August 10 - Hindman, KY to Breaks Interstate Park, VA

Written by Michael

The weather forecast today was not supposed to be good.  We were supposed to have light rain in the morning, followed by heavier rain, and then followed by isolated thunderstorms, scattered thunderstorms, and a 97% chance of (not scattered?) thunderstorms.

So as we loaded up the van in the heavy fog, in the dark, we were a little concerned that today might turn out to be miserable. Four of us set out with our lights blazing and our rear blinkers blinking to the nearest Dairy Queen 3 miles down the road.  The others followed in the van until daylight made it's appearance.

By the time we got to Dairy Queen the light rain had already stopped and the new weather forecast predicted 2 or 3 hours of no rain at all. So we had a fine breakfast at Dairy Queen with our hopes raised. 

In case you haven't been to Dairy Queen for breakfast lately, they actually have an excellent breakfast menu and will cook eggs over easy, sunny-side up, scrambled, or whatever way you would like, along with some bacon, for a very reasonable price.  They also had other breakfast options that I previously had not associated with a Dairy Queen.

With our stomachs full and our hopes high, most of us set out eagerly looking forward to testing our mettle on the 1st of 9 of today's steep hills.   Let's just say the advertising for these hills was 100% accurate. They were more than steep enough for all of us.

While I didn't actually see anyone doing so, several people reported walking up some very steep inclines.  I do know that at least one of those people was walking uphill faster than I was riding uphill because I never did catch her.

We had lunch on the side of the road at a small Dairy Bar/ restaurant that was kind enough to let us use their picnic table for our picnic lunch.  Of course when someone shows you such kindness, you have a moral obligation to buy ice cream cones or milkshakes from their restaurant; and we did just that.

As the day wore on, we were all soaked either from the rain, or from sweating while wearing a waterproof rain jacket.  Going downhill in the rain was so not fun that Paula said she would rather ride up a steep hill than ride down a steep hill.  The steep downhills didn't bother Dan. He was going down at speeds up to 40 mph.

By the time we arrived in Elkhorn City, only Eric and I were still riding.  The lure of a warm car ride is strong when you are cold, wet, exhausted, and facing 1300 feet of climbing.  Eric and Michael finally arrived at Breaks Interstate Park at around 5:45 pm.  I wanted to finish the ride on a bike because 10 years ago Bob refused the offer of a car ride from me for the last 8 miles into Breaks Interstate Park. Luckily for us the sun was shining and the rain gear was off well before we reached our destination.  Including rest breaks, we were on the road for 11.5 hours.

Just before we reached Breaks Interstate Park, we crossed the Virginia state line.

We are now in our final state and there are only 12 more days of riding left.  I can't believe the summer has gone by so quickly!

After much-needed showers, we enjoyed our happy hour and subsequent dinner. It has been an absolute delight to have Dan and Margie, Steve and Paula, and Kathy with us.  I now know that the proper training regimen for a trip such as this is no training at all.  Clearly none of them had any problems with the steep hills and long days.

Today has been another great day. Although we all got wet, the thunderstorms never materialized. And as Margie so wisely pointed out, it is much more pleasant to ride in rain than to ride in one hundred degree heat.  Weather predictions for rain and thunderstorms have been bad all week.  But the weather we actually got was incredibly good in comparison.  And while we don't really enjoy the super steep hills, the views created by those hills are usually very beautiful.

Gloria, Eric, and I are looking forward to exploring Breaks Interstate Park tomorrow. So far it looks very beautiful and promising.