Kentucky has been a real challenge. Despite the fact that the elevation is rather low, we’re doing more climbing than we did crossing the Rockies. The roads are just a constant up-down, up-down. It is exhausting. It feels like we spend all day climbing with only very short payoffs. Due to the ever-evolving landscape, we are forced to constantly change gears. There is never a long stretch where we’re just cruising. Instead, we’re constantly shifting from high to low gears. It’s rough on the knees as well as the drive train. My front derailer came out of alignment yesterday. Luckily, Jordan was able to fix it and it worked just fine today! Impressive handyman skills!
We have hit two milestones of note in the last day- 1) we’re officially in the eastern time zone and 2) we’ve now biked more than 3,000 miles! While we’re still not set to reach the finish line until mid-November, it’s starting to feel very close and obtainable.
Tomorrow, we’ll bike 60 miles to Berea- the gateways to Eastern Kentucky. I’m a bit worried about this stretch of the route. In the best of times it’s very rural and underserved. In addition to that, recent flooding has ravaged the area and caused substantial damage. We’ll even have to deviate from the usual USBR 76 route to avoid a washed out bridge. Our options for accommodations are equally limited, so it looks like we’ve got some more churches in our future.
Also of note, my alma mater (the University of Tennessee) is playing the University of Kentucky this weekend. We should be able to watch the game tomorrow when we get to Berea. Go Vols!!!