August 19- Chavies to Lookout, KY

The morning's ride was the second half of what we'd intended to do the day before. It was an easy 30 miles to Hindman (pronounced with a long "I", as in last man), and we were there before noon. I went to the hostel to apologize for not showing up the night before, but it was locked up. We did have good phone connections, and I found several text messages from the hostel, all with the theme of "Where are you?"

As we ate lunch we considered two options. We could stay at Hindman if we could contact the hostel or we could press on to the next possible stop, 50 miles further on. The prospect of another idle afternoon was not appealing, especially to Sandy. Brain rot concerns her more than it does me, possibly because she has more to lose. So at 1 p.m. we got on the road again, and immediately got a good soaking from a brief shower.

There were three major hills to cover, with progressively greater elevation gains. We had to make one rest stop on the first hill, because the grade was a long 10%+. On the second hill, also long and steep, we made frequent stops. Before the third hill we ran into a brief but strong shower, but we were already as wet as could be, between the previous rain and plenty of perspiration.

After 77 miles, we started on the third hill, which went up 300' at an easy grade, but then 700' at 10-14%. Our rest stops got closer and closer together until finally we stopped at a point where the grade was 15% and we didn't have what it takes to restart. We swallowed our pride and pushed the bike up the final 3/10 of a mile. On that hill I saw something for the first time of the whole trip: our shadow on the road ahead. We'd never before ridden eastward so late in the day.

The downhill from that last hill wound down a very steep and narrow road toward our goal, the Freeda Harris Baptist Center at Lookout, which our map said offered cyclist-only "accommodations". For the benefit of anyone wondering why we didn't stop earlier or stay in a motel, be assured there was no earlier stop, and there was no motel.

By the time we reached the Baptist Center it was nearly dark and we also heard something for the first time on the trip: crickets and frogs croaking while we were still on the road.

The phone messages from the Hindman hostel had let us know that our Scottish friends Marie-Christine and Peter had been there, so it was pleasant but not unexpected to find them at Lookout. It was good to see them again. We only caught them because Marie-Christine does not ride on Sundays.

Our accommodation was at the Baptist Center's gymnasium on gym mats spread on the basketball court. The center serves as a food pantry and provides clothes and medicines to the many poor people in the area, as well as recreation for the kids. We were grateful that their mission includes accommodating cyclists.

We had time before bed only to eat the food we'd bought earlier at a convenience store. We logged 84 miles for the day, our longest of the trip, under difficult conditions. Our bodies were used up for the time being, but we didn't have time for brain rot.