ROUTE:
Hazard, KY to Lebanon, VA |
DISTANCE:
143 (20 actual) miles |
TOTAL CLIMBING:
2,673 ft |
Click here for
Garmin daily ride data
Click
here for Summary Data sheet
(This is cool
if you like lots of data! It may take a few seconds to load but you can hit play
and time compress our ride. )
DAILY REPORT: Weather
-- looks like we will be seeing rain today. 70% chance of thunderstorm. Cloudy and in the mid 80's.
As
our normal routine we started out w/ the hotel continental breakfast. I really
think the hotels loose money when feeding three starving bikers who pretty much
eat anything and everything!! This is a good thing for us.
Because of the distance
(143 miles) and the terrain (very hilly), we decided it was unrealistic to make
it to Lebanon VA. We had to choose that city because there were no other
hotels/motels in the general area. That did take us off the TranAmerica route
but allowed us to follow it most of the way. We opted for ~100 miles and loaded
the bikes and bikers into the car and Skip drive us out to our starting point of
Bevinsville KY. We stopped and got gas and the three old timers sitting on the
gas station bench asked a few general questions and said you know if I were you
I would go 4 miles down the road so you wouldn't have to climb that mountain
over there. I learned early on on this bike trip that the "local" have
the inside scoop and it is worth listening to. They also mentioned "you
know it supposed to rain today. I recon' it will happen about noon." We
said thanks and drove 4 more miles down the road (and up over a huge mtn!!).
We started out. In fact
this was one of the coolest morning yet. I was almost tempted to p ut
on a jacket or arm warmers. So right off the bat we are biking down roads that
don't look much more than driveways. They are all very narrow and barely two
cars can pass one another. Because of the terrain, all the roads seemed to run along
streams and creeks. And a lot of these had portions of the road washed way. We
learned later that morning from a local that they had some sever flooding this
spring a fair number of homes and roads suffered as a result of the all that
rain. In fact everyone commented on how wet this summer had been and that this
had been a exceptionally cool summer.
So we climb some mountain
of a hill that I have no idea of why it was built or why the folks of
TransAmerica would even ask a normal biker to consider riding over. After that I
was no longer cold.
About
20 miles into the ride James needed to use a restroom in a bad way. We asked a
driver and it looked like it was still some distance before we would get to a
gas station. As we were passing a church; James did a quick U turn and pleaded
his urgent case. As John & I sat there we heard the distant thunder and
watch the sky turn black as big swollen clouds came our way. The wind picked up
and there was no doubt we were in for a soaking. James came out and the lady he
had talked to told us we should stay here at the church and wait this out. With
in a couple more minutes large drops began falling from the sky. Yep sounded
like a good idea to us to wait this out. The time -- 1205!! you got to believe
in those mountain men.
There we sat listening to
claps of thunder and watching the bright strikes of lighting. It was a great
thunderstorm to watch but sit on the church steps to watch all the glory of
Mother Nature. Well it continued to rain, rain, rain.....So a better bike than
me would have no doubt headed out to conquer the remaining 80 miles; however we
did say one of goals was to have fun and be safe. Soooo we called Skip who was
waiting at our designated lunch spot and asked him to come pick us up. He
replied "Are you sure; it's not raining here." I replied "Yep,
because it is raining here!" Just then a close bolt of lighting struck and
we got cut off must likely from the generated EMF for the bolt of lighting. ![](images/d38_rain.JPG)
There were several
workers remodeling the chapel so we took a nap while waiting for Skip to arrive.
Our plan was to drive to Lebanon and check into our hotel and reassess. By the
time we had go through all the mountain passes, over raging streams, winding
turns, etc Skip was beginning to get the onset of car sickness. We arrive at
Lebanon at 1600 and it had stopped raining.
We got cleaned up and
went next door for a Chinese buffet. Food was good and as we sat there we
watched the dark clouds roll in again and begin to rain. Nothing quite as
dramatic as earlier today but it was definitely we. We learned that
earlier today that Louisville KY had some serious flooding from a major storm
cell that had passed by. It was that same cell that had rained on us earlier in
the afternoon.
So tomorrow it looks like
more rain. We'll see and evaluate it then.
I
have also made some modifications to our trip route. The google
route maps have been updated. We have a presentation with the Boys and Girls
Club on Thurs at Salem VA. This should be a lot of fun again. We have really
enjoyed the kids, staff, and all their questions. When we leave Salem Friday
morning I straightened out our route and our next night will be in Keysville
followed by Franklin. This gives our last day on Sunday 9 Aug only 72 miles
which will make our ride in much more enjoyable than the previously planned 115
miles. We are working on the local press release; but we will be meeting at 6 PM
and the 24th street access to the beach for our arrival party.
Thanks for joining us.....ride
safely and keep the wind to your back!!
The Riding4Hope Team
www.riding4hope.org
(David, John, James & Skip)
Signing out 8/5/09; 0300
YOU DON'T
SAY:
David - After
biking up a huge steep hill "Who in their right mind would put a
road up this mountain and what was Adventure Cycling folks thinking
picking this route!"
John - who made
it to the top first "This was the first time I thought I might have
to actually get off my bike and rest!"
Skip - discussing
our phone call after he picked us up in the rain "You know, I was
really hoping that you weren't going to call me and ask for a ride. I
really didn't want to drive these hills again."
Skip - after
reaching Lebanon "This was my worst driving day for this entire
trip. Those twisty winding hills were murder!"
James - at dinner
after talking with the waiter "Dudes that guy is ballered!"
Nope not sure what that means; I believe they refer to this as a
generation gap!!
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DID I REALLY
DO THAT?
As we were going
down the backside of the mountain there was a deputy inspecting a truck
that not navigated one of the sharp turns and have gone off the road. It
was only the trees that stopped it from rolling over 100 feet below. I
stopped and asked if he needed help - Nope we are good here. I then
noticed the tire were missing from the truck and I inquired what happened.
The deputy replied to the missing tires "You know that this the Appalachian
way!"
![](images/d38_wreck.JPG)
And note
the angle of the shot - yes it really was that steep!!
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY |
Coal founded along the road
from the coal trucks. This area is known for the mining the low grade coal
in this area.
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Sure is a lot drier here in
the church than out in that rain storm!!
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We are in our final state - Virginia.
Another ~500 miles to reach the Atlantic Ocean!!
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Crashed!!
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A chicken party in Kentucky!!
Or you too can add a bounce to your roost!!
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Dinner always makes us happy
:)
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More
photos on Facebook Album
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