After a full day of rest yesterday, I was eager to get back on my bike. I have to admit, I missed it. My knees felt great, and overall I felt refreshed and ready to ride hard. I knew today's ride was going to be a long day. We started out at 7:30am and pulled into the hotel parking lot around 6:00pm this evening. Today's ride was 106 miles and we spent 9 hours on the bike as we rode from Hazard to Berea. My butt is sore! Other than that, I feel pretty good. Bob is continuing to ride strong, but Sam's knees are giving her some problems, especially on hills. However, she rode hard despite the pain and we all finished the ride together.
The ride consisted of mostly back country roads where towns were few and far between. The roads were well paved and we were able to ride pretty fast this morning. The temperatures stayed cool in the AM, but crept up to low 90s by mid-afternoon. Since we had so many miles to cover in order to stay on schedule, we decided to forgo our usual hour long lunch break for a quick 10 minute rest at a gas station where Jesse and Sharon were waiting for us. We scarfed down some bread with peanut butter and honey and hit the road again. We would not see Jesse and Sharon for another 4 hours. The ride through the Kentucky back roads consisted of rolling hills and farmland. It was beautiful, but Sam's knees gave her trouble on the hills.
The day was almost perfect except for those damn dogs! I am not exaggerating when I say that we were chased by at least a dozen dogs. Dogs of all breeds, shapes, sizes, colors, and temperaments. Some dogs just wanted to come along for the ride, that was pretty cool, they were usually the little cute ones. Then there were the dogs that were looking for lunch and my leg seemed to be the most appetizing thing around. I saw my life flash before my eyes when I was chased by a BIG German Shepherd. Good thing I'm an efficient shifter or else that German Shepherd would have gotten a chunk out of my left foot. I was able to sprint away at the last second. There was also another close call by a dog that resembled the "Monster" from the movie the Sandlot. He didn't look particularly quick, however, I found out the hard way that he had an extra gear, which he used to try and catch me! I'm seriously considering buying some doggie treats to keep in my pockets as I ride, but I'm almost positive a big German Shepherd would not stop a high speed chase to snack on a Milk Bone. I usually end up squirting the dogs with my water bottle, that usually does the trick. Maybe I should just watch a few episodes of the Dog Whisperer on TLC.
Since it was Sunday, we pretty much had the entire road to ourselves. We passed a horse and buggy and few other folks riding horseback. Overall, a great day for riding. Tomorrow we ride 94 miles to Bardstown, Kentucky. Garrison Smith and his family are supposed to be joining us and releiving Jesse and Sharon of thier duties as our support crew. We'll miss Jesse and Sharon dearly, but we are excited to have the Smith's jump on board. Garrison will be riding with us for about 10 days.
That's it for now. Time for sleep!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
We are keeping track of your adventure from afar and sending many good wishes your way. Here's to hoping that the flatter landscape will give those knees a chance to recover! All our best, Sarah Ross
Setch! Keep chasing those dogs away! They're big in the South, kind of like Marmaduke (the cartoon :) Glad to hear your knees are holding out, and keep going strong!!
... the character you build
Post a Comment