Days 6 - 11 (4th June - 9th June)

Day 11 to Berea, Kentucky - 59 miles

Finally out of the mountains. The warm welcome and pleasant university town of Berea was the obvious choice for a much needed rest day.

Special thanks to Janet who came out into the heat to ask us what we were up to, found us a local (very luxurious) hotel and bartered us an incredible price to stay. It was some much needed mothering which we, at that point two very bedraggled washed out boys, both really appreciated.

Day 10 to Boomeville, Kentucky - 60 miles

Another disappointing mileage was largely down to one of Dan's so far successful short-cuts going horribly wrong. A dead-end 8 miles downhill on a gravel track (marked as a link-road on the map) isn't a fun place when it's approaching 100 degrees and you're being heckled by hill-billies.

Luckily we managed to meet a very nice a self-confessed hill-billy called Eddie who agreed to move his assault rifles (which were for deer hunting?) aside to put the bikes in the back of his pick-up and return us to the point where we left the road. Despite losing about 2 hours and a lot of energy we both considered ourselves very lucky to be out.

Day 9 to Hindman, Kentucky - 80 miles
Not much to report except much more of the same - endless mountains. Glad to make up on the mileage for the disappointing Day 8. Joe also uttered "this is the least enjoyable thing I've ever done" for the first time - a catchphrase that he would be groaning repeatedly in Days 10 & 11.

Day 8 to Breaks Interstate Park - 41 miles

The 41 miles we managed on day 8 is testament to the difficulty of the cycling around the Virginia/Kentucky border. The thermometer once again rose up to 100F and the hills continued to rise. The distance between each 3000 foot peak of the New Appalachians decreased, and we began to dread the downhill sections because at the bottom the climb would begin again.


Unflattering as it may be the photo above really gives an idea how we were feeling on day 8.

Neither of us has a very clear recollection of this day - but by four o' clock we decided to cry defeat and cycled into the Interstate Park to camp amidst the cicadas, who had emerged from their 17 year dormancy period.

Day 7 to Rosedale - 73 miles

We headed West towards the heart of the mountains early in the morning of day 7, and despite heavy legs and blistering heat yet again made steady progress throughout the day. The terrain became increasingly unforgiving, with steep gradients and poor road conditions, but we pressed on and by half six the mileage for the day was respectably in the high sixties.

Eager to get the most out of a hard day, we decided to press on past a campsite to treat ourselves to a motel for the night, and the final hour was fuelled by the thought of a hot bath and cable TV...

To say the motel was a bit of a disappointment would be to refer to the Appalachians as 'a few little hills.' Our arrival at a small group of roadside shacks was greeted by a gaggle of grumpy drinkers on the curbside and the comforting clanging of a broken air-conditioning unit that we were assured by the very friendly owner had been in that state of disrepair for some days. The room would have drawn complaints from inmates in Third World prisons, the local 'restaurant' proved to be a counter in the nearby petrol station, which of course had closed thirty minutes before we arrived, and the room had a worrying 'annex' in the corner - an unlocked door leading to a room with no glass in the window. But at least we had two microwaves.

We managed a good night's sleep though.

Day 6 to Wytheville, VA - 57 miles

The tiredness and the heat really took their toll on day 6, with the 100F temperatures cooking us both on the roads, despite factor 45 sun block.

Points were accrued on the pattie counter with two Tex-Mex burgers (double patties smothered in chili) at a grotty little petrol station, and this looked like being the high point of the day...until we met a great couple also doing the Trans-Am trip, Mike and Carolyn.

Under their guidance we stopped for a free night's camping in the public park in Wythville, and it was brilliant to sit up chatting about the route and getting some much needed advice about the trials to come.