Newbern to Catawba

From Newbern we got on the Wilderness Road (County Rd 611) to Radford. We were soon parallel to the New River and had to cross it on Hwy 11. We have ridden over 44 miles on Hwy 11 and will continue to ride on it in strategic spots. It is the old highway and is very well graded and lightly travelled. We passed through Radford and by a variety of county roads (including lucky number 666) got to Christiansburg around noon. We had some business at the post office since we had decided to forward the 15 lbs. of gear we sent from Hindman on to Williamsburg. After this was done we headed out of town into a 3 mile descent to Ellett via county road 723.

Just before Ellett we saw this unusual bridge and have heard that it is part of an experimental highway to test new technologies. We turned east on 785 (Old Blacksburg Rd.) and had a beautiful ride through many old ranches along the north fork of the Roanoke River.

When we got to the store in Catawba we were bushed and called our host for the night, Bill. We were introduced to Bill and Annie via email through Carolee, a good friend in Salinas. Bill's directions had indicated a serious climb to get to their house and when we called he said he would come meet us at the store. He pulled up in a pickup truck and we were saved! It took two trips and we soon were sipping on cold beers and looking forward to a home cooked meal.

Marion to Newbern

Monday we left Marion continuing on Hwy 11 on our deviation from the official Transamerica route. We kept looking to the right and watching the mountains with a 3000 ft. climb pass by. However, we soon reached Rural Retreat and were back on the official route. We continued on to Wytheville to get to a bike shop for a replacement trailer tire. We replaced one trailer tire in Marshfield, Missouri and needed a new spare. Wytheville had many large, beautiful antebellum homes on the Main St. We headed out of town into rolling terrain with larger hills than the last two days. We took a variety of local roads parallel to Interstate 81 and soon saw one of the most creative mailboxes on the trip; enlarge to see the great details.

Soon we crossed over I-81 and were soon in some beautiful country. The Blue Ridge mountains started to show in the distance. We were still parallel to I-81 when we ended the day in Newbern.

Rosedale to Marion

Saturday morning Jack was ready to go before we were. We pulled out onto Hwy 19 into a light fog around 8:30 knowing the sun would burn off the fog by 9:00. Only a few miles down the road we headed east again on Hwy 80 for the final climb over the "young" Appalachians. Eastern Kentucky and western Virginia contain the eastern half of the Appalachians which is geologically younger than the older range in central Virginia which contains the Blue Ridge Parkway. One of our observations in eastern Kentucky and western Virginia is the placement of the county lines at the top of the ridges. In fact this was important to us since it signalled that we had finally made it to the top. Below you can see the approach to the climb over Clinch Mountain and through Hayter's Gap.

The climb was tough and the descent was very steep and we had to stop to adjust our brakes. At the bottom of the descent we headed north from Meadowview on Hwy 11. This road was originally known as "the Wilderness Road", then became "the Great Road" and finally Lee Hwy (Hwy 11). It heads northeast through the Shenandoah Valley which separates the two ranges of the Appalachians.

Throughout Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and now in Virginia we have seen the small lavender Chicory flower above in abundance on the roadside. It has been in full flower since July and brightens the roadsides. Today we have rested in Marion after cycling 389 miles in the last 9 days in the mountains. Tomorrow we continue northeast over flat to rolling terrain, hurray!

Hindman,KY to Rosedale,VA

On Wednesday morning we left the Knott County Historical Society B&B with our bellies full of David's great coffee and a good breakfast. We had a long day ahead of us with 68 miles on a variety of small local roads to the Breaks Interstate National Park on Hwy 80 with five big climbs. David told us five climbs unless you are an athlete then only three. Well we counted five, but towing the dog cart may count as an automatic upgrade! We noticed that some of the road cuts ( there are road cuts unlike in Missouri) had these black seams of coal. Coal trucks are a big part of the traffic mix throughout the Appalachia and, despite warnings from other riders we found the coal truck drivers to be professional and polite.



The Breaks is considered the Grand Canyon of the South. The gorge that the Pound River runs through is around 600 ft. deep.

We arrived at the Breaks and crossed the State line into Virginia quite late and very tired after over seven hours in the saddle.

The next day (Thursday) we started with another climb to cross the Breaks . It was soon obvious how much fatigue was left in our legs from the day before. We decided to cut our day short (with only three big climbs) in Council where we camped in a beautiful city park. The citizens of Council can really be proud of their park! Today after leaving Council, we climbed over Big A Mountain (not making this up!) As we descended the east side of Big A Mountain the country really opened up and we got vistas like we haven't had since western Kentucky.

Tomorrow continuing east on Hwy 80 from Rosedale we will make a very big climb through Hayter's Gap and descend to Meadowview where we will take another deviation from the Adventure Cycling route and take Hwy 11 east to Marion, avoiding going far to the south and a 3000 ft. climb.

Hazard to Hindman

We slept in this morning until 8:30 since we only had 23 miles to go. We had a short day today due to distance between accomodations and will have a long day tomorrow (68 miles). We went north east from Hazard on Hwy 80 which was a huge four lane highway with major coal truck traffic. There were lumps of coal on the shoulder which was very wide. We turned off at the Dwarf exit (the name of a town) and headed south to Hwy 550 east. Again we rode along a beautiful creek with mountains rising up steeply on either side. When we reached Hindman we looked for the sign for the Knott Co. Historical Society. We found the sign opposite the courthouse and rode up to the bottom of a terribly steep hill that had a sign pointing up for the historical society. The hill was so steep we made Jack get out and walk while we pushed the bikes and trailer. When we reached the top, there was Dave (the proprietor) with glasses of ice cold ice tea. They sure tasted good.


Dave provides accomodations to cyclists, bird watchers, and hikers. Dave's grandfather built the house of native stone quarried on the property. Jack has had little time to pay attention to the ball since there are at least 5 cats in residence at the historical society.
In anticipation of more climbing in the Appalachians, we went to the post office and mailed 15 lbs. of gear ahead to Christiansburg, VA. Tomorrow we enter Virginia!

Berea to Hazard

Sunday we left Berea on Hwy 21 and headed into the Appalachians. The roads follow the drainages (creeks or rivers) and then cross a ridge to the next drainage. The top of each drainage has a view of the ridges all around. The grades of the roads are much better than in Missouri; the climb at the end of each drainage has switchbacks and levels out several times during the climb. We went east on 594, 1209, 587, and 30 before reaching Linda's Victorian Rose B&B outside of Booneville. Linda was waiting for us on the gravel drive with flaming red hair and an unstoppable laugh. We stayed in the second residence (her old house) on the property and had a wonderful night.

Today we headed out at 8:00 and had to stop at the post office in Booneville due to the fog. The fog lies in the drainages in the early morning and can make cycling dangerous due the lack of visibility on windy roads with no shoulder. As the fog cleared we continued on Hwy 28 towards Buckhorn. We had a great lunch in Buckhorn next to the log cathedral pictured below which has a full pipe organ imported from Europe early in the 20th century.

It seems as if eastern Kentucky is very different than western Kentucky. Western Kentucky is rolling grassland and is true to the Indian word for that terrain, Ken-ta-ke. Eastern Kentucky is full of isolated, rural mountain communities. Belinda made an error reading the map between Berea and Booneville and we were soon on a very small road. We saw two men crossing the road ahead of us and decided to ask for directions. They were hunting for herbs and did not know the name of the road. They were friendly and their toothless grins seemed to indicate they had not left the hollow too many times. We had some difficulty understanding their speech which continued today with several of the people we talked with. The country is fairly populated and we pass many houses with hound dogs baying in kennels. From Booneville, we followed Hwy 28 east until the intersection with Hwy 15 where we saw the truck pictured below. If you click on the picture it will enlarge and show you some very interesting details.

We went south on Hwy 15 with a deluge of traffic at 4:00 pm. Luckily there was a large shoulder and we got to Hazard without any problems.

Bardstown to Berea

Friday morning there was a coolness in the air when we left Bardstown. We are lucky to have a large cold front moving through the area and dropping the daily high temperatures into the 80's. That morning sure felt like the beginning of fall. We headed north on Hwy 62 and soon reached Springfield after many changes of course on county roads. Since we were heading into the weekend we called ahead about accomodations in Harrodsburg. Well it was a good thing we called since the largest yard sale in the world was happening in Harrodsburg over the weekend. We got one of the last 4 motel rooms available in Harrodsburg for that night. From Springfield we headed to Harrodsburg on Hwy 152. The traffic was amazing when we reached Harrodsburg; the yard sale is conducted along Hwy 127 and people were starting to lay out their stuff by the side of the road. In the parking lot at the motel there were license plates from North Carolina, Arkansas, Ohio and Illinois; people come from 100's of miles away for this event.

Well on Saturday morning we were glad to get away before things got any crazier. We continued east on Hwy 152 and were soon going up and down over rolling hills. Western Kentucky is beautiful with vistas over rolling meadows and woodlands along creeks.

One of the interesting things we've seen in Kentucky has been black barns. The barns in Missouri were all painted red, In Kentucky they are painted black and we have often seen a quilt like motif painted under the peak. They are quite striking.

Tomorrow we enter the western approach to the Appalachians. Posting may be delayed so keep checking back.