Well the plan was to leave Virginia, drive back through West Virginia, and arrive in Prestonburg, KY for our first ride in state #38. The drive went well as we took some smaller backroads, mountain passes, and a tour through coal country until we came upon a “bad accident.”

Enter Kentucky Ryan … Ryan was walking back up the road telling folks about the accident. Complete with a handgun and a knife strapped to his side, pants legs that weren’t in or out of his boots, smoking a cigarette, and speaking with an accent that almost made him unintelligible to this Alaskan. Extremely nice guy who then offered to drive us around the wreck. Having no better option … away we went. 

We were in a rental van, Ryan was in a 2022 Dodge Charger, we didn’t know the roads, Ryan seemed too. 

About an half hour later, various caution lights starting going on and off in the van, Ryan was zipping along, the van gps didn’t have reception and then we popped out in Inez, KY. Ryan stopped, gave us some directions, fired up the Charger and we continued … for a bit. 

On the other side of Inez, the van suddenly decided it was done, caution lights flashing, gas pedal not working and we slid to the side of the road. Roadside service was called but couldn’t seem to locate us until I provided lat/long coordinates. “90 minutes” was the response. 3 1/2 hours was the reality. Meanwhile, Lisa headed down the short road to see if she could find a restroom … ended up at Trailer Trish’s trailer. No door on bathroom, no toilet paper, bathroom sink full of dishes, and Trish smoking a cigarette minus her teeth. 

Needless to say … stress was adding up until Tow Truck Ryan arrived from a town 15 miles away. Sigh … his orders were to take us to exchange the van in Cincinnati!  Huh? But it was getting dark and off we went. We did stop at a small store to get some drinks and I was able to eventually convince the rental car company that Lexington was 90 minutes closer and on the way. Ryan was a blessing, we heard his life story, and eventually arrived for the exchange. 

But … the exchange van didn’t allow the first row seats to fold in the floor but a bit of this and a bit of that and we got the trikes loaded and went to the nearest hotel. 

But … my credit card was now missing and I had just missed my first day of cycling for the year breaking my perfect record.

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