June 13, 2006
Day 12: Breaks, VA to Hindman, KY
72.13 Miles, 6:13:47 Ride Time, 11.93 Average Speed, 35.9 Maximum Speed
I was up, checked out of the lodge, and riding out of the park by 7:40. It was the coldest morning of the trip so far, and I briefly considered putting on my arm warmers, but didn't feel like stopping and hunting for them in my panniers.
It was a three mile descent from the park to the Kentucky state line. Just past the state line was a nice overlook area, so I stopped and took some pictures. It was a short, easy ride down to Elkhorn City, where I stopped at the store next to the Moore Motel to get a few snacks to carry with me. The store's inventory was strangely sparse - there were only one or two of each kind of candy bar/bag of chips/soda. I wanted to buy some extra AA batteries, but the lady told me they had sold the last one recently.
There was a restaurant adjacent to the motel and store, but it didn't look too appealing, so I continued a short distance to the center of Elkhorn City, and the Rusty Fork Cafe. This was a lively place, full of loud conversation and cigarette smoke . I had two huge pancakes with bacon. People at the restaurant were friendly, and asked me about my trip; they also warned me about the mountains ahead. I stopped on the way out of town at the Velocity Market and got my batteries.
After a brief but nerve-wracking ride on a busy highway full of coal trucks, followed by some quiet but hilly riding, I stopped at the Melvin post office to check my map. I was much more concerned about getting lost now that I had gotten into the mountains. While I was looking at the map, a nice lady asked me about my trip, and we talked for awhile. Her name was Skip Weathers, and she was from Colorado.
I rode from Melvin through Bypro and Bevinsville, a couple of tiny communities. I needed to stop and get some gatorade, but the first three places I passed sold nothing but liquor. Just before I got to a grocery store in Bevinsville, I pulled over to the side of the road to check my tires. I had been seeing quite a bit of broken glass on the side of the road, and wanted to make sure I hadn't picked any of it up. I had been stopped for a couple of minutes when I noticed several women in orange jumpsuits approaching. They apparently were prisoners, out on a trash-pickup detail. They were accompanied by two guards, who seemed startled by my presence, so I crossed over the road to the grocery store, before I started a riot, or something.
It was a long, lonely ride from Dema to Pippa Passes. There was very little to see, other than some sort of mining operation about halfway through. When I got to the entrance of Alice LLoyd College, I saw a handpainted wooden sign about a cafe where cyclists were welcome, so I rode into the college and stopped at the place, the tiny Lighthouse Cafe. School was out, so I was the only one there. The place is run by a woman and her college-age daughter, who told me about the cyclists who had been in recently. I had a pizza, which was pretty good.
There was a free cyclist hostel at the college, but I decided to press on to Hindman. I stopped at a small shopping center a few miles outside of downtown Hindman, to get a milkshake at the Dairy Queen. The last three miles to Hindman were on the very busy, curvy, two-lane state route 160. I pulled over on the shoulder to take a break from the traffic, and couldn't get my right shoe unclipped from the pedal. The shoe's cleat had become twisted, and was stuck in the pedal. I finally got the shoe out, and rode unclipped the rest of the way to downtown Hindman.
I had heard lots of bad things about the "80 Motel", so I decided to see if I could stay at (or camp in the yard in) a local Bed and Breakfast. The entrance to the place was up an incredibly steep driveway (I'm not sure how cars get up the thing), so I walked the bike (with some difficulty) up to the place. The propietor, David, gave me the cyclist discount - $10 to camp, $25 for a room. I opted for the room, which was nice, and went to bed early.
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Today's ride: 72 miles (116 km)
Total: 687 miles (1,106 km)
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