June 17 Crossing America

Rough River Dam State Park, KY – Sebree, KY. Distance 74 miles

Rural American

With the crossover to central standard time I was wide awake at 5:05 AM however took my time packing up and didn’t get on the road until 7:30 and I didn’t even fix breakfast.  My plan is to stop in the first meeting town to have a café cooked breakfast which worked out.The hills today are a little steeper than yesterday.  I found myself frequently going from 4 mph to 40 mph within a couple minutes and vise-versa.  Pepper did a reasonably good job adjusting my shifting on the S-Works and by anticipating which front ring I would need going up a hill I was able to ride without much in the way of shifting problems.  On onefairly steep hill the chain did slip off the small ring leaving me no choice but to dismount.  After getting the chain back on I was able to ride, from a dead start, the rest of the way up.  A testament to the fact my legs are getting stronger.  In fact I didn’t have any difficulty climbing hills today from a strength factor just really slow speed wise.  On the flats was mostly doing 18-25 mph which is exceptional speed for me.At the second meeting stop Aaron was the first rider to catch up to me.  While visiting with him I learned he is exhausted both physically and mentally.  Aaron and me taking a break

Arron by the way looks like a Tour-De-France professional bicycle racer, he’s all of 120 lbs, about 5’3’ and is the guy who had logged 4,500 miles riding between Jan. 1-Jun1, 2011.  Though I feel bad for Aaron it did help me knowing I’m not the only guy struggling to keep up the pace and distance of our group’s schedule.  At first I thought perhaps Aaron was just trying to make me feel better about my struggles.  However the last 8 miles we were going to ride together but I finished the distance over a mile ahead of him.  It was relatively level (relative meaning no hills I climbed caused me to crawl up like a turtle at 3 mph) and I was able to use my aero-bars, bar extension which allows me to lay over my bike for a better aero-dynamic riding position.  Side note; I use the aero-bars not so much for speed but rather to relieve the pressure on my tailbone, as it’s still pretty sore from being cracked back in January.  I waited outside a Dairy bar in Sebree which we were told we needed to stop at as they serve the best ice-cream on the Trans-Am route for Aaron to catch up.  Ike was already there.  When Aaron arrived he said he had bonked, lost all his energy, half way to town.  Guess he wasn’t trying to make me feel better.

Ike, Frank and Aaron enjoying milk shakes

Once we ordered shakes, I got a Strawberry/Banana, Ike shared how he is staying so far ahead of the rest of us.  Ike leaves each morning about a half hour before anyone else.  Ike’s secret is when he gets too tired to ride he hitches a ride with a local driving a pick-up.  Ah ha, another guy who is not a purist that every foot of every mile has to be ridden.  My other awakening perhaps I’m not the slowest and least capable of keeping up with the group schedule?  Chet, Mark and Trish were the next to arrive and I got a good picture of Trish’s king size ice cream cone and Mark’s shake.

Trish and Mark getting ready for an ice cream throw down

Pastor Bob sharing history of Sebree and his ministry to Bicyclist

Violet with the assistance of two other church folk Doug and Martha prepared a huge banquet of southern home cooked meal.  We learned Violet, Bob, Doug and Martha for the last 15 years have been doing “Disaster Relief” kitchens.  They were the first food kitchen established after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, they were at ground zero after the 911 attack and their latest efforts were helping folks hit with the disastrous floods last month.
Now this is what I envisioned my adventure to hold.  I have once again been blessed meeting folks like Pastor Bob and Violet as they are “Angels” of God’s gift to the world and
America’s foundation for goodness.

Violet serving up some mighty good Southern food

Tonight the Old Guy is feeling pretty good inside and out knowing he and his traveling
companions are cradled in God’s arms and comforted by Angels.  

Frank being thrown around dance floor at a community ho-down in Sebree

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