Day Ten (79.1 miles, 382.3 total): Oh What A Day!

RING! RI-- My hand finds a giant pile of fur where my phone should be. Seems Ella wanted to turn off my alarm before I did! She pounces on my head knowing that I am already awake. I push her off but can't seem to shake her. She's back again like the Tasmanian Devil. I pry myself off the air mattress and slowly make my way to the door.

Its a beautiful morning out. The sun is just peaking through the clouds and the air is cool and crisp. Perfect day for a ride. I let Ella back in and make my way for the kitchen. Too lazy to actually boil any water, I use a coffee pot to make hot water for me again. While the water is running through the pot, I go back into the garage bay and clean up my gear. It doesn't take too long, because I didn't have a camp set up. The water is still running, so I get changed into my cycling gear for the day. At last, I hear the final hiss of steam coming from the kitchen. A nice hot cup of instant joe and two packets of oatmeal. I'm ready for the day and head out the door with my little sidekick.

The air was a bit cooler than I thought it was. Probably should have worn my pull over. A few miles of rolling hills through Kentucky farm land and I don't feel the need for the pullover any longer. Warmed up for the big hills, I push on through the morning. I am flying this morning, hills, farms, windy roads, all of it seems like a breeze. Every 5-6 miles you pass an immense farm with a very luxurious home built right out in the middle. Well kept lawns, trimmed hedges, perfectly paved driveways, and of course the latest truck or SUV parked out front.

Between each of these immaculate properties, you find many homes or trailers falling apart and a small piece of land that might have once been a plot for crops. These plots usually have lots of pieces of cars or tractors that have been left to the forces of nature. These homes are still in use but have fallen into depressing states of disrepair compared to their well-off neighbors. The roads continued this way for a long time. It really makes you wonder about how they got that way and what it was like when they were first built. As I rode through, I imagined stories of their history. If each property was a book I'd still be stuck in the first mile. I really find that sort of history quite fascinating.

On I went, coasting the roads like I couldn't be touched. The rolling hills climbed higher and higher to a lake called Falls of Rough. As I went through, I noticed the majority of the boats were either pontoons or houseboats. A few speed boats passed by in the murky water, but the majority of the lake sat still. The hills got tougher here with a few strong head winds. I couldn't quite seem to keep my momentum up for about 3-4 miles. I felt like I was wearing lead shoes as I trudged up the hills. Despite my weary legs and shrunken lungs, I made it to the end of Falls of Rough.

Around the last bend in the mountain, I came to the dam. On one side, the lake pressed up against its concrete captor. On the other side, a children's park sat happily in the sun, while a lone man fished in the nearby shallows. The immense curve of the dam makes it feel like the water might burst through the wall at any moment. Once again, I was in the rolling hills, surrounded by endless fields of dirt and grass. The sun was high in the sky, cooking me inside my black cycling jersey. On I rode against the afternoon sun. I passed through a small town called Fordsville, where I picked up a bottle of Gatorade. A few gulps of the cool blue drink and I was back on my crusade.

Four miles later I arrived at the park where I had intended on staying this evening. I got a call from my dad and realized it was only 11:30am. I started at 7:30 and made it 58 miles before noon! I was on a roll today buddy!

A small break for me and Ella, then we were back on the asphalt ready to roll. Right from the break, I was already climbing again. Short hills but very steep hills! One after another after another. My skin was baking and I realized I had forgot to put on more sunscreen during my break. Oh well can't stop on a hill for sunscreen! I pushed on and the thought of sunscreen slipped my mind. In its place a breathing rhythm had emerged to help me up the hill. My speaker had died at this point so I focused on a breathing rhythm to help drive against the afternoon heat.

At the top of hill before my next route change, I saw nothing but flat land beyond. Yes! Flat for once! Well I spoke too soon. Headwinds picked up like you wouldn't believe. I was as low on my bike as I could possibly get, but it didn't help. I was using my smallest gears and still felt like I was stuck in place. If you tried any other gears, you couldn't push the pedal down! After struggling for an hour or so in the wind, I came to a break in the woods. It killed the head winds but had too many hills to count. Each one seemed bigger than the last as the day went on.

As I break the tree line, I see a massive field to my left. In the field a brown dog was barking and running toward me. He looked about 250 yards away so I didn't bother. I heard the barking get a lot louder and I turned around to see the dog was about 20 yards behind me! He was more cheetah than he was dog! I saw a hill ahead and pedaled as fast as I possible could. The dog was gaining on me. I hit the hill right as the dog almost reaches my side. I flew down the hill half expecting the dog to be hanging on the back pannier. Once I reached a pretty high speed, I looked behind to see the dog stopped a quarter of the way down the hill. That was a close one!

The last set of hills were the most difficult. Partly because I kept imaging the destination, and partly because by this point I was just exhausted. I made it up one last hill, to see a fire station on the other side. Fingers crossed, I glided down to find I had finally had it! The Utica Fire Station was very nice. A massive garage held all of their trucks and equipment. Inside one door from the garage, there is a laundry room and shower. Inside the other door, was the main section of the building which was air conditioned, had multiple bathrooms and a nice kitchen to cook in!

After I arrived, I was given a tour of the building, then I went and took a shower and did laundry. Having clean socks is probably the best feeling in the world. Ella was very happy to have her blanket washed as well. About an hour later, Celia, another cyclist I met before arrived. She is headed to Astoria as well. Shortly after a 22 yr old kid named Howin arrived. He is headed east to North Carolina. He originally started in San Fransisco. For the rest of the night, we cooked food and talked about the routes in either direction. Howin gave me a few maps for the next sections of the route which I really appreciate. Can't always trust a GPS!

Ella is gnawing on my ankles to go outside one last time, so its about time I drop the pen. Thanks for reading our daily adventures and hope you continue as we pedal our way to the west!