Flatwoods, West Virginia to Clendenin, West Virginia
7:00 AM on the road to Sutton, WV for breakfast. Early morning fog but visibility good. Early morning exhilaration as on the 3 mile ride to breakfast I watched the odometer click past 500 miles. An open bible on a stand is in the lobby of this country restaurant.
Today I ride to Snipersville AKA Charleston, WV. First I have to worry about mountains, now bullets. By the time y’all read this, I’ll either be a victim or 100 miles into Kentucky.
Today looks like I’m gonna be dancing with I-79 all the way to Charleston as I take Rte. 4 West (the old way). This is the closest I’ve been to an Interstate since I-81 near Gettysburg, PA.
11:11 AM Wow, what a ride! 32 wonderful miles along the Elk River. Very scenic but mostly like any upstate road along a river. Biking wise, fantastic - 2hrs. 20 min. without a break, averaging 13 mph. That’s really good! Not one hill! Passed through towns like Strange Creek, WV; Duck, WV; and Gassaway, WV... that’s near Beano, WV.... hee-hee. As I write this, I just finished a quick refreshing swim in the Elk River. Folks back at the place I had breakfast kept talkin’ about how today was gonna be another hot one. So far, so good. If this Rte. 4 continues to be like this, I just might make the 80 miles to Charleston. Want to get there before the Kevlar jacket store closes!!!! Also General Delivery Mail incentive. Have to say also, this Rte. 4 is great with hardly any traffic. Thanks to I-79, nobody goes the long way anymore. Good for me! I love having the whole road to myself. 35.67 miles so far. 2 hours 33 minutes total bike time.
Stopped at Clay FM Radio Station to see about food and library in town. Talked to Andy Waddell and Anita Truman. They said they would link my trip to their website and took a few pictures of me.
www.clayfm.com - if you want to see what I look like on the road
Anita told me about how nice the people are around here. “They don’t have much but if you asked, most would give you a meal and put you up if you needed a place to stay.” Andy pointed out that the “Deliverance” movie did NOT take place in West Virginia, as most people think. But did ask about the banjoes in the distance... Anita asked about wild animals and she thought the charging dog that almost got hit by a car was the worst. But I told her I have seen at least one of every possible dead animal along the road.
3:00 Clendenin, WV - 71.27 miles - 5 hr. 25 min. - 568.6 total miles
Figured I’d check my email and then continue on to Charleston, but decided to stay here for the night. There was the Elk River to swim in again and a cool library to sit and relax in for a while. The librarians, Mary Allen and Vicky Samples, couldn’t have been nicer. Very excited about their visitor. They were very helpful with local dining info, directions to the post office in Charleston, and most importantly, they waived the one hour time allotment for computer use just for me. The people in this state are ULTRA-Friendly - and especially in Clendenin, WV. Mary pointed out how this state really has taken a lot of abuse with the misconceptions and malperceptions of the people here by the rest of the country and it really isn’t deserved.
Picture of the day: The Elk River. Followed the Elk most of the day, so it seemed apropos.
Slept behind a church in town. Humid and didn’t fall asleep until past 11. Listened to Nancy. Found some strange short-wave frequencies and local Charleston FM.