Coast to Coast for the FFB: THE ONLINE JOURNAL

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Check back here daily to read about our progress in our cross-country bicycle tour to benefit the FFB.
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Be sure to check out www.biking4theFFB.com for more information about
the FFB, our motivation, retinal degenerative diseases, and more.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Day 24: Rough River Dam State Park, KY to Sebree, KY (75 miles, 1107 total)


In an effort to beat the heat, Anne Katherine and I decided to get up at 5AM today. Ironically, as we went to bed we realized that because of the time change we would actually be getting up at our usual time of 6AM. Brilliant.

More importantly, we decided that we need to really make an effort to blast miles in the morning when it is "cool". That means no stopping for a meal until the heat of the day has set in and we can bask in AC. There is no sense in wasting the moring hours in a diner eating breakfast.

So we woke up at five to discover that we had been invaded by vermin in the night. Our trash from our dinner was spread all over the ground and there were paw prints on our small plastic cutting board. Luckily, the bandits only messed with our trash.

In the process of packing up, I fired up the camp stove for some oatmeal. We packed up everything, washed the cutting board, slurped down two packets of oatmeal each and rolled by 6:30.

Unfortunately, it was already pretty warm by that time and it was incredibly humid. About ten miles into the ride, we stopped for Gatorade (at 7:30) because we were already dripping with sweat.

We continued to make good progress through Fordsville, Reynolds Station, and Whitesville where we stopped for a snack and a trip to the grocery store. The snack stop was at a local convience store. When I paid for our goods I asked the woman at the counter to fill up one of my water bottles. "Sure," she said as she headed for the back with my bottle. When she returned she handed me a my bottle which felt unusually light. Looking in it, I noticed that she had maybe filled it a quarter of the way full. "Thanks," I said; "My pleasure," she replied.

I ended up going across the street to the grocery store to fill it the rest of the way. While in the store, we bought Chicken-Helper for the night's meal, and some more glorious oatmeal. The market was having some promotion in which they give a customer free gasoline for the year. "Did we win free gas?" I asked enthusiastically.

Onward we biked. At some point during a downhill section I zurned past a turtle stranded in the road. I only realized it was a turtle when I zipped past him at about 25 mph. Hoping and assuming A.K. would save him, I let my momentum carry me past him. Well, I hope the turtle chose to save himself and make a run for it because Anne Katherine didn't stop either. I told her she was supposed to stop because she is the animal lover. "It's a reptile," she replied. Well, perhaps if I had known they were mere "reptiles" (and therfore so low on A.K.'s list) I would have been finding turtles to put on the road. Sheish! Later on in the day, Anne Katherine claimed to have saved a different turtle. Maybe that one was less of a reptile.
(From AK - in my defense, I was also going about 25 mph when I passed the turtle. I did feel terrible about not saving it. The "its a reptile" comment was said in a smart-assed way because, in truth, turtles aren't animals, they are reptiles.)

Speaking of roadkill, I think the number one most common piece of roadkill in VA and KY is the possum. The second most common is probably a tie between snakes and turtles (thanks to A.K.). Foxes seem to avoid the mess rather well as we have seen only two.

Anyway, we cruised into Utica for a lunch break. It seemed like a logical stop since it was getting quite warm and we were only 25 miles from Sebree. By the way, we think people relish in telling us how hot it is or how hot it is going to be, etcetera. We killed some tanning salon pizza and loitered like it was our jobs for about an hour.

Leaving Utica was tough due to the heat, but we pressed onward. The terrain for the last 25 miles was mellow, but we did have a slight (but welcome) headwind. Finally we reached Beech Grove (8 miles from Sebree) where we stopped in for a cold drink at a local market/hunting supply store. I added another chapter to my regional soft drink research with Faygo. Faygo is a bit like the Fanta label in that there are several flavors of Faygo to choose from. I went with Black Cherry and rate it as "finishable".

Just outside of Beech Grove a woman in a car pulled alongside A.K. and asked if we were going to Sebree. When she heard that we were, she told A.K. that we were going to stay "at my church".

When we arrived in town, the woman found us again and had us follow her car to the First Baptist Church of Sebree. It turns out that this woman is Violet, wife of Bob, the Pastor (we didn't catch a last name).

The church has recently been remodeled and during the remodeling the Pastor and his wife opted to add a shower for passing cyclists. It turns out that Dave and Patty were already here enjoying the hospitality of the church when we arrived. Violet, Patty and Dave showed us around and then it was time for a hot shower.

After getting cleaned up, we chatted with Dave and Patty about bicycle touring (they have done a ton). Patty discovered a tip written in the church logbook from a previous visiting cyclist that describes a shortcut detour off the route to save time and hills. With our tight schedule, and Dave and Patty's encouragement, we have decided to take the detour tomorrow. If all goes as planned, it will save us an entire day!

Speaking of blasting miles, how about our 75 today? That is our longest of the trip yet and the longest of A.K.'s life! The best part is that we were not totally exhausted when we arrived. A.K. even said that she could have gone more if she needed to!

Tomorrow, we will blast into our third state, Illinois! Boy, I hope I can still get a number 5 tan, a lottery ticket and a Slim-Jim in the same store over there.

Anyway, off to bed again! I hope you all are still enjoying the journal. We try to keep it interestng. Let me know if you want me to send you some roadside possum jerky.

Jeff

From AK: Notes from the road #2:
In rural Kentucky, it seems that every time we ride into a new county, or if the road we are on changes direction in any way, or if someone just felt like it when they were nailing up the signs, mileage always starts over. As a result, we come across a whole lot of miles 1, 2, and 3, but not a lot of higher numbers. Then, all of a sudden, we'll see an 8 or 15. Sometimes the numbers count up, sometimes down. Bottom line is that they aren't good in the slightest for navigation or marking milestones.

6 Comments:

At June 07, 2005 7:56 AM, Anonymous said...

Definitely still loving the journal. Good luck in Illinois -- and don't forget to reapply!
Ashlyn

 
At June 07, 2005 9:46 AM, Anonymous said...

As you get further on into the "bear states" please be sure to clean up all traces of food at night! You don't want any unwanted visitors! -Alecia

 
At June 07, 2005 9:49 AM, Anonymous said...

Leaving KY and heading up to Illinois... I remember, when I was there, when I was leaving "fast time" and heading to "slow time"... When I asked, what do you call PST, they said, hmm.... I guess, "super-duper slow time"....-Jen Yen

 
At June 07, 2005 10:50 AM, Anonymous said...

I got caught up on your journal late last week and am LOVING it! Great to see that you two are doing so well. Glad to hear that animals (and various reptiles) are being saved, and the dogs aren't biting. Thinking good thoughts for your dad AK! I look forward to reading this every day at work...kinda like my own little rest stop :)

Love - Liz

 
At June 07, 2005 11:09 AM, grayson said...

Possum Jerky for me please, and Ill wash it down with a Faygo. Go Illinois. See you in a week.

 
At June 07, 2005 11:37 AM, Anonymous said...

I told you to bring the wiffle ball bat, you could have defended the honor of your trash with it last night.
-Reeb

 

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