Big Climbs, Coal Trucks, Soaking Rains, Dogs, Dogs, and more Dogs...

* Please note that while necessary or not, I use a lot of parentheses ().

**Please also note that the pictures are up for your interpretation unless caption is included and that we welcome any/all ideas as to what is going on (particularly in the one above).

The title doesn't lie as we made our way out of the southwest corner of the Virginia and on into the Unbridled Spirit (state slogan) that is Kentucky. We met up with a few other groups riding the Trans Am as well. One group was 'Biking the US for MS.' They are about 12 deep and they have a chase car with a trailer (lucky ducks) and virtually everything is provided by the MS Association. They were a great group to talk to and ride with. A few other guys we leap frogged with for a few days were from Illinois. They were riding light (didn't pack much stuff) and were a joy to ride with as well. Jeff and I tried to scheme as to how to light the Roman Candles and shoot them while riding (all in good fun), however, by the time we constructed a plan, they were about a day and a half ahead of us.

A highlight was spending a night at the Breaks Interstate Park which is on the border of Virginia and Kentucky. We really enjoyed our stay eating lots of food and socializing with the other cycling crews. We had ample time as the skies opened up and it began to rain, a lot.

As we headed into Kentucky, the coal truck traffic increased significantly. Much to our surprise, They did not run us off the road. They were very kind and often gave way to us. Another thing that increased drastically were the amount of dogs. It is uncanny as to how many people in Kentucky own dogs without leashes or fences to keep them in. We had about 5-10 dogs hot on our tail every mile for 2 days straight. Jeff had the dog repellent, however, we did not need to resort to that as we used our super human pedaling skills to out run them (even if they ran with us for a couple hundred yards)! The hills seemed to become a bit more difficult than those of Virginia as well.

So, picture this: Us (the Zoo) riding our fully loaded bikes (see pictures from Day 1) pedaling as hard as we can (really slowly), up unfathomable climbs, being passed by coal trucks (with no shoulder on the road), while trying to out run the most vicious dogs in America, all in the pouring rain, and that about sums up the past 3 days.

It is amazing how the beautiful valleys and mountains of Virginia can back up next to the coal towns of Eastern Kentucky and then turn back into rolling hills after 100 miles or so.

We made it to Danville, KY, which is where this post is hailing from. Charlie Chilcoat (Boss's father) had a former employee, Margaret Scott, who retired and moved here (she was originally from Danville and moved back after living in Maryland. Needless to say, the hospitality of Margaret and her husband, George, are greatly appreciated, as we enjoyed an incredible home cooked meal and a home movie theater for entertainment!

Pick looking sweet riding through the hills of Virginia
(Photo by Deigoguapo)