Day 10, Buckhorn, KY – Berea, KY 76 miles (756 total)

Time on bike: 8:14:19

Avg: 9.4 mph

Daily Ascent: 5014 ft (66 ft/mile)

Max: 30.5 mph

Desolate, dogs and roller-coaster hills. The day started off great with a hometown breakfast in a little country shop that sold everything from breakfast to auto supplies. I had sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits & gravy and fried apples. Plus I was able to use their Wi-Fi and watch ESPN News! All this in a town with a population of 144! So, needless to say, I got off to a later start than usual.

The hills weren’t too bad but they were steep, roller-coaster hills. No sooner would I have gone down one than there was another steep one right in front of it. It felt like I was making no progress at all. I was also in a very isolated area. I planned on eating lunch around 1 but there was no where along the route to stop. I peddled through a valley for 30 miles and barely saw a car. I’ve never seen Deliverance, but I’ve heard it’s something like that. It felt kind of creepy, but the roads were smooth and relatively flat (after the roller-coaster hills) and I made it to Berea. My parents are on their way here and I’m in a hotel for the night. Warm shower, free Wi-Fi and it’s right next to a Cracker Barrel. What more could you ask for??

I met a group of 4 English chaps who are cycling from San Francisco (or was it San Diego) to Washington DC. We exchanged pleasantries (cheers, blokes!) and then swapped some stories about the terrain ahead. One of the guys had been to Malawi so we talked Africa for some time.

Some things I’ve heard along the way… apparently there’s a family of 4 ahead of me, father, mother and 2 children, who are on a bicycle built for 4 and toting a trailer… this I gotta see. Also, an old man stopped me to chat and he was telling me about a bloke (sorry, still in English mode) who passed through town going cross country several years back on a horse!! He said he had taken over a year and he was heading to New York… I’m assuming the state.