My brother drove over to visit me, but I'll get to that in a minute...

Last night I slept like a rock, thanks to a great bed in the home of my hosts Jonathan and Sharon. Then, after a great breakfast Jon and I headed to Paducah to have my bike checked out. On the way we witnessed an accident while crossing the bridge over the Ohio river...

So, I had the Trucker's wheel trued, new break pads installed, a general once over, bought new gloves and a new giant bottle of Chamois Butter, and after that we were off, back to the route so I could continue on my way. Unfortunately, traffic did not cooperate. Thanks to the accident we saw, the bridge was now closed. So, we waited, and waited, and well, you get the idea.

We waited for about 45 minutes until finally traffic cleared. On the way back to the route Jon took me over to a chocolate factory (store) and we had some ice cream. I was going to load up on chocolate but chocolate, you know, melts when it's really hot and it is, you know, really hot lately so...

...after many many delays I finally made it back on the bike and pedaling east. Thanks, again, Jonathan, for all the help! I can't thank you enough!

So, I started towards Cave In Rock where I would get the ferry across the Ohio River and meet my brother Tom, who was able to come visit. After crossing the river I had a brilliant idea... You see, I was ahead of schedule a couple of weeks ago but then I put on the breaks (so to speak) to meet the group. And THEN I had to take an extra day because of saddle sores, and THEN I had to take a half day off today because the Trucker was having the bike equivalent to saddle sores, I'm falling behind. So, I had Tom carry my bags from the ferry to Marion, Kentucky.

And I gotta tell you, a light bike goes faster than a heavy one, especially up hills. Maybe there IS something to that whole, titanium, carbon fiber trend? Anyway, I just flew up the hills and made it to Marion in no time. So I talked Tom into SAGGING for me to another 30 miles to the next biker hostel-but it started raining, really hard. But Tom agreed to stay most of the day tomorrow and sag me as far as I can go. So, that's the plan.

It's not really cheating because I will ride the route, but with Tom there, handing me water bottles and snacks out of the car window like in the Tour de France, I can get all caught up with the miles I missed from delays (OK, I might stop when he hands me bottles and snacks, I'm just saying that, you know, for effect). I'm shooting for 100 plus, maybe even 120-or, a double day, more or less, 2 days in 1. I know I can do it if I'm only carrying snacks. WOO-HOOO!

I took some pictures but the internet is pretty slow tonight so I will try and post them tomorrow instead. Tomorrow is a big day so I better hit the sack.

Until then...