Day 17: Booneville, KY to Berea, KY

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Day 17 Tuesday June 7, 2005, 65 miles (104 km) – Total so far: 858 miles (1,380 km)

6:05 pedal time and 64.6 Miles

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Click Here to Visit Previous Page: Day 16: Hazard KY to Booneville KY

Click Here to Visit The Next Page: Day 18: Berea KY  to  Springfield KY

I woke up at 5:15. It rained pretty hard during the night. My tent was soaked. I quickly packed up my stuff. I hate packing a wet tent. I ate a quick breakfast at the 6am and I was on my bike riding at 6:30am. Early in the morning the fog was really thick so I turned on my blinking light. It was pretty cold and hazy most of the morning and afternoon.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

When I left Booneville this morning Laura told me that today is going to be a really bad dog day, so I should keep my pepper spray close by. But I was only bothered by a couple of dogs. I rode past a lot of dogs who couldn’t be bothered. I think they were all depressed because it felt like it was going to rain any moment.

Around mile 10, I popped another spoke. The wheel was really outta whack and I spent an hour trying to get it straight. Then I got back on the bike and the wheel just felt weird. So I took everything off again and fiddled with it for another half hour. I got it as good as it’s going to get and I ended up loosening up my brakes a little bit. I have to get a professional to look at it and I don’t think that isn’t going to happen for about 150 miles. It will make it. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After I wasted most of the morning screwing with my wheels, I must have stopped and removed about 5 different turtles from the middle of the road. Every time I saw a turtle in the middle of the road I would get off my bike yelling ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU CANT HANG OUT HERE!’ then I would put them somewhere far away from they could get run over. I stopped several times in the middle of some good downhills for these guys.

I saw several people burning their garbage either on their own property or on the side of the road on somebody else’s property. All the garbage burning situations looked pretty shady.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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I really enjoyed todays ride a lot. It was a lot of rolling hills. I would rocket down a hill and it would get me ¾ of the way up the next hill. Most of the day I was riding in the valley surrounded by the mountains. It felt so good riding through the open space. I rode for about 30 miles on these desolate mountain roads, before I hit a store where I could fill up on water. Luckily it wasn’t brutally hot like the past couple of days. It’s been a good couple days since I had some riding like that. Until today I was starting to feel like there wasn’t anything to look at while riding in Kentucky.

The cyclists I met yesterday gave me a tip about a shortcut and I took it. The scenery was gorgeous. However none of the streets were marked and I got lost for a few miles. It was hazy so I couldn’t see where the sun was in the sky and for a minute I wished I had my compass. But I sent that home yesterday in a package. I lost about 45 minutes being lost but it was so beautiful I didn’t care.

When I got close to Berea a women stopped me at the gas station. She told me that she’s letting cyclist’s camp at her house. I talked to her for about 15 minutes about the ride. She told me it’s her dream to ride the Transam. I told her the hardest part is finding the time, but anyone can really do it. I’m finding a lot of people that are riding this summer aren’t hardcore cyclists.

I stopped at a barber shop and had them buzz my head for me. I’m trying to lighten my load. I feel a lot better without my hair. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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When I got into the town, the sun came out and it was 85 degrees. The center of Berea is a really cute place. I quickly became distracted with some handsome buildings on the college campus. I like this town it has a good feel to it. It is very Artsy Fartsy.

I found the campground and met up with Chuck and Laura. They had been in Berea for hours. I told them about my adventures for today. I unpacked my tent and it was disgusting but it dried up in a few minutes. The poles of my tent started to melt in the sun yesterday. I’mgoing to wait till the suns down to setup the tent.

I stopped at the campground office to ask where I can find some good BBQ. They told me then talked my ear off for about 20 minutes. Everyone keeps asking me where I’m from because I don’t have the Kentucky accent in my voice.

I’m at the library typing away, they have wireless internet and listening to punk rock on my headphones.

I had a lot of fun riding bikes today. The BBQ was just alright.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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Click Here to Visit The Table of Contents
Click Here to Visit Previous Page: Day 16: Hazard KY to Booneville KY

Click Here to Visit The Next Page: Day 18: Berea KY  to  Springfield KY

About the author

Michael Riscica

Hey, I’m Michael Riscica and I live in Portland, Oregon with my Labrador Retriever. When I’m off the bike, I make my living as a Licensed Architect and also write a architecture blog at YoungArchitect.com.

I took my first bike tour in 2003 when I rode from Boston to New York City, and at that time I learned about cycling across America. My life was forever changed. I have successfully ridden and blogged about Coast2Coast bike rides during the summers of 2005, 2007and now 2016.

Thanks for following along. I would love to connect with you on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Linked In! Also check out my new project Young Architect Gear, designing architecturally themed gifts and products.

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