Into Kentucky

Friday we ride out of rainy Virginia and into hopefully sunny Kentucky.  The last two days have been tough because of the weather, temps in the upper 40's or low 50"s, cloudy and rainy.  On Thursday we left Damascus, VA and rode a short 38 miles to a Methodist church in western VA.  The ride was short but there was one 1500 ft. climb along with a bunch of shorter climbs.  Rain during the downhill slowed us all down. WTF does the sun ever shine in western VA? Purchasing food in the back areas can be a problem and last night we ended up eating some kind of crappy pasta and boiled hot dogs, yum mailto:yum~!@#$.
Today, Thursday, we woke up to more rain, heavy rain today. But ride we must, so out we went and again we had a relatively short ride of 46 miles but today we had 4 major climbs, another 1200 ft. climb and three five to seven hundred ft. climbs.  In the cold rain you get to like the climbs because the effort keeps you warm.  However on the 7 mile downhill this  morning I was the coldest I have ever been on a bike.  Finally we came into a little corner store and stopped and got a cup of coffee for $0.25, yup, 25 cents. Crappy coffee but hot.  That helped and about 6 miles later we found a much better store with way better coffee and a very nice couple who own the store.  They gave us the lowdown on the rest of the ride to Breaks Interstate Park.  After the last two climbs with good downhills in clouds and no rain we climbed to the park entrance.  At least 12 of the 15 in our group have decided to get motel rooms in the park.  Nice rooms at a reasonable price. For the first time in four days I am clean, dry, and warm. And this really is fun.  Once settled in our room we have been chatting with the other riders about our fun day in the rain. Easy to do once you are dry and warm. We will be eating dinner tonight at the restaurant in the park, it is supposed to be good according to the locals.  We will see, maybe possum stew or raccoon chops.
Life is Good    Bobo