The devastation of flooding and the kindness of strangers

Today was a wild ride. We rode through some of the areas in Eastern Kentucky that experienced the unprecedented flooding over the summer. We had to deviate from the TransAm, actually, because a bridge was washed out and hasn’t been repaired yet.

It was heartbreaking riding through the towns that were affected and seeing the devastation. Houses were washed away, cars were overturned, there were piles of rubble everywhere, there was debris high up in the limbs of all the trees. There were signs that work is ongoing to repair the damage. We passed several bridges that were being rebuilt. But it looks like there’s still a very long way to go.

We were chased by dogs very consistently today in every place with houses except the places affected by the flood. As upsetting/scary as it is to be chased by a dog, it was even more upsetting when they weren’t there. I can only assume the dogs didn’t survive the flood.

Our destination today was Hindman. Per our maps, we expected Hindman to have three cyclists-only lodging options. Like fools, we did not call ahead to confirm. Just showed up. The church where we planned to stay was locked and no one answered the phone when we called. We then tried the other two and both are permanently closed. So then we went to the police station, hoping they could give their blessing for us to set up our tents somewhere, but they had gone home for the night. It’s Halloween and there were lots of people with tables set up handing out candy near the police station. I explained our situation to a couple people and they suggested we go knock on the pastor’s door and then knock on Steven’s door. Both weren’t home so we went back to where the helpful people were. They tried to call Steven but he didn’t answer. So they suggested we walk up to the school. They said someone should be there and they probably have a public area where we could set up our tent. If no one was there they said we should come back and they’d help us find Steven. I have no idea who Steven is but I guess he’s a problem solver. Or maybe he takes in strays?

We went up to the school but the door was locked. I saw a man sitting in the cafeteria through the window so I just crawled through some shrubbery and knocked on the window. He came outside and I explained the situation and asked if he knew of a place we could set up our tents. He said we could stay with him! His name is Randy. Randy said he only had a bed for two of us, so two would need to be on the floor, but he used to host cyclists. As it turns out, he was the very same person Mike called when we arrived, for the third cyclist-only lodging places in Hindman. He did not realize the Church was not hosting cyclists because they are using the space for disaster relief efforts.

We walked with him up to his house, which was on a bluff overlooking the town. As we were passing another house just before his, Randy knocked on the door to ask if we could leave our bikes on their deck. The person who answered said she was moving out tonight and there are three empty beds so we can just sleep there! Randy is the landlord for the other house.

While the woman was packing up, we sat outside at Randy’s house and chatted with him. He’s a fascinating man. He teaches banjo one day a week at Berea college, a college where tuition is free, the students all work, they prioritize students from Appalachia, and everyone has to study at least one traditional Appalachian art or craft. Randy also had a Bernie 2016 magnet on his fridge, was listening to NPR, and drives a Prius. So. My kinda guy!

Highlights

• we are so lucky to have met Randy, and I’m just amazed at his kindness and generosity, and how helpful everyone we talked to was. We just showed up in a place where we didn’t know anyone and had no where to stay, and were welcomed in to someone’s home and are sleeping in beds tonight. One of my backup plans included just staying up all night and sitting on a bench on main street.

Lowlights

• the devastation of the floods on the small towns in Eastern Kentucky
• being constantly chased by dogs. By 9am I had already lost count of how many dogs had chased me. At one point I was climbing a very steep hill and a dog ahead of me saw me, started barking, and came into the road to wait for me. I definitely couldn’t outrun him on the uphill, so I got off my bike and put it in between me and the dog. A woman came out of the house to see what the dog was barking at and tried to call the dog back to the house, but this dog was not at all interested in following verbal commands. So the woman says to me, “Don’t worry. He don’t usually bite.” Well that’s me reassured.

Julie’s food

• Breakfast: oatmeal and coffee
• First Snack: Kind breakfast bar
• Second Snack: Clif bar
• Lunch: Kung pao tofu from a Chinese restaurant in Hazard
• Third Snack: hummus and crackers
• Dinner: Buffalo chick’n sandwich with guacamole

Stats

• Total distance: 66.20 miles
• Elevation gain: 5,470 feet
• Weather: rainy, high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit