Monday 30 April - In searh of pepper spray

Pippa Passes - Booneville

75 miles
7 hours and 4 minutes in the saddle
33.5 mph max speed
10.5 mph average speed

weather: sunny and very hot - Mette's bike computer read 110F on a hill!

Today has been another long and tough ride through Kentucky's coal mining country. On one stretch of road we were sharing the road with enormous coal mining trucks. The draft caused by the trucks pulled us along, even up the hills, it was uncomfortable and sometimes a bit scary. It was also very dusty.

As we have been travelling further west the hills have become smaller, but they are still quite steep making it hard work to climb. There are fewer strip mines and we have seen more arable farming, more horses and less abject poverty as we move away from areas that rely on coal mining. We have still seen a lot of poverty because we have cycled through the second poorest county in the US.

Spring has sprung and now we are seeing lush green trees and rhododendrons that are pink with flowers. It is beautiful countryside that is scarred by strip mining. In some places we see only the remains of what in the past must have been big hills. Litter is still a problem. Outside one trailer home it looked like they had thrown all the cans of drink that they had drunk in the past 20 years out the window. It looked awful. Litter seems to be something that is accepted as part of the culture in this area, or it could be that these are communities of hoarders that hang onto everything that they have ever bought including any packaging.

When we entered Booneville we spoke with lots of friendly people who were all amazed at our long bike ride. We were also asked to speak in English and Norwegian to a little boy who had never heard anything other than American. We really have some unexpected experiences on this trip.

Tonight we are staying at Linda's Victorian Rose B&B which is in an old converted church. Linda is very hospitable, looking after our every need including washing our very smelly cycling clothes. We are here with Alan and Debbie who are fellow TransAm cyclists. It is great to spend some time with other people who are doing the same trip. It has been great news for Stephen who lost his pepper spray during today's ride since Alan had a spare canister of Halt! pepper spray. All four of us are planning a rest day in Berea tomorrow and we have arranged to meet with Deborah and Alan for dinner.