June 9, 2002
7 min. read
This post is part of the Trans-Am series.
Dad woke up early, and started fixing breakfast. Bill came by and told me it was 6:40. I told him to come back in 15 minutes, kind of a human snooze. We all sat down to some oatmeal and raisins, then started cleaning and packing up. We got everything into the van or on the bikes to get going. I started out a little ahead of Dad, just after 8.
I was riding slow to allow him to catch up, which he did in about a mile. We rode for a while, doing both rolling hills and some serious climbs. I know I mentioned this before, but it seems like the hills always top out at county borders. This was true in Virginia and the same thing has been holding true for Kentucky. It is nice to see those coming up on the map. It means that it at least levels off and usually goes downhill.
About 3 miles out Dad told me that my rear tire looked like it was a little low, but wasn’t sure. It didn’t feel low yet, so we kept going. In a few miles, I could feel that it was low. We pulled over to check it out. I found a little sharp rock that had cut into my tube. Another day and another flat. I patched the tube and we got back on our way.
We passed our first roadside dump in Kentucky. I’d heard about this, but not seen one before. It was a pretty sad sight. Just a little after that, we ran into another one of the black snakes. Dad relocated it to the side of the road.
A little later, Bill passed us in the van. He parked just into Booneville and started riding towards us. We met him a mile or two from the van and we rode into town. I decided that Berea was going to be a little far, and we stopped for brunch at Tom’s Diner. I call it brunch, because Dad and Bill got breakfast and I ordered lunch. There was only one lady working in the diner, so the food took a while to get made.
After eating an digesting a little, we started riding again at 12:30. We had pulled into the diner at 11. We were hoping for some rolling hills to aid with digestion, but were greeted with climbing in the heat. The temperature reached 100 degrees with the unshaded roads and rock sides. Bill climbed up to the top of the first hill before heading back. He had a bike with way to high of a low gear for these hills. It was often that you would find him doing S shaped curves along the road to “flatten the hill”. The cars were not sure what to make of the drunk biker, but he seemed to straighten up when the cars came. :) Dad took over for a while.
After climbing up to Vincent, we had a nice rolling downhill on 399. Then we turned onto 587 and began climbing again. Bill came up in the van just as we were pulling over for a little rest. Dad’s legs were getting a little sore, so he loaded up in the van for a while. He picked a good place to pack it in for a while, as the constantly climbing rolling hills were tough. I was still wondering if Berea was possible today, but these hills made me readjust to Irvine. Bill came climbing up one of the hills and I passed him pretty fast on a downhill. They decided to go ahead to Irvine and look for lodging. That is one less thing I would have to do when I got into town.
I was pushing pretty good today and making good time, despite the hills. After about 40 miles, the climbing hills turning back into some nice rolling hills. I was wondering what Donna was talking about in her book about today feeling like riding through a jungle until this rolling hill section. There were a few miles with trees and vines on each side up to the road. It really did have kind of a jungle feel to it.
We started seeing orioles today. These are small yellow and black birds that really stand out from the others. I probably saw over 4 dozen throughout the day. On time later in the day I rounded a curve to scare over a dozen orioles that were drinking in a puddle. They exploded like a firework with yellow wings floating all around me. It is an experience that you can’t capture in a picture or video.
I saw Dad up the road a little bit, around 9 miles from town. He and Bill had parked at the motel and ridden back towards me. Bill had stopped about 5 miles out, but dad kept coming. We ran into him about 7 miles out, but I was pushing good and he fell behind. It is hard to keep up with the reduced drag of our recumbents on rolling hills. My legs were still feeling good, so I was pushing some speed. I stopped to take some pictures and Bill passed us again. He was listening to music on his CD player and enjoying himself. As we got moving again, I put the hammer down and we blew past Bill at +10 or better mph. We were greeted with a “Wow” as we surprised him. Then after we got ahead, I started looking for a hidden driveway to pull into. We found one and pulled up it. Pretty soon Bill passed and we set out to blow past again. It takes a while to wrap up to 27 mph on the level and a good bit of power to keep it there. It was a better reaction this time, because Bill thought we were ahead of him.
A few miles further, I felt like my rear wheel was a little wobbly. I stopped and saw that part of the sidewall was separating again. This is the second Tioga Comp Pool that has done that on the trip. I still think that it is from the excess rim heat from the serious downhills in Virginia. I stole Dad’s front tire of his bike and hope that will get me to Rough River to meet my family with some new tires from Valley Bikes. I hope I don’t have flat problems with the Primo Comets. That was always the case until I switched to Comp Pools.
We arrived at the motel just after 5. Today was a long day, with 60.2 miles and 3,940 feet climbing. My legs would have probably lasted into Berea, but I would have arrived really late. I started sorting out my things and getting them out of the van. Bill and Dad took a shower and packed up for the trip back home. Hopefully the 3 days of riding will make it shorter than the trip out. I didn’t realize how far into Kentucky we made it until I looked at the large map. It is always cool to make that discovery, because you rely on the small maps for so long that sometimes you loose your focus on the wide view. The wide view doesn’t really matter. It is just a day to day existence anyway, so who cares about the overview. It is fun to see what the next bend or hill holds.
Tomorrow I’ll have a short 30 mile day into Berea. My legs won’t mind a lighter day.
Irvine, KY
Motel: 37 deg 41.872 min N, 83 deg 59.442 min W, elev 738 ft.
Trip Miles: 739.1
Part 26 of 48 in the Trans-Am series.
Series Start | Day 20 - Pippa Passes to Buckhorn | Day 22 - Irvine to Berea, KY