Days 21, 22 - Rest Days on Kentucky Lake, Hardin, KY

Kentucky Lake must be one of the best kept secrets in the US. Two large elongated lakes surround a vast tract of preserved wildness. Small coves and bays specal the vast shoreline. Ryan's friend David has a family home on Johnathan Creek, a large inlet from Kentucky lake. We drove up Saturday and spent two wonderful nights in this oasis.




Our first evening was spent BBQing at the house and fishing and swimming off of their dock. The water was as warm as a bathtub. As the day waned we caught the most spectacular sunset over the creek. The blue sky began emitting mellow pink tones which reflected off the ripples of the lake. The sun, easy to see now with the naked eye, gently set below the treeline across the water.

In the morning we cooked up a monster breakfast at the house and then set out to the marina to rent a boat for the day. The thought did occurred to me that this could be a challenge during the holiday weekend. When we got there all the boats had been taken except the smaller ones which could only go a mile from the marina.


Dave quickly started talking about, Ed and Cindy, some family friends who might be around for the weekend. We took a walk along the dock and ran into them and after some small talk were invited aboard for a spin on their beautiful and quite large boat named Harmony after the town in which they were married.

We cruised along the lake for several hours, dropping anchor in one bay to go swimming in the perfect temprature water. Cindy mixed some vodka tonics for everyone, and I more than happily floated along wondering at the imposibillity of ever having such an experience if it were not for bicycling a thousand miles to get there.

Once ashore we stopped by a local and beloved restaurant called the dinner bell which serves all you can eat country home cooking. I had a taste of some real Kentucky fried chicken, grilled catfish, greens, stuffing and peaches. Delicious.

We were all wiped out from a lazy day in the sun and turned in by midnight.






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Day 20 - Nashville, TN

We changed course today to head 70 miles south straight to Nashville, Tennesse our 7th state of the trip. Ryan has a good friend right outside the city. Our original plan was to meet him in Hardin, KY for the holiday weekend, but we figured we could see another city and drive back up with him the next day.

We took lots of local routes for most of the day, getting lost here and there. It didn't matter. 70 miles feels like a joy ride when you know you are heading toward fun, a good night sleep and a rest day.

Along one small road we turned a bend and met an overwhelmingly sweet smell in the air. By the side was an entrance to a large strawberry farm. It was like riding through a wall of delicious aroma.


Further down the road I spotted two guys drinking beers in front of a large BBQ smoker. I stopped and asked if I could take a picture. James T. Groves, the grill master (right in picture) warmly invited me up for a look at the slabs of ribs he had foiled up and been cooking all day. A smokey sweet smell filled the air. On a chopping block next to the smoker lay one slab he had taken off and unwrapped, juices seeping from the corners of the foil. "Go ahead, get a little piece there to see what it tastes like." I picked up a piece of meat as soft as butter and tossed it in my mouth. He asked me about my bike and I told him I was headed across country. "Go ahead, get another little piece."

We were 5 miles from our destination and big drops of rain began to fall. The sun was still bright in most of the sky. The big isolated drops quickly turned into a down pour. In a minute I was drenched, in a few minutes my tires where rolling threw an inch or two of water. As the rain got harder I noticed white pellets bouncing of my red handlebar bag. Hail! I kept my head down as i got pelted with pea sized projectiles. We pushed up over a hill and onto Johnny Cash Highway. 200 yards ahead the sun was shining and the road was dry. We rode right out of the storm and back into a beautiful day.

When we reached Dave and Nicole's we jumped in their pool to cool off and then got ready for a Friday night on the town in Nashville.




Our first destination was to get some BBQ. We stopped at Hog Heaven, a roadside hole in the wall that looked really promising but was already closed for the night. The counter clerk directed us to Jack's BBQ right in downtown on music row.

After a little wait on a line we sat down to two slabs of st loius ribs, a pound of Tennessee pork shoulder and various sides. We were all starving and inhaled the table full of food in no time, drizzing different Tennesee and Texas BBQ sauces on each fork full of heaven.

After dinner we strolled along music row heading in and out of different bars to get an earful of the country bands playing. None of the bars charge covers letting you hop in and out freely. If you could carry a drink with you, you'd think it was New Orleans.




The crowd was young and dressed to the nines. Tall men in wrangler shirts and Stetsons, southern bells with straight blond hair in gingham dresses. Everyone sang along to each tune. Every so often a girl would make her way up to dance on the bar for a fee moments of fredom before a skinny bouncer would coax her back down to the floor.

Second Fiddle and Tootsies had bands playing country or country-fried covers of rock songs. Robert's had traditonal country and the best sound to my ears. The bouncer promised me I wouldn't hear "the devil went to Georgia" in there.

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Location:Applewood Valley Dr,Hendersonville,United States

Day 19 - Bowling Green, KY

I woke up early at the "my old Kentucky home" campground not sleeping well the night before. It was 8 am and I could already feel the strength of the sun against my tent.

The heat pushed up 90 degrees today and it took everything out of me. I struggled to keep a 9 mph pace for most of the morning and just didn't feel like being on the bike for most of the day. My strategy was just to continue to take it slow, making stops along the way untill I hit our destination of Mammoth Cave State Park 66 miles down the road.




Along the way i passed by the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln. It was indeed a log cabin, only slightly bigger than my apartment in NYC.




The last 15 miles of the route took my over several hills along a country road and inside the park itself. Along the way i passed into the Central time zone, which gave me a boost of energy knowing I gained an extra hour.

When I reached the campgrounds I was a little dissapointed. For 18 bucks there where no power outlets at all and you had to pay 2 bucks for a ten minute shower. Not being able to charge my phone would be a set back for tomorow's ride as it's my primary means of navigation.

When Ryan arrived (he had detoured through cave city) we began looking at an atlas in the commisary and decided to push on another 32 miles to Bowling Green.

We were racing against the sun with only an hour and a half left of good light. After struggling all day I was finally able to muster a quick pace in the cooler evening air and the under the urgency of being potentially stranded on an unlight country road.

The scenery that I could care less about in the oppressive heat -- cows garzzing in the rolling pasteures, horses prancing around their pens -- turned beautiful under a setting sun.

I reached the outskirts of town by nightfall and after a short detour found the hotel we would check into for the night. 110 miles total on a day.

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Location:Willamette Ln,Bowling Green,United States

Day 18 - Bardstown, KY

I spent 76 miles along the rolling hills of horse farms and burbon country in the glorious state of Kentucky. Our destination of Bardstown was only 66 miles away, but I decided to take a ten mile detour in Lawrenceburg to visit the Four Roses distillery on the advice of my Lexington friends.

I spent a hour walking around the grounds listening to a slight woman with a buttery southern drawl explain the proccess of making the only US certifed spirit. At the end of course we had a taste of their offerings. I found the low grade stuff petty mellow and smooth and the expensive single barrel a bit harsh. This may have had something to do with being on a bike for thirty miles before having my midday libations.




Kentucky has another deicious beverage aside from burbon, it's Ale 81. It somewhere between a gingerale and a 7up and it absolutely hits the spot on a hot day. I knocked back two of them at a Marathon Gas station on my way to Lexington and have been hooked since.

Somewhere along the line someone had the masterstroke idea of combining the two. The drink is called a jeeter speedball or Winchester doublewide. A jeeter is a youngin' who is trying to high step past his upbringing -- this usually means going to college. As I can only imagine the is a university of Kentucky favorite.

At the end the ride I pulled into the "My Old Kentucky Home" State park to camp for the night. Upon entering I realized another landmark: we had officially hit the trans America bike trail. There were two other bikers camping for the night. We are sharing a space with nick a 20 year old college student, bringing our fee down to 4 bucks a head.





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Location:W Flaget St,Bardstown,United States

Day 16,17 - Lexington Kentucky

We capped off our first century (100 mile day) in a scortching Kentuky sun and it felt like the best day of the trip. After leaving Carter Cave state park I continued on route 60 the whole way into Lexington. Kentucky is absolutely gorgeous and perhaps my favorite state so far. Long rolling hills, tall grass along the roadside and green pastures for most of the day.

I got my rhythym early on and kept it for the rest of the ride, taking short breaks every two hours to eat a pb&j sandwich. I flew at an 18 mph pace over the last 20 miles from Winchester into Lexington, exhilarated from the day. My arms from my sleeves down where fire truck red by he end.

A gory note about Road kill. I've seen a lot. When you have an uncomfortable amount of time to inspect the animal. You see the expression of death on it's face. The mouth, if it's still discernable, is almost always wide open with horror. I've seen deer hide torn off the carcas, it's golden hair dusting the side of the road. I've seen turtles, snakes, possom, raccoons, skunk, birds as small as a finch and as large as a turkey all in repose. And today in kentukey I saw cats and dogs. It was horrible. Judging from the amount of unchained dogs that chased me this kind of thing happens a lot. The last fatality I witnessed was on foot in the city A woman on knelt over a still cat, stroking it's fur, a small pool of blood trickling from it's nose. I asked to help. She replied "it's gone"




Back to the good stuff ... We decided to treat ourselves to a comfy hotel and a rest day in town to recover from a week on the road. I went out to DeSha's for a plate of scallops over cheese grits and a Kentucky burbon ale. Delicious!

In the morning my first order of business was to head to Pedal Power, a local bike shop open since 73. The experience was 5 star. Alan, one of the mechanics, dismanteld my right shifter and discoverd a spring had split. He offered to get a replacement part under warranty but
I didn't have enough time in town to wait so Im using it as a friction shifter now. He also replaced my chain. which had prematurely worn out due to the climbing with heavy load and rail trail riding. My bike is riding like a dream again.




After all the work was done on my bike Alan called a friend to squeeze us into a progressive dinner ride tonight sponsored by Bike Lexington an organization which hosts bike events through out the month of may. Tonight we started with beer and appetizers in a local park and then road critical mass style over to a evening of bluegrass music on a lawn next to a bowling lane. Nothing could beat this ending to the day, sitting in the grass, drinking a beer and listening to the sounds of the band play.

Everyone we met was excited for our trip and happy to talk about good safe routes, which just so happened to run along the Burbon trail. Special thanks to Tim and Shane, two of the organizers who let us roll with the group.


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Location:Nelms Ave,Lexington,United States

Day 15 - Carter Cave

An epic day on the bicycle! We pulled down a good 85 miles on mostly flat roads in the bright sunshine. We Continued along route 2 which winds it's way along the Ohio river through Huntington, a petty large industrial town.




Along the way I treated myself to a Hill Billy hot dog, a locally famous outpost on route 2, with junk strewn across the yard and on the side of the trailer where they make the food. I had the junk yard dog pictures above which has just about eveything.

After Huntington we crossed the state line into Kentucky, our 6th state of the trip. I was tempted to cross a bridge into Ohio just for the he'll of I but never got around to it.

My experiences so far with kentukians has been great. In the middle of one steep climb a guy with no shirt on slowed down his pickup truck so he could lean out and offer me a cold beer.

We pushed on down route 60 with the intention of stopping in the town of Olive Hill but along route noticed signs for the Carter Cave State park and headed there to pitch our tents for the night. Of course the park camgrounds are 5 miles of steep climbs from the entrance. A tough way to end a long day.

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Location:Camper Ground Dr,Olive Hill,United States

Day 14 - Point Pleasant, WV

We got a late start out of Parkersburg, around 11am. I got breakfast at Sonics, a moden day drive in. A 17 year old came stumbling out on rollerblades with my sandwich and hot coffee. It made me nervous just watching her.

We followed route 68 out of town heading south west for 30 miles to Ravenswood. The roads, or at least these roads flattened out and it was a nice relief from the hills and trails of previous days. I was able to keep up a comfortable 15 mph pace, following the road as it hugged the Ohio river.

Ravenswood didn't have much in it other than a quick stop for lunch and 20 miniutes on an internet terminal at the local library.

We jumped back on the road for another 30 miles to Point pleasant.

Point Pleasant is the town of the Mothman. It's a local myth that now seems to help hold the econmy together. Most every shop has a mothman effigy or poster up on the wall. There is a statue of the creature right in town square. There is a mothman museum on main street and an annual mothman festival in September which attracts paranormal enthusiast far and wide.

The storie goes that a couple spotted the half man half moth back in the woods not to far from town in the 60s. Since then it has become local myth and the inspiration for a major motion picture.




We stayed at the Lowe Inn which looks like a hold over from the boom times. The inn is full of antiques in it's various rooms and parlors, including the original telephone switchboard on display in the lobby. It was in use through the 90s. An elder staff memeber would continue to patch the cables to direct calls and listen in to stay awake at night, so the owner told me. The long hallways have old dark wooden doors with transoms above and skeleton key locks.




I'd say our highlight came sitting at the local diner eating breakfast sandwiches at 11pm on a Saturday night. Ryan played John Denver's Country Road on the juke box and we signed their guest book and and a town poll of the states visitors our from. Both were recorded in beat up spiral notebooks with coffee stains on them.

In the morning we walked along the flood wall that protects the town from the Ohio river. It had been painted with these beautiful murals depicting Native American and early Settler scenes.


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