Days 27 - 29 (6/18/09 - 6/20/09)

Day 27 (6/18/09)
We left Carbondale, Il. striving to make a slight incursion into Kentucky before calling it a day. Approximately 84 miles into the day, we crossed the Ohio River by ferry at Cave In Rock, Il. On the eastern shore we gingerly disembarked the ferry (cycling shoes with cleats are not well suited for slippery boat ramps) and strode ashore in Kentucky. We spent the night 12 miles deep into the state in the small town of Marion, Ky. (96 miles for the day) We rode the day under a heat advisory, with heat index numbers again in the triple digits. Day 26’s heat and the loss of body weight (water) finally caught up to me. On the verge of cramping and not wanting to test the limits of heat exhaustion, I humbly rode on the heals of Jere and Tim for the last 30 miles. Earlier in the morning we passed a couple heading eastbound riding a tandem recumbent bike. The bike rode so low to the ground and low slung profile, I can not figure out how the couple made it this far without getting run over. A few miles down the road, Jere commented on what I had been thinking; “how do they make it up the hills?” A bright spot in the day was the last few miles in Illinois, on the road leading to the ferry crossing. We waved a car around that was riding behind us until it was safe to pass. The gentleman honked and waved as he passed by. A few miles later, he was standing at the end of his driveway, holding in the air, three cans of cold Mountain Dew soda. After our ugly welcome to Illinois and our “Mississippi river juggernaut”, the kindness of the stranger bid us a good farewell as we exited the state across the Ohio river.

Day 28 (6/19/09) 4 weeks
Our accommodations in Marion, Ky were barely adequate. We were the only guests at the hotel. We initially had no hot water to take showers. The Indian “running” the place told us; “just let the spigot run”. After 30 minutes, it was clear that would not solve the problem. Eventually, the manager figured out what knobs to turn in some back room and we had hot water. Problem #2, neither of our rooms got cool. Jere, finally had enough and went and complained. The remedy was to move us to two new rooms, where surprise, surprise, the air conditioners actually worked. Given the fact that there were no other guests at the place, was it intentional or was it just coincidental that we were placed in non-adjoining rooms with no hot water and faulty air conditioners? Wireless Internet was too much to expect from the accommodations. We left Marion under a heat advisory. The local FOX weatherman forecasted the weather as a “blowtorch”; just perfect for a 116 mile day. Although the heat was against us, we had a tailwind and gently rolling terrain, so we were able to cover the 116 miles with an average speed of 19.1 mph. We spent the night in Falls of Rough, Ky. (near Rough River Dam State Park Resort if that helps finding it on the map). Our accommodations were slightly better than in Marion. At least we had hot water, air conditioning, even a pool, but again no wireless Internet.
The Adventure Cyling map warned us to be careful of coal trucks along today’s route. To our pleasant surprise, today’s roads had some of the best road surfaces we encountered in any state, and the vehicles were by and large courteous and patient, and there were virtually no coal trucks. Although, the road surfaces were good, the width of the roads (even main roads) are not very wide. There are no speed limit signs, except for in towns; otherwise, its 55. The roads have no shoulders, white fog lines, or guard rails, just a serrated edge. We figured the serrated edge is to warn you a fraction of a second before you die as you sail off the edge of the road. Trucks take up the entire lane, left wheels hug the yellow line and the right wheels are inches from the serrated edge. The highlight of the day was meeting the mayor of Clay, Ky. at our first rest stop at the corner Kangaroo convenience store. (The mayor assured us; “it was no big deal, really”).
After 4 weeks on the road, with no days off, we are all exhausted. We unanimously agreed, that once this trip is checked off our Bucket List we have no desire to repeat the fete. We’ve ridden 2,892 miles (75.9% complete), averaging 103 miles/day @ 17.3 mph. We are averaging 5 hours, 58 minutes in the saddle per day. We have climbed a total of 151,939 feet. Tim is burning an average of 6,231 calories on the bike, Sam is burning an average of 7,454. (Jere’s bike computer is low tech.)

Day 29 (6/20/09)
Today we rode 98 miles to Bardstown, Ky. (about 45 miles south of Louisville, Ky. and a little less distance, southeast of Ft. Knox.). Early in the day, we lost an hour as we entered the Eastern Time Zone. The weather was sunny and still hit triple digits with the heat index, but it took a little longer for the temperature to become sweltering, so we felt a little better. The wind continued to blow at our backs, which made the ride more bearable too. The terrain and scenery is not anything we can not find back in Pa., so there is no desire to stop and Ooh and Ahh or take pictures. Quite some time ago, Jere became fed up with the “Scenic Byways” roads. He said he just wants a good road surface heading due east. (I can’t put what he actually said as it may offend some). Today, we passed a road sign for President Lincoln’s birthplace only 0.2 of a mile off our course and heading west. At the beginning of the trip, Jere bought a book about Lincoln, so here was an opportunity to see first hand where it all started. Jere agreed to head west the .2 miles and in so doing admitted he has finally gone soft and became a tourist. At the spot where Lincoln’s birthplace cabin supposedly stood, there was a grand marble structure which entombed the cabin. At the entrance, a sign warned of no food, drinks or flash photography. Inside the grand mausoleum was in fact a very small, old cabin. I asked the park ranger how old the structure was and he said; “which one?” I said; “Duh, the cabin”. With only one question from the lawyer, the whole charade was exposed. The ranger said that five years ago they actually dated the logs from the cabin and the logs aren’t old enough, so it couldn’t be the actual cabin Lincoln was born in, but he quickly added, the actual cabin stood close by somewhere. The grand marble structure was built in 1901 over somebody’s outhouse. Oops. Of course there were no signs mentioning the oversight, its better to keep up the ruse and just hope the lawyers with the pointed questions are far and few between.
We met a young kid (19, but he didn’t look a day over 15) from Holland traveling by himself. He left Yorktown, Va. the same weekend we left San Francisco and he only completed 25% of the distance, compared to our 75%. The kid had plastic soda bottles for water bottles, the rest of his equipment (and physicality) looked only slightly better. Of all the people we passed, I deemed him the most likely not to finish.
Tomorrow, Father’s Day marks one month on the road. Our destination is 96 miles to Berea, Ky. According to the lore of the road, between Berea and the Virginia line we are into the thick of unleashed dog territory.