Transamericaride 2023

Another nice coolish morning. Why did it wait til I’m holed up in a motel? Not fair.

My brother asked a question some of the rest of you might be wondering about. He asked how I returned all the books that I got at the libraries. I don’t. Every library so far has had a cart or sometimes, several shelves of freebie books or books that they sell cheap. Paperbacks are usually 50 cents, and hardback are $1. And, they don’t want them back. I only get paperbacks cause I don’t want to carry the extra weight of a hardback. I leave any book, when I’m done, at the motels. The bigger motels often have a collection of books to pick from, so it’s been no prob finding something to read. In the past years, I’ve been able to pick one up at a garage sale.

Ok, I finally decided to go to an ER and have a pain in my leg checked out. It has been there for prob four weeks, started right behind my left knee, and has moved down to my calf. It is not a normal muscle pain and has worried me for weeks. I’ve used my salon pas, an aspirin infused patch that takes the edge off muscle pain, but it didn’t even phase it. The salon pas worked on all my other pains. It does not hurt when I ride, only when I walk or stretch my leg out at night. I kept thinking it was a blood clot, and I’ve been worried about having a heart attack at night and no one finding me. I really am a wuss when it comes to medical issues. I tried to tell myself I was worrying about nothing until it moved to my calf. It is not behind my knee anymore. So, I had an ultrasound to see if it is a blood clot. IT IS NOT. The doc diagnosed it as the underlying soleus muscle that prob got ‘overused’ and rebelled. ( It attaches right behind the knee, which is why it hurt there) Yeah, ok. The first three weeks of riding was one mtn pass after another, but I never felt anything specific. It just appeared and never went away. But at least I can rest easy now and quit worrying. He prescribed long-term rest. Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen. But he did say that these two days and the three or four I’m with my friend should help a lot. If I lay low too long, my body will rebel even more from lack of exercise. Gotta keep moving. I tho’t I was being wussy for only riding a lot of 40 mile days but I guess that was better than pushing 60 every day, which I would have done if it hadn’t been so dang hot. I guess my age is a factor. The doc and nurses were really impressed that I’ve ridden this far all alone. Not a big deal in my book.

This was the coolest morning  and day I’ve felt in weeks.  Cloudy and not as humid.  Figures.  I’m not riding today, and the weather was the best in weeks.  That’s ok, though.   I walked to Walmart  to replace things like toothpaste and sunscreen.  It was a pleasant walk.  Didn’t even break a sweat.

Did laundry and read my book. A pleasant relaxing day.

You really can’t believe weather forecasts.  Last  night, there was zero chance of rain or thunderstorms in the area in which I was going to be.  This morning, 40% chance betw 7 and 9.  It didn’t look threatening, so I left as usual.  Four miles down the road, THUNDER, which means LIGHTNING.  I put it in overdrive and found a church half mile up the road, which just happened to have a side door open where I could get out of the storm.  Eby was under an eve.  Geez, I didn’t need that. Only there less than five minutes until the skies opened up.  Three sprinkles and then an  instant pour down.

No rain or lightning the rest of the day but I sure put on about 10 extra miles.  I hate directions that say turn on the unmarked road.  Fine if there was only one.  In the town of Paint Lick (now there’s a name for you), I got totally turned around.  Went backwards for at least two miles, which makes four extra.  Then I missed an “unmarked” turn and went another eight or so out of my way.  Ended up in the right  place, but geez. I didn’t know where I was for a while.  This was to have been a really short day.  Still short by the usual.  I just don’t like not knowing where I am.

Had two dogs today.   Boy do my shackles go up immediately.  I don’t even think. I just react.  Glad this is the end of KY riding.  My friend, Deb, who lives five hours from here, is picking me up on Tuesday and taking me to her place for a few days.  Haven’t seen her in about two years, so we have lots of catching up to do.

I’ve really enjoyed the terrain of KY.  Beautiful roads even without shoulders.  99% of the drivers were very courteous.  I’m sorry that I’m such a wuss with dogs cause I’m sure Eastern KY would be nice.   But I just can’t  make myself do it.

I have to say I’ve seen more roadkill in KY than all the other states combined. Mostly raccoons and opossums but lots of birds, too.

I found a big antique place on my way into town.  Wasted some time there since it was early when I got here.  Went to the library and got a couple more books.  Just plan to hang out in my cool motel room til Tues.   Maybe check out the town, but tomorrow is Sunday, so there might not be much happening. I’m looking forward to a break.

I figured out why it was so dark yesterday.  I changed time zones.  Duh!

So I didn’t leave til 7 today.  Had to wait for the sun to come up. Another blessed day of thin cloud cover.  It helps, but it was 76 degrees when I walked out the door.  My phone says 87 now. Feels like 95.  I say it feels like 105.  I just drip constantly.  Off my nose, from my eyes, even rivulets down my arms and legs.  I have a sweat rag for my face, but it gets soaked real fast.

Nice ride today, but for the first time, I had  two obnoxious people lay on their horns as they went by.  One was a pickup, and the other was a big truck.  I was warned not to flip them the bird in case they wanted to retaliate.  Really?  What good does it do to scare the crap out of me when I have nowhere to go.  I am constantly getting off in driveways to let even just cars get by me.  Jerks!.

I’m staying in a ‘guest house’ tonight, kinda like an airbnb.  She has no sign, and I rode an extra mile and a half just looking for the place.  Nice porch to sit on in the shade with a breeze. Not complaining. Just glad to be here.  What I tho’t would be a nice, easy ride, which it was the first half, because I had a fantastic shoulder, but then it went to no shoulder, hence, the obnoxious people.  So, the last 20 miles were more stressful than I expected.  Just makes me hotter.

For the first time, the hills opened up to a treeless landscape. I’ve never been able to see anything off to the left or right because of the complete tree cover.  I really liked that because I got blessed shade now and then.  And, today, I think I had my first tail wind.  Couldn’t tell until I stopped and felt the wind.  Nice.

First open view of KY

Had to start at 6:30 instead of 6 because it just wasn’t light enough. Yesterday was great at 6, and today, it was weird. It just seemed dark. Thin clouds kept the sun from being brutal all morning, but I still dripped constantly.

I bet I lose 5 lbs of water every day. I’ve been drinking water like a fish.

My route had its fair share of trucks again. I’m getting really good at hammering to the top of hills. Gets the heart rate up, too.

I have to say the remote little towns in KY sure are different from the west. In WY and MT, if a “town” only had two things, it would be a post office and a bar. Here in KY, the two most important things are a hair salon and a mortuary. I just laughed today when this one “town” had two mortuaries, a hair salon and a barbershop. That was it. And then way out of “town” was a Dollar General store. Every town, no matter how big or small, has a Dollar General store. And the bigger towns often have two. Different priorities.

I went through Bardstown, which had ‘My Old KY Home’ museum. It looked interesting, but it wasn’t open for a while, and I didn’t want to waste the ‘cool morning temps’. But I got this pic.

Left at 6. Somewhat cool (it’s all relative-cool compared to the 90s) with a slight cloud cover for the first hour. Then it got hot. I couldn’t get into a motel til 3. Tried to sit in the shade, but even that was unbearable. Looks like rain and thunderstorms tonight and early tomorrow. Might have to start later, which means I’ll melt sooner.

Had a nice ride today on roads that were more of a straight shot than the winding, hilly ones on my transamerica route. The roads were busy enough, and I didn’t have to worry about dogs. I’ll take traffic to dogs any day. I still had hills but not quite as steep. I got a workout, though. My legs are tired tonight from trying to beat trucks up the hills. When I see one coming (and they always show up on the hills where there is nowhere to get off), I put it in high gear and try to beat them to the top. If I see them soon enough where I can get off, I get off and let them pass. It’s not what I’d call relaxed riding. But worrying about dogs would stress me more. I did hear three bark today, but they were fenced in. Thank goodness.

It got hot fast today, but I did my 42 miles by 10 am.  Was just glad to get off the road.  Supposed to be hotter tomorrow, so I plan to start riding at 6.  I think I have a few more miles to go tomorrow with possible thunderstorms.  The terrain is rolling hills, fun to ride but makes me hot.  I do get cool breezes going downhill.  I’m going to take a major route, which hopefully will be faster.  I just want to get off the road early. 

I watched the weather forecast, and triple digits are expected the next few days. I saw the map in KS, and it is brutal. They already have triple digits in most of the state. I’m ready for fall.

I got a book at the library yesterday, so I have just been sitting in my air-conditioned room reading. I’ll need to get another one tomorrow. I don’t usually get to read in the summer, so this is a nice change.

I had a fitful night of sleep due to sleeping on a cot, but it was free, so I’m not complaining. Walked out the door at 7, and the entire western sky was black. I checked the weather last night, and there was zero chance of rain. Now, this morning, it changed. Dang. I wasn’t ready for this. And I really feared for lightning. Those clouds were really black. I checked the weather again and it said rain between 8 and 9. So I put my rain covers on and rode to stay in front of the rain. Weather still said my destination had no rain in the forecast. I rode fast and kept my eye out for lightning. As I preceeded NE, the cloud seemed to be going south. I made it to Owensboro, no sweat. Nice and sunny. I had planned to do a bunch of errands since this is a rather big town. Library, bike shop to check on a bike path, maybe Walmart. I was in the library maybe 30 minutes and was just getting ready to leave, and it was raining really hard. Where did that come from? Lasted quite a while. At least everything was protected, and I was inside. So weird. Even the locals were surprised. When it quit, I went on. And now, this afternoon, there are big clouds building up again. You just can’t trust the forecast.

So far, KY roads are nice. I haven’t seen a single gravel road yet. Even the one lane roads off the county roads are paved. Yeah! Shoulders come and go, but the drivers have been really considerate, especially on the hills. The scenery is really pleasant. Just can’t figure out the weather.

And. Now, at 5, it is really black all around. There is a restaurant in the hotel so staying inside.

Took the car to the airport at 8 and got on the road by about 9.  Had to ride all the way through Evansville, (11 miles), cross the big Henderson Bridge into KY, and ride through another 5 miles of town.  Once I got out of the towns, I had nice, fairly quiet country roads.

The bridge was intimidating.  I couldn’t tell if it had shoulders, and I was warned by locals that it wasn’t friendly for cyclists.  So when I got to the weigh  station just before the bridge, I called the local police to see if I needed an escort or what the deal was.  A friendly cop said it was legal to ride and that cyclists did it all the time.  He told me to hug the white line and be careful.  That’s what I always do.  Turned out it was two lanes in both directions, so it was no biggy.  I didn’t have to worry about trucks bumping me off.  Never hurts to ask the authorities.

I’m staying at a church that caters to cross country cyclists. I have a private room. There is a kitchen for those who want to cook their meals, and there are comfy couches to sit on, a pool table for those who want to play, and a shower and bathrooms. Don’t need more than that.

I am so tired tonight. Uneventful drive, although I did miss one exit and had to back track. With lots of traffic, I have a hard time reading signs fast enough to maneuver to the correct lane. We survived. Then on the St. Louis by-pass, two exits were closed, so five lanes of traffic were forced into two lanes. Quite the backup twice. Only went 11 mph for a while. I actually enjoyed the slow pace. Not as stressful as everyone passing me at 20+ miles over the speed limit. I’m not kidding. I’d be 5+ mph over the limit, and it was like I was standing still. STRESSFUL.

Got to my destination and found my rental car return area, got gas, a motel and a bite to eat. I really am tired, probably more mental than anything else. Way past my bedtime.

I will be back on route tomorrow.