Buccs/Bucks on Bikes: Saturday, July 24 – Day 41 – 77.5 Miles

It was much of the same today on the bike….low traffic, country roads, rolling hills….quite beautiful again. We started out the day with 23 miles to the Ohio River at Cave in Rock, Illinois. While we were making our way to the river, Kim and the kids visited Cave in Rock State Park. It is kind of hard to describe what they got to see at the park, but I will try. It seems as if there is this rock. And, in this rock, there is a cave. There, I did it. Actually, they thought it was really cool.

When we reached the river, the road just stops and starts up again on the other side. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, bikes, etc. all pile on a ferry on the Illinois side and ride over to the Kentucky side. It only took about 10 minutes, so it was not much of an inconvenience. It was pretty cool to watch the operation.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful….just hot. We ended the day in a neat little town called Sebree, Kentucky. The First Baptist Church in town runs a cyclist’s hostel out of their youth center in the basement of the church. When we reached the church, we were met by the pastor of the church, Bob Hardison. He is a very helpful individual and you can tell that they help many cyclists. He has his directions and tour of the place down to a science. This place has it all…..full kitchen, bathrooms, shower, washer/dryer, couches, mattresses, pool table, ping pong, and on and on. Bob’s wife, Violet, even made us an amazing meal for dinner. It turns out that they feed cyclists almost every night. Their high this summer was 30 people in one night. It is quite an awesome thing that they do here. I wish our church was on a route like this so that we could offer the same for weary travelers.

We are sharing the hostel tonight with one other cyclist, Jon, from Leasburg, Virginia. He started his ride in D.C. and rode south to pick up this route for the ride to Oregon. He is also journaling online…if interested, it is: www.keepridingwest.com.

The evening was supposed to be capped off with some live music at the Purple Opry in town, but when we got there, the place was empty. Pastor Bob had no idea that they were not playing tonight. I was pumped for a little bluegrass and gospel music. Bob said that it is really quite entertaining and they love it when cyclists come to see them play. Maybe next time.

We have heard some horror stories about the upcoming Appalachian mountains. We should be there in a few days. Can't wait.

Thanks again to Bob and Violet for their unsurpassed hospitality.