June 15, 2006
Day 14: Booneville, KY to Berea, KY
60.26 Miles, 5:11:19 Ride Time, 11.89 Average Speed, 36.0 Maximum Speed
I got up fairly early (as I have every non-motel-bed morning so far), got everything packed up and ready, and then realized it was too foggy to ride (especially after I lost my blinking red light yesterday). So, I rode up the street to the Farmers Restaurant & Game Palace for breakfast. I had pancakes and sausage (good), then checked out the bathroom and the Game Palace (a pool table and a few video games) behind the dining room.
The fog had started to lift, so after setting my white light to "blink" and strapping it to the back of my helmet, I started off. I was in a good mood, knowing that I was leaving the serious mountains behind. Of course, I soon hit a couple of hills that required me to use the granny gear...
After those hills though, I started a long, pretty, flat section along Station Camp Creek and Red Lick Creek. I passed several small family cemeteries, but no country stores. I hadn't filled my water bottles this morning (although I did still have some from the day before), so I was hoping to see a store.
My map told me to turn onto Murphy's Ford road, but the barely-one-lane road I came to wasn't marked. I thought about it for a few minutes, and decided to give it a chance. About a mile down the road, I stopped to ask a wild-looking, mountain-man-type guy if I was on Murphy's Ford. He told me had never heard of such a road "in these here parts." I decided to continue on anyway, and in a couple of miles I came to the intersection I expected. This end of Murphy's Road was marked with the sign, of course...
After a few pleasant miles along the quiet country road, I came upon an upturned car, and three men standing around it. The accident had happened in the last few minutes, apparently. I asked if everyone was ok, and one of the guys said "Yeah, he just crawled right out of there." The driver of the car had only a slightly bloody lip, even though his car was pretty screwed up. As I rode off, they were discussing how much money the guy could get out of his totalled car.
After some more miles, I was getting low on water, and still hadn't seen a country store. I saw a woman standing in her yard, so I pulled over to ask where the next store was. As soon as I pulled over, two viciously barking dogs came running right up to me. "Rebel, leave him alone. Bob, don't bother that man." Bob?! No wonder Bob was the meaner of the two dogs; he was pissed because the other dog had a cool name like "Rebel", and he was... Bob. In any case, she told me there was a store about seven miles up the road. Of course, as I've learned on this trip, that meant the store could be anywhere from 1 to 25 miles away.
I did finally reach the store, and immediately had an Ale-8 (first of the trip), gatorade and some Little Debbie snack cakes. The girl at the counter glanced at me and asked, "So, did you leave from Yorktown?" Obviously, this store must see a lot of TransAm cyclists, probably because they're the only store in 30+ miles after leaving Booneville. After listening to her warning about the big hill I would have to climb before I got to Berea, I rode off.
The climb up the "big hill" into Berea wasn't too bad, although the traffic was heavy. As soon as I reached the campus area, I asked the first person I met where the bike shop was. It turned out he was a cyclist himself, and he was sorry to inform me that the bike shop had closed.
I rode through town looking for a motel, but all I saw was the expensive-looking Boone Tavern, so I rode on towards the interstate interchange area, and the hectic traffic there. The first place I stopped didn't offer internet access (after lugging around a laptop all day, I insist on free internet access if I stay at a motel), so I rode down the street to one that did (although I had to settle for a smoking room).
I checked in, cleaned up, and called my friend Peter, who was planning to ride with me for a few days. I told him about the closed bike shop, and he offered to stop in Lexington on the way to the motel and get some new screws for my broken cleat.
After Peter and his wife Cay arrived, they got a room and we rode downtown to a very good pizza place (my first trip in a motorized vehicle in several days). Later we stopped at a Wal Mart - it seemed odd to be in such a place after days of riding a bike through very small towns.
Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 812 miles (1,307 km)
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