Utica, Kentucky to Marion, Kentucky
This firehouse ROCKS! Very grateful for this port in a storm! Whole place to myself. Slept upstairs in the loft. Bunk bed - warm and dry. Shower - not sure why - didn’t I get enough water yesterday? and today promises more of the same!
Just before I left the firehouse I added a thank you note to the other 30 or so tacked onto the refrigerator. I read all the other notes and probably should have used the clothes dryer instead of just hanging stuff up to dry - seems like the others all did. But, I didn’t watch TV either!
Back in the saddle around 9 AM Central time. Whizzing along in the rain at 20 mph through the seemingly endless corridors of corn and oceans of soybeans. The rain has tapered off to a light drizzle and I decide to stop and see a soybean plant up close - fuzzy little beans hidden under the leave, 3 beans to a pod. This country will never go hungry.
For the past two days I have ridden through a lot of rain soaked roadkill! Most predominant are frogs - little ones and bullfrogs. Mostly little frogs smeared along the road. The roadkill seems to always have one major species repeated over and over. I remember on the 48 mile sprint to Berea, it was turtles. But I have to say, I am getting tired of the frogs. I wonder what kind of roadkill I will find in the western states? Ok, enough of this roadkill stuff.
I feel like I’m 7 and I feel like I’m 17. I remember learning to ride a two-wheeler. I remember my first English racer - a 3 speed Royal, made in England. I was barely big enough to ride it. My dad got it for me for my 7th birthday. I knew as a young boy that a bike could take me places no one else could or would. I loved exploring my town and the next town. I loved reading maps and seeing if I could bike to places far away. At the time, that only meant a few miles maybe.
When we were kids, we would ride our bikes all summer long and never think about how may miles we actually covered in a day. We would just ride. In a way, now, I just ride everyday. Although at a much higher mileage level, it still seems the same. The bike is just better and the map covers a few more miles than it did in the 60’s.
I remember exploring paths and roads and seeing where they led to. It was a thrill to find a “secret” road that led to a known road and to find alternate ways to get to the same place. For me, now, everyday is discovering new roads and riding my bike. I wish it never had to end. I suspect when this trip is over I may sink into a deep depression. THIS IS THE BIKE RIDE OF A LIFETIME!
Seems like everyday when I’m riding, I think about ending the day at a tavern and having a couple of drinks, and I always end up in a dry county! They should put a symbol on the county-line signs that either has a cocktail glass or a cocktail glass with a red circle and slash through it to indicate “dry” or not! Well, today is gonna end in “Drysville,” too. Marion, KY 12 miles from the ferry across the Ohio River to Illinois!
Stopped to take the picture of the day of a coal barge being loaded along the Green River. The coal trucks dump their load near the river and the barges are filled and float up the Green to the Ohio River and on from there. It just seemed interesting enough.
Then about a mile or 2 later, IT HAPPENED! Coming down the road on the opposite side were 2 touring bikes fully loaded. A guy and a girl. About a half mile east of Sebree, KY I met Steve Lindeman and Laura Butterbaugh. My first fellow cross country biker encounter! Only 1100 miles in, until it happened. They were headed to the Utica firehouse. Too bad our paths didn’t cross there. I had a lot more questions for them. We stood by the side of the road and talked for about half an hour. They shipped their bikes to San Francisco, flew out, and began riding to Maryland in July. They had a lot of stories, recommendations of places to stay, and warnings about the Ozarks. He has the same bike I have and told me his tires lasted 2500 miles. I have about 2000 on mine now, so I must beware. They have a website too in case you can’t get enough of this site. www.saddlestories.64log.com They too were having the time of their lives. Since they live on the eastern shores of Maryland, which is pretty close to Philly, I hope we can get together sometime in the future and trade stories.
I stopped at library in Dixon, KY and answered some email. They closed at 4 PM and kicked me out! Debated whether to say the night in Clay, KY or try and make Marion. When I got to Clay, the rain had finally stopped, so I cleaned and relubed the chain on the bike. Homer Brown came over to see what I was doing. An older retired gentleman. Talked to him briefly, mainly trying to figure out which county would be good for beer. He told me to find a bootlegger and then said, “You can get a beer in town at the American Legion Hall. It’s open until 10 PM.” I tried to persuade him to tell me the secret handshake to get in and he said that you need a membership card. So I headed on down to Marion, KY - 22 miles away.
The ride wasn’t too bad. A few hills, but mostly rolling hills low humidity, and the sun was masked by a thin veil of cloud cover so thin that the fireball was there, but rather muted. Later, it became a big red ball and it disappeared behind a large ridge as the road went downhill.
A few miles later I was ripping down a hill at 35 mph and a deer jumped out in front of me, but quickly ran back out of the road. Gave me a start! If I was driving a car, say 55 mph, I would have hit him. The last 5 or 6 miles into Marion, I counted 15 - 20 more deer in the road, on the side of the road, and running through fields.
Got to Marion and ate dinner. Rewarded myself with a steak and had a side order of fried pickles. Strange Kentucky fare, but it was good as the waitress suggested. I asked her about the ferry across the Ohio and Cave-In-Rock State Park. She told me the ferry was free and takes about 10 minutes to cross. Checked in with police department about camping in the county park and they gave me their permission. Hey, my first announced camping night! I guess I can sleep late tomorrow, since I’m not operating in the “stealth mode.”
72.31 miles. 6 hr. 8 min. 1146.8 total miles.