We loaded up the bikes and bags into the back of Eddie’s truck at about 7:00. We just decided to go back to the same restaurant for breakfast, then hit the road.
Last night I had figured out Eddie’s route back home when he said he would take us to Elkhorn City instead of Hindman. Eddie does not have a smart phone, so I wrote out the key directions for him. Turns out, our way from Berea to Elkhorn City was about half of Eddie’s way home, so that was good for him to see it as we drove to Elkhorn City. I made additional notes for him (exit numbers) as we went along.
The drive was really amazing as we began to get into the foothills and hollows (or hollars, as they say in Kentucky). We were on the Bert T. Combs Parkway for a number of miles. It was really quite scenic. We did see areas where flood damage had happened. There were a couple of spots where the road went down to one lane, however, in general, I think we were north of the most severe damage…which was the plan.
A lot of work going on here.
Just before noon, we reached the city limits of Elkhorn City. We told Eddie he could drop us anytime. There was a good pull over spot, so he dropped us off there.
New highway going in behind us.
Bye Eddie! Thanks for everything!
We loaded the bags onto the bikes (the now lighter bags), and rode the last bit back to the route in Elkhorn City. Immediately, we were climbing. I commented to Doug that Kentucky was kicking us out with a few more good climbs.
We came to a bridge over the railroad just as a coal train was coming.
Our first and last Kentucky coal train (although, really, it was coming from Virginia…so…our first Virginia coal train).
We continued climbing, then we entered the Kentucky part of Breaks Interstate Park.
It’s a rare park that straddles the Kentucky/Virginia State Line. It’s not a State Park…it’s an Interstate Park!
Shortly after, we came to an overlook.
They call it their Grand Canyon.
Then, not much further, we made it to the Welcome to Virginia sign! It’s our 11th and final state!
Woo Hoo! Last state!!! Although, it was just a little anticlimactic what with us having driven most of the way there today. It’s okay…we got over it in a hurry!
So this is Dan. We talked to him at the sign. He lives in Afton, which is just at the Blue Ridge Parkway by Rockfish Gap. He had ridden from Seaside, and was going home. He said he had about 4 more days. He gave me his number, and said if we needed anything while we were in Afton, to give him a call. When we told him we had gotten a ride from Berea to Elkhorn City, he said we made a good choice. Between Hindman and Elkhorn City, he said it was still flood damaged, and there was no place to stay. When we were planning to ride it, we knew we would have a very big day, about 70+ miles with a lot of climbing. Just in the 9.3 miles we rode today, we had over 1400 feet of climbing. It would have been a few thousand feet more. Lucky horseshoe…
We had 3 more miles to the turnoff for the campground at Breaks. It was pretty much 3 miles of all uphill. Yes, Virginia is starting out just as hilly as Kentucky. It took us 2 hours to do the 9.3 miles.
Just before getting to the turnoff, I took this photo. This is what it looks like around here. Everything is covered in Kudzu (an invasive plant). It engulfs the trees, power poles…everything.
Doug says when there is a freeze, it all dies and turns to a slimy black mess. Yuck!
So, now we are a full day ahead of our plan. It does give us some cushion to alter things, or just get to Yorktown earlier. I don’t have a flight reservation yet, but Doug’s son can’t come get him until September 14th. I’ll give it a couple of days, and see how it goes. We do have some significant climbing to do to get over the Appalachians.
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