later, we passed another. And another. And another. I would say she lied to us for her own financial gain, but she didn't own the store. She was a new employee. Maybe she's an idiot, but the grocery store was practically next door. Damn country bumpkins.

We've decided that the Blue Ridge Parkway is overrated. People speak of it as if it were the most horrific part of the trip. They single it out so much that we thought it was by far the worst part, so we thought that the rest of the Appalachians would be relative cake. Not true. NOT TRUE. In fact, the only really bad part of the Blue Ridge is getting up there. But there have been hills - neigh, mountains - which have been just as bad or worse, and they have been plentiful. Note to future bikers: mentally prepare yourself for steep mountains from Afton, VA all the way through Eastern Kentucky.

Beautiful Breaks Interstate Park:
Grand Canyon of the East.
We earned this view.

Camping in the drizzling rain.

At Breaks we signed the bicycle logbook that Virginia uses to help determine how many people use Route 76, the Trans-America bike route which we are taking and which Virginia has graciously posted signs for all across the state. If people continue to use it regularly they will keep the signs up-to-date and, who knows, maybe even put in wider shoulders on some roads at some point. That last part is just wishful thinking on my part though.

Scott stopped at Breaks too and joined us at our campsite, where were set up our tents and sat in the rain for a while. Not ideal camping but at least we were able to build a fire. Aaron is a former Eagle scout. Or maybe a Webelow.