Kiki Bikes Across America

Thursday, June 4th: Rosedale, VA to Lookout, KY

Kentucky here we are!

Today was a big milestone – we finished cycling through Virginia and are spending our first night in Kentucky!!!! Woohoo! It was a pretty decent day – started out cold and nasty out, then an hour or so after waking up the sun started to shine and it got muggy and humid… and we had hills to climb.

We climbed for the beginning of the morning and then got to the top of the first hill and coasted on down into Council, VA. On my descent down, I decided I wanted to try to break my max speed of 44mph, and so I cranked it on the beginning of the hill, passing Chris and going 47mph. I soon discovered my brakes wouldn’t stop me in time to make the sharp bend in the road – I braked as hard as I could without losing control of my bike and the tires skidded across the pavement. I thought I was doomed and going to wipe out at 40+ mph. Somehow, I managed to contain control of the bike and wound up slowing down enough to continue straight (instead of banking to the left to try and make the bend, which I knew wouldn’t happen. The bike would have skidded out from underneath me completely, had I tried). I kept straight into an area that had a gravel driveway – mind you, at this point, I was probably slowed down to around 20-25mph or so and ran into the gravel and then the grass behind it. Luckily, I was able to turn enough to avoid hitting the guard rail and regain full control of my bike. I smelled the rubber burning again and then got back on the road and continued down the mountain. That was my near-wipe-out for the trip… no more of that! I hit 47mph, so I think that’ll do it unless there’s a really nice straight stretch and no traffic, no bends, no rain, etc. Then maybe I’ll have a chance to break 50mph, but hopefully not by risking life again. After that, I think I scared myself good enough to be done with trying to max out any faster… my legs were shaking like crazy the rest of the way down the mountain… so enough is enough.

Shortly past Honaker, George broke his chain while cranking up the start of a hill. Lucky for him, I packed all the things he and Chris didn’t think to pack. I had bought a powerlink for the chain for just this, so I fixed his chain and we went on our merry way a short bit later. Thankfully, I packed medical (latex) gloves for just this, avoiding getting all that nasty grease and crap all over my hands. There was a ton of it too – we will need to degrease and re-lube the chains here pretty soon, I think. And of course now I need to buy more medical gloves since I mailed the rest home in an effort to lose weight. I mailed about 7.5-8.0 pounds of clothing and other odds and ends home last week and early this week to try to lessen my overall load. We continued on and had lunch in Haysi, Virginia at Subway inside a gas station.

My hands after fixing George's chain!

After lunch it was a bit hot and humid and we had some steep hills to climb. Finally, we entered Kentucky as we were coasting down from a hill. Things started to change pretty rapidly – to me it seemed as if the people cared less about trash and their state and just tossed whatever they felt like on the roadside. It was/is pretty trashy thus far in this part of Kentucky, seems like they burn their trash on the side of the road. We passed two pits of trash burning on the side of the road. We haven’t had any dog chases yet – seen a few dogs today, but none took the opportunity to chase us.

My gym mat for a sleeping pad inside the gymnasium in Lookout, KY

A storm was a-brewing and we knew we’d get caught in it, but decided to continue biking towards Lookout, KY to try to find a place to camp. We got here around 5pm or shortly before and stopped at the one and only grocer/gas station/general store type place and hung out there for a bit under the overhang to stay dry. We were already soaked, but why get more wet if we could avoid it. I found a hose around the side and sprayed my arms and legs off since my sunscreen was all nasty from the cold rain washing it off. The guys picked up a few things from the store and they were told we might be in luck and be able to camp out at the gymnasium up the road (we’d passed it on the way into Lookout). We went back up there and talked to a fireman next door and he said sure, we could camp. I wasn’t looking forward to putting up a tent on the wet grass and then being soaked in the morning (I don’t have a tarp at all or a footprint for the tent). I also hate packing away a wet tent if it won’t be able to dry out in a day or so. So I didn’t put up the tent but the guys did. I went and changed next door and used some good ole handwipes to clean off a bit. A short while later, about 6:30pm or so a car drives up – the people are friendly get out and offer to let us camp inside the gymnasium. So the guys go back and pick up their tents, bring them in and put them in front of the huge fan to start drying out. I hit the shower and then do a microwaveable dinner (Fettucini and broccoli packet by Knorr). It wasn’t anything to brag about, so I’ll try something different next time.

We played some basketball on and off this evening, I downloaded photos and started creating spreadsheets for tracking expenses and stats. Nerdy, I know. And now it’s late again – past 11pm and I must wrap up and hit the hay. Will upload all these blog entries whenever I find internet again!

Computer Stats:
60.71 miles
593 total miles
5:11:07 moving time
11.7 avg speed
47.0 max speed

GPS Stats:
59.6 miles
5:13 moving time
11.4 avg speed
46.2 max speed

Snake count: 1 today, 19 to date
Dog chases: I don’t remember, maybe 1 real attempted chase?