Date: 2007-04-19
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Miles today: 0.0

4-15-07I thought we would be able to ride today. We spent all day yesterday in a motel room looking out at the rain. I figured if we had some dry weather for a while, we could somehow get the next 60 miles in, but when I woke up and looked outside, it was raining very hard. Ends up it's supposed to rain all day again today and maybe even turn to snow by noon.Well, noon got here and it was still raining hard, then by 1pm, it started coming down as snow mixed with rain.I spent the morning answering email and thanking people who have signed my guestbook...even Liteshoe for her nice words. ;-)) The only problem is that there's no phone nearby for me to send my email with my pocketmail, so it will all go out on Monday if the weather improves.4-16-07It's not raining!! Woohoo, we get to ride!!They had record rains in the area and the snow level stayed about 500 feet above our elevation, so even though the roads are still wet and the creeks are flowing fast, we get to ride. :-))The schools have all been closed today because of flooding and there's only a few coal trucks running, so the traffic was light.We took off riding right after breakfast and it was still in the 30's. We got about 10 miles to a place called Lookout, Ky and there was a sign in the road saying that the road was closed.I asked a trucker and he told me there had been a mud slide and a house was now sitting in the road. I stopped at the PO and the girl told me it was less than a mile, so we headed up to see if there was any way to get past the area on our bikes.The alternative was about a 20 mile detour and that wasn't something I wanted to do.We got to the slide and it was a mess. There were people taking stuff out of the house. I started carrying my bike through the mud, then started sinking pretty fast. One guy said it was about 5 feet deep just in front of me, but he said we might be able to work our way around the back of a house.I back-tracked and when I looked at the back of the house, there was a creek flowing fast and in one corner, there was only about a foot of ground left before you fell into the creek.I wasn't going to try that, but the guy said we could make it if he carried one end of the bike and me on the other. We held the bike out over the creek and we stayed close to the house and it worked.I finished carrying my bike through the mud and he went back and helped Mrs Gorp.We took a few pictures and I started looking for a way to get the mud off us and our bikes. It was very sticky mud and I could hear the bikes grind as we walked them a few feet. A nice lady offered here water hose and after about 15 minutes of washing, we had that job done.The cops had just gotten there and some big trucks were coming in to start hauling away the mud.It was a sad thing to see someone's home washed down the hillside, but there were lots of people helping. I think everyone must be relatives here because the name on most of the mailboxes seem to be "Slone".We had a big hill to climb out of that area, then we rolled down the other side with our brakes on most of the way. There was rocks and debri all over the road.There was another slide we came to where the side of a hill slid down and completely covered up a driveway.We would go through small back-woods communities and in one area, the road was only wide enough for one car.I think the thing that I noticed most was the number of dogs everyone has and the most litter on the side of the roads I've ever seen and they even dump old stuff into the streams...cars, ovens, tires and old building materials. The litter made me even more sad when I'd pass by so many homes with the American flag hanging out. At least they can clean it up if they ever want to.It seemed to me they were proud of their flag, but not of their country because it was literally a trash dump all along the side of the road.We kept going and came to a busier road and stopped at a convenience store. I got a small personal pizza and let my wet feet thaw out.We still had a long way to go, so we didn't stay long.There ended up being three long, steep climbs today, but most of the ride was over rolling terrain.We stopped in Pippa Passes and I tried calling the motel in Hindman, but couldn't get an answer. A couple of guys were very helpful, telling me that it would be open and exactly how to get there.I think that one of the best things about this area is just how friendly the people are when you talk to them. For the most part, they just look at us when we roll by on our bikes and I find that most won't wave back at me, but once you engage them in conversation, they open up.We started getting close to Hindman and the traffic started getting heavy. That seems to bother Mrs Gorp more than it does me. We had to go about 2.5 miles off route to get to the motel and most of that was uphill. :-((We ended up with the most miles either of us have ever ridden...66 miles.I'm having trouble with the crank coming loose on my bike. I took it apart and put some thread lock on the threads in hopes it will get me to the next bike shop which is hundreds of miles away.We ordered pizza in and Mrs Gorp paid the guy when he came. The bill was $20.00, so I gave her $23.00 to give the driver and I went in and took a shower. When I came out, Mrs Gorp said the driver gave her a dollar back and called her a foreigner for tipping so much. Hummm...:-))I was tired, so after dinner, I fell alseep early. :-))4-17-07We got started early today since there was no coffee nearby. We finished last night's pizza for breakfast and was riding by 7:30am.I saw a convenience store in about 4 miles and pulled in for my coffee. I've been happy with the coffee they have up this way. It's much better than you get most places.We headed on after I finished my coffee and were riding on a fairly busy road. We ended up being on that busier road for about half of our 62 miles today. The high-light was when I topped a hill and saw a Wal-Mart Super Center. :-))I went in and bought two more shirts. Chief showed me their light weight shirts and it turns out that I where my Wal-Mart shirt almost everyday. When I get to Berea, I'm going to send my two $50.00 bike jerseys home. and use my $7.00 Wal-Mart shirt for the rest of the trip. I'm sure I'm going to hear from Cheif about this. All I can say about that is that he was right for once. :-))We headed on and enjoyed the quiet once we turned off on some back-roads. There were the same hills we've gotten used to and ended up climbing about 4500 feet again today.We stopped at a small store in Buckhorn, Ky and had a soda. The guy was very nice and said that we were the first bikers he's seen this year.We headed on up the next hill and I got up to 43mph on the way down. :-))We rode by one house that had 4 pit bull dogs tied up at different spots in the yard. I was very glad to see they were tied. When we got to the other side of the house, there were 4 more pit bulls tied up.We kept going and got into Booneville, Ky. We thought the B&B we were staying at was in town, but we couldn't find it. We asked and found out it was another three miles out of town, so we ate at Dooley's Diner, then headed out to the B&B.It ended up being a very nice place. We both had our showers and was outside when the owner came out and said another cross country bike rider was coming in.Greg got there and we spent about 90 minutes talking with him and trading stories.He started at Denver, Co and is headed east. He said he plans on finishing the western part of his trip later after he gets to Yorktown, Va, then up to Maine first.I've been having trouble with the crank on my bike and I need to get it fixed soon. He told me about a bike shop he had been to that's just two days away from here.Hopefully I can get my bike that far and get it fixed. It's not fun worrying whether you're going to be able to keep riding or if the crank is going to fall off completely.It was a beautiful day with the temps getting up to the low 70's. It's about time. :-))We climbed about 4500 today. We are almost out of the mountains. Woohoo!! :-))4-18-07Greg had breakfast with Mrs Gorp and me. Linda fixed a very good breakfast and even made an extra pot of coffee. Linda's B&B is the nicest place we've stayed yet and she was fun to talk to.It was 9am before we left. It was almost 50 degrees out and there was a good chance of rain today.It's been nice again for the last couple of days because we got out of the area with all the litter. In fact, this ride today took us through some of the nicest country yet...at least for me.The valleys have some old time looking farms and we are getting back into cow country again.I stopped and had two chili dogs at a convenience store and we talked to three local guys for about half an hour. They talked about the big hills we had coming up, but it turns out that they weren't as big as what we've been climbing for the past two weeks.We did have one really nice downhill where I hit 43 mph and that was fun.We also got rained on for about an hour. I put a shower cap over my bike computer and a rain jacket on me and it wasn't too bad to ride like I thought it might be.We stopped about 5 miles before we got to Berea, Ky, so Mrs Gorp could eat a snack, then we headed into town and rode by the college and I guess we must have rode by a lot of antique shops. I didn't notice, but Mrs Gorp was all excited about them. She might have even gone shopping if she had a trailer behind her bike. :-))We got a motel near I-75 and I spotted a Lee's Famous Recipe Fried Chicken place next door. We ate early. :-))There's a computer at the motel, so I looked up the manufacturer of my bike and called to tell them I had made an appointment at a bike shop...the first bike shop I've come across since Damascus, Va.That bike shop is about 40 miles away and I should be there by noon tomorrow.Co-Motion is shipping parts to that bike shop which are scheduled to be there Friday morning, but if I can get it fixed tomorrow, I'll do that so we can keep moving.I'm not happy that Co-Motion is making me pay for the parts up-front, then plan to reimburse me later when they recieve the old parts. I guess maybe it's because this bike shop is not one of their normal dealers. I don't care, I just want it fixed so we can keep going.Mrs Gorp is taking time this afternoon to clean the Kentucky mud off her bike. if I wait long enough, maybe she'll notice my bike needs cleaning too. :-))I'm really loving this part of Kentucky and I'm liking that the mountains are turning into hills now.4-19-07This turned out to be a great day!!We had a good breakfast in Berea, Ky and left at 7:50am. I wanted to get to the bike shop in Danville, Ky as early as possible.We have been on an alternative route so we could get to the bike shop and get the crank on my bike fixed. We will be on an alternate route for another day after the bike is fixed before we return to the Trans Am route.It was overcast and about 40 degrees with a good chance of rain.The biggest change...a very noticable change, is the terrain is now hilly and NOT mountainous. It is so much nicer riding and being able to see the countryside for some distance.We had about 36 miles to get to the bike shop. We were rolling along nicely and when we got to Paint Lick, Ky, I spotted a PO and stopped to mail home some stuff.I went through my panniers last night and picked out things I haven't really needed and puit them in a bag to be shipped when I could. I had the lady at the PO tell me how much it weighed...well, I got rid of another 3 lbs 5 oz. :-))That upset Mrs Gorp. It's so much fun to get my gear on my bike lighter than hers. Ha!!As we were leaving Paint Lick, Ky, a guy yelled over to us that we can now tell everyone that we have been to Paint Lick, Ky. :-))I had to stop several times to re-tighten the crank on my bike.We came up to a bunch of cars waiting on a pickup to be moved that had run off the road and into a stone wall. We were let through about 5 minutes later and rolled through Lancaster, then on to Danville.We went right to the bike shop. While the owner waited on a few customers, Mrs Gorp tried 3 different saddles on her bike. I got real good at installing and un-installing saddles. :-)) The first saddle was to hard. The second saddle was too soft. The third saddle was...almost just right. I ended up putting her orginal saddle back on.Ernst had pulled the crank on my bike while I was doing all the hard work on Mrs Gorp's bike. He said that it didn't show any signs of unusual wear and we started talking about what might be wrong with it.I told him that Co-Motion was overnighting a crank, but it wouldn't be here till tomorrow. I also told him I would tighten the crank numerous times each day with our compact tools. That's when he said that I could tighten a crank enough with a small tool like that.He greased everything and put it all back together and crank the crank down tight with a long wrench. He also readjusted some things on the bike, then I took it out for a test ride. It felt just like new!! :-))I'm learning lots about bike mechanical things. I now know what a crank looks like pulled apart and I know how to tighten one. :-))I left money with Ernst for forwarding the overnight parts that are coming in tomorrow. I told him I would let him know whether to forward it to the bike shop in Carbondale, Il, or return it to Co-Motion. I will know in the next couple of days whether or not it really is fixed. I sure hope so because I really do like my bike and I want it to be right.We ended up staying in Danville.It really does feel good to ride without the crank wobbling. :-))Another great day on the Trans Am Bicycle Trail. :-))We now have 788 miles done and should be in Illinois in 3 or 4 days.