Hills and More Hills
Saturday morning began at The Old Bus Stop Diner in Booneville. The place was mostly full and the southern accents were all around, especially from the young waitresses. After I ordered three different drinks it was an amused “You’re thirsty this mornin’, ain’tcha? Then, two men around 70 were asked loudly from a distance “Shegitchyouboys?!” The translation being “Did she already take your order?”
I finally got on the road around 9:30 for what ended up being a 51 mile ride into Hazard. I was still with Chris and Amina and we agreed to meet up and stay at a motel in the town.
The first fifteen miles couldn’t have been better. The weather, the scenery with leaves that are starting to change color, and mostly flat roads with some easy climbing made for a good morning.
I stopped at H.C. Sparks Kentucky Food Store in the town of Buckhorn and sat on the bench out front to have a drink. Right when I was ready to hit the road again, a guy started talking to me about the trip, which ended up leading to a 45 minute conversation about travel. As he left he warned me about the upcoming hill. He was right.
Starting with the one he warned me about, it was long climbs mixed in with some very steep short ones for the rest of the day. The temperature was also becoming quite warm, so it was turning into a very difficult day.
The route then began to lead me to very narrow, rural backwoods Kentucky roads. Here you saw the not very attractive landscaping of the yards, along with various types of junk out front. You felt like you were entering a battle zone when riding through because you always heard dogs barking from up ahead or you would see one sitting on the roadside. You never knew how they would react when you passed them by.
One dog ran onto the road and started to chase me and was getting close. It was the first time I used the little air horn I had and it worked perfectly. He stopped right away.
By the time I got to Hazard I had had more than enough of climbing and was ready to get off the bike. Highway 15 cuts through the town and I took a right to stop at a convenience store where I asked for directions towards the motel. I thought the guy would say to just keep heading straight, but he said I needed to go the opposite way. I was afraid of that because looking the other way all you saw was a road that looked like it just kept going up and never stopped. So the hills weren’t over with.
Once I met up with Chris and Amina, they were wiped out as well. Chris said it was the hardest day of the trip for him. It ranked near the top for me also. The Adventure Cycling maps I use say “The Appalachians may not be as tall as the Rockies, but they are much harder to cross than the mountains of the west…. the Rockies are not nearly as tiring as the steep, roller coaster grades of the Appalachians.”