Day 25 - Rest day in Farmington

As of July 30 10:00pm Central time this is the most recent entry. I'm gonna catch up with the last days, promised. But now it's time for bed.

Day 24 - Farmington, Missouri

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Day 23 - Chester, Illinois

9am and 50km done.

Day 22 - Goreville, Illinois

The last miles in Kentucky were just rolling hills and in no time I had made it to the Ohio river, where a ferry would take me to Illinois.
It was free and surprisingly fast, just a few minutes later I rolled into Cave in Rock, a little town on the other side of the river. A sign told Lewis & Clark had come trough the place on their expedition in the mid 1800s. Following in the footsteps of these brave men - neat!

Illinois wasn't anything close to a "warm welcome".
It started to rain and the hills... this state a freakin rollercoaster!
Not even a state sign they had for me?

Well, rain had stopped when I made it to Elizabethtown where I had some pancakes. It's amazing how cheap restaurants are in the rural areas! I think I paid 5 dollars for three pancakes and coffee. They where used to bikers, someone even wrote "have a safe trip" on the back of my check.

The hills continued all day long. After a pizza at a gas station - the only service along the remaining route - I eventually made it to Ferne Clyffe State Park just south of Goreville. The primitive camp wasn't just some meadow for a change, I got my own secluded spot in the forest.

11 hours from getting on the bike to arriving at the park. No need to explain how my body felt after that kind of torture...

Day 21 - Marion, KY

Left the firehouse at 7:30, stocked up with some Honey Bums and headed west. Today was one of the easiest days of the whole trip. The hills were even smaller than the day before and I did the first half of the milage in no time. Like always, the last 10 miles were the hardest. But this time not because of my legs, it was my back that hurt. Just not used to several 100+ km days in a row. Tomorrow could get a painful riding..

Not much to say about the route today. Maybe that I've done my first 1.000 miles? Just 2757 left!

I've mentioned the Amish yesterday. Googled a bit and indeed Kentucky has Amish population. The town where I'm staying right now actually is something like a hub for "Amish-related" tourism, as the guidebook says. I'd love to meet Amish folks and talk to them. There are videos on YouTube of Amish speaking their German dialect. It's kinda creepy but fascinating how these people speak a language very similar to what is spoken in Germany today, considering they've left the country several hundred years ago...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxPlTRq84-4

I forgot to tell you about a funny dialog I had few days ago:
It happens 10+ times a day that people ask me where I'm riding to. That guy's reaction is worth to quote: "I've just started with cycling, but nothing like this. This is a lifestyle!"
Wish it was!

Tonight I'm staying at the church in Marion, Kentucky. Shower, couches, WiFi... everything a biker dreams of.

Tomorrow morning I'm gonna take the ferry over the Ohio river entering Illinois, my third state on the trip.

I've thought about how to capture the scenery here with a picture. At the spectacular natural monuments of the west you can take a pic and pretty much get the atmosphere on it. But Kentucky isn't the state of spectacular landscapes. What makes riding Kentucky nice is the overall atmosphere... The fields, the smell of hay in the air, the relaxed little towns, farmers riding their pickup trucks, old barns, cattle and much more.  Can't possibly get that feeling on the web.

Day 20 - Utica, KY

David is one of the guys who get on their bikes with the very first sun and are done for the day around noon. What a luck I also got up early today: beautiful morning! Was on the bike at 6:45, heading west where the moon was still visible while a bright orange sun appeared at the horizon behind me, making the road shimmering red. Had the road for me and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery even though it was too cold for just a bike shirt. Got chased by several dogs on the very first mile, at least I wasn't sleepy anymore then...

After two hours of riding it was 7:45. Wait! What had happened?
Time zone change! I started in the eastern time zone and made it to the central time zone. No sign or anything indicating that, I would have failed to set my watch back an hour without the map.
Two more zones left, mountain time and I think it's called pacific time.

Except for 10 miles of steep climbs the day was just rolling hills, did the ~120km without too much effort. Thanks to the weather, which is forecasted to stay in the upper 80s the next days. Perfect!

I'm not sure if they were Amish people, but at one point "old-fashioned" clothed people navigated their horse-drawn coach on the highway. Interesting!

Stayed at the fire station in Utica with two other guys. They looked like >21 and I was surprised and impressed to hear they were just 17 and 18! What are they gonna do in a few years if they're crossing the country at that age?!

Day 19 - West of Sonora

Looong day. Temperature was just perfect, around 25°C and not too humid. Rode through some picturesque countryside, lots of barns, fields, silos, horses and cattle. The sky was all blue for a change and when I even got on  "McDowell Road" I had the melody of "old McDonald had a farm" in my head for the rest of the day. Felt like: "this must be where the song has been written!". 

Wonderful day with just one (relatively) long climb. Everything else was "Kentucky flat" meaning hundreds of small hills. Totally different story than "Kansas flat" which actually is flat. I've done about 120km and feel like I could do another 50. First time on this trip that I'm not worn out the end of the day. Give me some more weeks and I'm probably "the 100 mile guy" again I was at the end of last summer's trip.

I'm camping behind a grocery store tonight. When I arrived the family running the store was having supper and invited me. Yummie!

First night on this trip I'm not gonna camp alone. David Freeze is a newspaper author reporting about his cross-country ride. Which means a picture of me is gonna be on his blog and maybe even printed, reaching about 50.000 people!
http://www.salisburypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130725/SP01/130729834/1023/david-freeze-ride-update-some-great-weather-and-my-last-time-zone-change&template=artpex#pex4

What I liked about the Pacific Coast was that I always had other cyclists in the camp, often five or more. Doesn't happen on this trip. Just not enough cyclists per mile and besides that most of them are ahead of me. I kinda miss sharing stories and information at the end of day. But even on the transam this strange message system is going on only cyclists know: Information is being spread east and west. Days ago I met a cyclist: "You're the German guy?". He had heard about me from another guy I had talked to some days before.

Haven't been updating the blog recently. I was just to worn out. Maybe I'm gonna ad text to the blanc entries later, maybe not.

Day 18 - Bardstown

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Day 17 - Harrodsburg

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Day 16 - rest day in Berea

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Day 15 - Berea

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Day 14 - Booneville, KY

I didn't take any pictures on the road that day. Was too much of a fight. A fight against the hills (local pronunciation "heels" with a long "e"), against the heat and against my body longing for a break.
Met Dave, he had been riding up the coast from Santa Barbara to Oregon to start his transam there.
http://davetetrick.tumblr.com

Sudden thunderstorms are common in this area. I was lucky enough to see it coming and found a shelter. 20 minutes later the sun burned down again.

The day ended behind the Presbyterian Church of Booneville. Nice place, nice sunset.

The landscape considerably changed today. At the end it wasn't that "climbing from one valley to the next" pattern anymore. That's because I'm leaving the Appalachians. Berea, tomorrow's goal, is considered as "gate to Appalachia". No more long climbs for the next weeks. Lots of short and steep hills though. I'm not sure what to prefer yet. No choice anyway.

What i'm experiencing is exactly what Hemingway said with the quote I chose as caption for the blog. I feel the geography of this country with every pedal-stroke I do. Nothing like that in a car.

Day 12 - Lookout, Kentucky(!)

Days later, finally text:

Day 12 was the day I made it to Kentucky. I was a bit culture shocked. It started in south western Virginia and continued in Kentucky: Poverty most people wouldn't expect in the US. I had seen the poor side of this country before, but I didn't expect such a rapid change in that area. It came within a few miles: Trailers everywhere, at least one old rotten car in most of the yards, besides cars the yards were filled with all kinds of trash, tires, etc. There were no "standardized" trash cans, instead they had all typed of containers by the side of the roads to put their trash in: bath tubs, shopping carts, cages... Some had just piled up their trash bags, who knows if they ever get picked up?

Again: I've never seen so many rotten cars before. I could have funded my trip just by one mile's worth of roadside metal. Would have taken some time though, most of them were covered under plants.

The majority of the businesses was closed and for sale. At a gas station I watched people searching trash cans for something valuable. Believe it or not, but one of them drove away in a car!

I didn't take pictures in that area so I can just try to give you an idea how it looked like. But I'm sure one can't imagine without having been there.

It was pretty depressing, frankly said.

Back to nice things: after some climbing I reached Breaks Interstate Park. I was  pretty surprised when I checked out a lookout and found a massive canyon (see pics). I didn't expect something like that in the east! Learned that it's called the "Grand Canyon of the South" and it's the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi River. More information: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaks_Interstate_Park

The pictures of the canyon should give you a good idea where I was riding trough the last days. Ridge after ridge, valley after valley... 

From the top today's last climb I had a long downhill trough a rugged river valley, crossed the Kentucky state line and pedaled the last few miles to the "Freeda Harris Baptist Center". I had no idea about the place. Turned out to be a good choice. Gym, kitchen, showers, restrooms, WiFi - what a luxury!

Cyclists met today: 3, all eastbound. Two of them coming from San Francisco. 

Day 13 - Hazard, Kentucky

Not much to say about that day, except that it was the longest so far. 116km doesn't sound impressive, but on a fully loaded bike, at 33°C and with several climbs it's hard work. Some 10 miles before Hazard the street was closed for trough traffic because a bridge being under repair. I gave it a try and rode the 2 miles to the bridge. No one present and the bridge was passable. Walked my bike over and rode on. It was a tenth of a mile from the bridge to the next highway, I would have hated taking a detour because of that...

The last miles were on a major highway. Not many cars and a a wide shoulder, no problem. Got even better when the right line was closed for the last part and I had a lane plus a shoulder all to myself.

Kentucky has some of the nation's most important coal mining industries. Coal trucks are everywhere, as well as storage yards with huge mining machinery. You better not start an argument over renewable energy with the folks here!

Day 11 - Council, VA

Update from the road:
I'm on my way to Council, VA where I'm gonna camp at a church. To get there I have to climb two ridges, especially the first one awfully steep and pretty high. The last stop before that is Hayter's Gap, a settlement without a store. There's a library though, in front of which I lay down under a huge tree to get some rest before tackling the climb. Just seconds later a woman came out and offered me to come in, enjoy the air conditioning and fill up my water bottle. I'm not the first bicyclist to stop here.
And that's where I am right now. Hikers call it "Trail Magic".

http://goo.gl/maps/sKpaj

Update, end of day:

Today was really hard work. I was worn out from the two climbs the day before and had to do pretty much the same thing again. Plus the weather was normal again: 95°F, humidity in the same ballpark. It didn't take long till I looked like after having a swim, wasn't refreshing at all though. Anyway, the first hill was okay. The stop in the library (see text above) did the trick. Yet the second climb was brutal. I felt weak and didn't believe I could make it. 

Arrived at 8:30pm at the town park where I camped on the stage of one of the shelters. There was a party going on in one of the other ones. A woman came over and brought me pizza and cookies. Every day should end like that!

I noticed two things: the litter along the road increases as I get closer to Kentucky. I've been told about that before. The local accent sometimes is impossible to understand. Even the guy from the US I've met told me he couldn't understand many people in Kentucky.

Day 10 - Damascus, VA

After the sky having been overcast the last few days I finally had sun again. The temperature though wasn't that high, perfect riding conditions.
As often when leaving a town I had to ride on a highway today, even two lanes for some miles. One would think that's dangerous, but a two lane highway is actually safer than a narrow highly-trafficed county road because the cars have enough room to pass.

At a town called "Rural Retreat" I left the highway for a really nice backroad. Farms, cattle, rolling hills, hardly any traffic. The gigantic clouds scattered over the blue sky had the same effect as mirrors in a room: the countryside felt much bigger than it actually was. Can't wait for such a day in "flat-as-a-pancake" Kansas!

There were two climbs to do, each about 1000ft. They weren't steep but long, I'd always prefer that.

At the top of the first climb I stopped by the side of the road, still on my bike. A car pulled over and a guy with a santa-clause-style beard came out, "Want some cold beer?" he asked, picked a can of "Busch" from the cooler on his back-seats and gave it to me. I said thank you, he got back in his car and left. No more words.

Came across several creeks and rivers. Eventually I found a place where I could access one of them. Wading trough the cold mountain water totally reminded me of California, where wouldn't miss a single swimming hole last summer. 

Reward for all the climbing was a beautiful long downhill along a rocky river valley, again it felt like (northern) California. That kind of curvy downhill where you're faster than cars, in fact a car stopped to let me pass :D

Damascus lies on the Appalachian Trail, with 3.500 km one of the longest hikes on earth. It takes about half a year to complete it, with only few towns along the trail. Being one of these trail towns, Damascus has several hostels. I stayed at "The Place". 6$ for a bunk bed, can't beat that.
The area is also popular with cycling, I saw at least 5 bike rentals in a town of 1.000!

Met two cyclists today, both riding from San Francisco. The first guy was from the US, he told me he had felt like in a third-world country in Kentucky...
The other one was a German from Hannover, riding to New York City.

Tomorrow my last full day in Virginia!
By the way: I'm just about 2 miles away from Tennessee right now and on today's ride I missed North Carolina by the same distance.
Thought about riding to Tennessee for the sake of a picture, but Google street view told me there's no "welcome"-sign on that road.

(Last three pictures from yesterday. If anyone knows what kind of bird that is on the picture, let me know. there were at least 5 of them)