Western Kentucky

Seriously?! Again...

The day started out perfectly. 5am wake up call. Drive back to Grand Rivers, KY with Uncle George after a fabulous stay in Carbondale with the most amazing massage of my life (thank you Carla and dad!!!). We quickly suited up and were ready to ride. The bike had supposedly been upgraded to Mercedes quality after spending all day yesterday in a shop to get tuned up and cleaned. As we rode off, we were feeling pretty good.

The first four hours of the day may have been my favorite of the entire trip. This country is beautiful. We climbed up one of the largest hills of our journey landing us on a ridge overlooking the ohio river and rolling fields of hay. Cows dotted the fields. Barns struggled to stay upright as they flowed into the creeping grass. Truly breathtaking (photos can now be viewed on my picasa account. The photo album is on the right side bar). As we rode we finished The Shock Doctrine and listened to John Denver croon folk songs of lost love and country roads. At one point we stopped for water and as we sat on the side of the road, the sun was shining on all sides of us, but it was raining large spread out drops on top of us. We laughed at the irony and kept our spirits high as we gathered our stuff to pedal on. We should have taken that as our first sign that our perfect day might be taking a turn on a different course.

We rode on. We smiled. We breathed in the scenery. For the first time in my life, I was truly giving Kentucky a chance and slowly falling for it (that is no slight to Kentuckians--> It's just that growing up in Ohio we are bred with such an attitude). Damn. The chain keeps falling off. Weird. Annoying. But not a deal breaker. We ride on. SNAP! And here we go again.

That is right. Our chain broke...AGAIN. We then spent the next three hours fixing the chain. Riding. Breaking the chain again. Fixing the chain again. Eventually we pedaled on with no water, 5 working gears and another 30 miles to go.

Objective A: find water. We stopped in front of a small white house covered in overgrown foliage. A dog was barking inside, so we figured someone had to be there. We knocked on the door. An older man with bulging red eyes screeched it open and stepped out on the porch. We asked for water. He shook his head and said his water is not drinkable because it has rust in it. He just got back from the store where had bought pop, but no water. We rode on. The next house we got to was a bit more pristine. The couple welcomed us in, filled our water bottles and shared a small window into their lives. They had recently retired from jobs of public service and spent their days enjoying life, each other and the wildlife in their yard. The man told us that he grew up hunting turkeys and deer among other animals, but he has recently stopped hunting. I inquired, "why?" He replied, "I don't know. We enjoy looking at the turkeys in our yard in the morning. They are so pretty." My dad joked that he had gone soft. He shook his head and chuckled in agreement. I'm glad to know that hunters go soft.

Objective B: Get to destination. We pedalled on in a more hydrated state. But of course after another 15 slow miles, a storm decided to roll in. A few drops of rain. Some wind. Downpour. Luckily, we stopped being able to see right as we rolled up to an abandoned feed mill. We spent 15 minutes with BJ and Darlene (a motorcycle couple) in the factory waiting out the storm. We were drenched and ready to be done, but I had fun playing photographer in the rickety old building.

Finally, the weather let up, and we screeched out the final 5 miles. Showers. Mexican food next to the Super Wal Mart. Bliss.