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Bob and Violet

7/19/2007

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July 16th – Day 17

Bob and Violet!

From the start of the trip up until today, we had been doing our own thing. There is no established route for this type of thing from there so we never saw a soul on an overstuffed bike pedaling the opposite direction with the goal of going from ocean to ocean. Now that we're on the Transamerica Route we ran into our first fellow cross country bikers at the first gas station we had a chance to fuel up at. Irv(67) and Barb(64) were headed Westbound as well going to Denver for her sister’s 70th birthday party. Now that is getting there in style. If it were up to me for that, I would have probably just sprung for a plane ticket, but kudos to them for having more energy than us to make it way out West on bikes.

Not too many miles later we ran into another fellow West bounder, Mike. Mike is an Englishman who is a teacher in Boston and has to be in San Francisco by Sept. 3 at the latest. If not, Mike will be looking for a new teaching job…

After talking with these fellow bikers who had spoken with other fellow bikers, we got some ‘intel’ that there was a biker’s hostel at our destination for the day, Sebree, KY. What we did not know was the type of treatment that we would receive there. Bob and Violet run the First Baptist Church in Sebree and give bikers a place to stay(indoors with mattresses), do their laundry, and give them a large home cooked meal EVERY night. That type of hospitality is really amazing when you understand how many people come through. They do not take a vacation until the biking season is over since they pretty much always have to be there and always prepare them a huge meal. For us it turned out to be lots of tacos and warm apple pie, with ice cream…  We really do appreciate all of their hospitality and everything they do for us bikers.

With this many bikers coming through with their own unique stories and backgrounds, they told us some very interesting stories. One that I am still in awe of is a fellow who came through a few weeks before us heading east. After he finished the US, he was flying to the UK, biking across there, then continuing on through Russia AND China. Not only that, but on $10 a day too. Really amazing. We will stick to just the US…for now.

-Brent


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July 15th Day 16

7/19/2007

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Elizabethtown, KY to Falls of Rough, KY

Leaving Elizabethtown, KY we were both pretty tired and Brent had a flat right off the bat.  After filling up at Wafllehouse we road out of town and ran into George on his bike and he really lifted our spirits.  George rode with us for about 15 miles and it was great to chat with him and hear about the local bike organizations.  Thanks to George for riding with us for a bit.  

Right outside of Elizabethtown, KY we got on the "Transamerica Bike Route."  The Transamerica Bike Route is a route that was established by the Adventure Cycling Association in 1976.  The route starts in Virginia and goes all the way to Oregon.  A large number of people bike it a year and it is the most established route across the country.  We will be on the Transamerica until we are west of Denver, Colorado.  The roads improved significantly once we got on on the Transamerica.  No more dodging gravel and friendly drivers used to cyclists, not only that but the scenery really stepped up a notch.  Pretty serious farm country.  

We had a good day in Falls of Rough, KY camping out.  We got there pretty early in the afternoon which was a very welcomed change.  Our average arrival time has been about 5PM, we got to Falls of Rough around 2:30PM.  We set up camp, cooked some Mac and Cheese for a late lunch, dried out our sweaty clothes in the hot hot sun.  A big storm moved in later in the afternoon, but it was a great night after that.  We played a game of horseshoes, (I killed Brent) before our instant mash potato and spaghetti dinner, which was really awesome by the way.  There was a big party/gathering around a group of RV's, playing banjo, singing, dancing and playing cornhole, pretty neat.  RV camping really is a culture in itself.  That night we were not in our tents 5 minutes when we were visited by Rocky Raccoon.  He got into one of Brent's bags and had a sample of some sport beans.  He cleared out after we sealed every last thing in our dry bags.  Overall, it was a really great ride to Falls of Rough, Kentucky. 


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July 14th 2007

7/19/2007

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Day 15 – July 15, 2007

The bike gods frowned on us today! (which we think we found in a gas station along the way, see picture...)

After two and a half days of rest, relaxation, time with friends(and spouses), the dream had to come to an end and we HAD to get back on the bikes. Not too comforting knowing that we really don’t know a soul until we hit Colorado. We stumbled around the house and put together all of our belongings back into the yellow anvils called our trailers and did not actually leave from Lexington until 10 AM. Not a good start to a day that we ambitiously routed 86 miles of biking in.

Anyway, after two hours of biking and coming to a point where we need a break for the day, Lee conveniently has a flat. Once we access the damage, we also realize Lee has a broken spoke on the rear wheel as well. This wouldn’t be as much of a problem unless you had the proper tools(chain whip tool) which we had told ourselves we would buy at the next bike shop, but never did. An hour later, we bend a spoke in and fix the spoke the best we can and replace the tube. On a bright note, we a guy introduced himself while we were fixing the tire and spoke with him for a bit. After turning down his offer to camp at his house, he wanted to support us somehow and gave us some cash.

So by 1:30 PM, we had not eaten lunch yet, had about 55 more miles to go, AND had a stiff headwind the whole morning, which didn’t seem to want to go away. Several hours, 55 more miles, and many exhausting climbs later, we pull into the campsite at 7:45 PM with 15 minutes to spare before he closed up. We set up camp, got back on the bikes in search of food. Arby’s found us and I think we ordered one of everything off the menu.

Once returning to the campsite, we met our neighbors in their permanent trailer next door who wanted to chat. I think I am little glad that it was dark by this point. After a minute or two of talking with the two women who stay with the one guy in their trailer, one of them confesses or mumbles that she was "meaner than darnit right now", which we had quickly distinguished ourselves after she said one word, but understand that to be a Kentucky phrase for, "I’ve been drinking heavily for six hours and don’t know where I am". I also believe that this same one may have had a thing for both of us. I sensed this when with my keen awareness when she offered me her "gravity boots" to hang upside down on the swing set next door to their trailer. Plus she said “uuurrrrrr preeettttyyyy”…

All in all it was a very long day, got to sleep on the ground again after several days of a bed, and the Kansas flatlands are really starting to look appealing now…

-Brent


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July 11th-14th Video

7/17/2007

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We didn't want to leave Lexington, KY

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July 9th Video

7/17/2007

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"Stand by Me" moments in Northeast Tennessee and Southeast Kentucky

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Dropping Bird on Lexington

7/17/2007

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First things first Lexington was awesome, just wanted to get that out in the first sentence.  Having Lexington to look forward to was a great morale booster and gave us some serious initiative to get there on time, especially for me since my wife Melissa would be flying in to meet me there.

We stayed with Garyen and Bethany Denning at their beautiful house, with the most manicured perfect yard you’ll ever see.  Garyen was roommates with Brent and I at Wake and Bethany is definitely his better half.  We had a great time at their house and they were so generous to put up with us for what was supposed to only be two days but we extended it to three! 

Spending time with Melissa really refilled my spirits, she and I were glad to extend our visit together one more day.  Tons of napping, eating and resting was going on the whole time and you could just feel your battery meter raising. 

The first night Bethany’s parents Craig and Madonna Turner came over for steaks, chicken, potato salad and for desert brownies and pound cake.  We had a great visit with the Turner’s and look forward to seeing them in Colorado, we are stopping in at their place out there and can’t wait to get there. 

Thursday night the five of us went to dinner at the Merrick Inn which was a lot of fun.  Tons of people were out in the perfect weather and then we topped the night off with some ice cream from Graeters.  Seriously, all we did was lounge, sleep and eat, oh yea and tour the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery.  Turns out “Bourbon” is only made in Kentucky, partly because of the huge limestone shelf 75 feet below the ground in Kentucky.  Bourbon is basically a form of Whiskey but it is distilled three times and then aged a minimum of 2 years in a white oak barrel, usually Woodford Reserve is shelved in the barrel between 4-7 years.  The bourbon goes into the Barrel clear and over the years the white oak caramelizes and mixes with the clear bourbon.  Pretty interesting process and a really thorough tour.  The drive out there was all horse farms, the perfect vision of Kentucky, a much better one than southeastern Kentucky that’s for sure. 

Bethany took us to see one of the sites where Garyen is building a “Raising Canes” franchise right in the heart of the University of Kentucky.  If you don’t know what Raising Canes is, it is restaurant based out of Louisiana and focuses on really tasty Chicken Fingers and Fries.  We learned the term “Dropping Bird” which is what they call it when they are about to drop the Chicken into the fryer.  Garyen had the chance to work about 5-6 shifts on the floor to get a feel for Raising Canes before bringing two Franchises to Lexington.  Pretty exciting and we wish him the best of luck.  Personally we think it’s going to be great late night food for college kids after partying. 

We hated to leave Lexington as it is the last place we will see familiar faces for about 4 weeks.  Thanks again to the Dennings and especially to Melissa for coming in to spend a few days with a smelly tired biker.

Also, if the blog isn't updated for a few days we promise it's not because we're lazy, it's because we don't have any service.  Keep checking back regularly and feel free to leave comments/advice etc.  We will be putting out a new edition of the newsletter soon.   Cheers!


Pictures from July 11th

Pictures from July 12th

Pictures from July 13th

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July 9th Day 10

7/12/2007

6 Comments

 

Day 10 – Kentucky!

Even after a good nights sleep, in a bed, we still needed some Ibuprofen to loosen up the stiff muscles from the previous day’s climbing. We thought that the big meal from the night before would be some good fuel for the day as we planned on leaving the state of Tennessee.  After today I think we have come to a few additional conclusions. We are always going to get started later in the day than we thought we would. The terrain is ALWAYS going to be hillier than we estimate. We are always going to finish the day later than planned. And we will find someway to eat more than we possibly thought we could get in our stomachs.

Due to some routing issues, we did not encounter too many gas stations, restaurants, or really any place to grab some food around lunch time. So instead we plopped down at a backwoods railroad track and scavenged all the snacks we had in our bags and had ourselves a ‘Stand By Me’ moment at the railroad tracks throwing rocks at broken bottles over lunch.

After spending the whole day in Northeastern Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, we have also learned another valuable lesson and have a good rule to go by. People driving any truck prior to a 90’s model, a loud exhaust system you can hear from a half mile away, with super swamper tires, lots of Confederate flag stickers all over their truck generally aren’t too big of fans of cyclists. Also, everyone has a dog and I mean everyone. Fortunately, most of them are chained up or fenced in and I am a dog person too… Some of these dogs look possessed and think in their eyes our legs look like giant drumsticks.

Our last adventure of the day was dealing with a little more rain. Despite our best efforts to set a blazing pace and beat out the storm, we were accompanied by a thunderstorm for the last 10 miles of the day. After about 10 days, we already have had two days of rain, which is not looking good for our rain bet, for me at least…

-Brent


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    eLIFELIST.com BIKING ACROSS THE COUNTRY: DONE

    Sept 5th 2007

    Days 68
    (including an 11day stint off)

    $ Raised for LAF:
    $11,500

    Final Miles: 3820.61

    Final Hours: 275.25

    Equals: 11.42 Days Straight Biking

    Average MPH: 13.88

    Daily Calories In: ~6000-7000
     
    Daily Calories Burned:
    Alot

    Total Calories In:
    408,000-467,000 each

    Friendly People Met:
    Countless

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    "Bicycle Across the Country raising funds for Livestrong"

    We will be updating this Blog the entire time we are biking Across the US.  Check in regularly to see where we are.  Click About above to learn more about why we are doing this trip and how you can donate money towards Cancer Research.  Cheers!

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