Today was a short day, and I used it to take it easy. We started out as a big group at a decent pace. Right away some people pulled ahead. The terrain was more rolling hills again. After a while we were all broken up and I was riding alone. As we descended into a valley some kids were yelling at us from a schoolyard. Yeah yeah yeah. The valley's morning fog shrouded everything as we pulled into the first stop.
We crossed a small stream and climbed out of this valley. Hopped on the Osman and Judy tandem train for a bit. I pulled off to check out the view of the Ohio River from the quaint little town of Elizabethtown. Lots of debris was floating down the muddy murky brown water.
The next town was Cave in Rock and there was a ferry to cross the river. I was the last one on, but then I saw the snack truck. As they were closing the gates I dashed off. I haven't missed a snack break yet; I was not about to start now! Had some soda and cookies and Lon explained to some locals we were biking across the country. "What the hell are you guys doing?" seems to be the standard question we are asked.
The ferry took us into Kentucky, our eighth state so far (if you count the few yards of Utah and New Mexico when we did a few laps around the Four Corners). The road was traffic free and the scenery was great. The weather was perfect. I enjoyed this nice stretch alone. There were same nasty little climbs thrown in. Saw an Amish family out in a field of mums with a horse drawn cart. They waved but I wasn't going to risk trying to take their picture. Lunch was tacos at a closed store (since 1960 according to old lady across the street) with an awesome porch. Strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. The next stop was on the front lawn of a "Primitive Baptist" chuch. Lynnrd Skynnrd was playing on the CD player. The church lawn was beautiful, the sun was shining - all we needed were some cold beers to make this day perfect. We settled for Coca-Cola.
Puttering along after the stop, the tandem train - Osman, Judy, along with "Waterford" Rob and John whizzed by me. I hopped on for the last few miles into town. We saw more traffic on the last two miles than we saw all day.
Applebee's for dinner - French onion soup, Caesar salad, pasta alfredo, and chocolate brownie sundae.
Into Tennessee tomorrow.
