Day 9 and Day 10

Day 9-10   -   5-28-14 & 5-28-14











Fremont WV to Barboursville WV

The team had a couple difficult days back to back. On Thursday day 9 we traveled down a bumpy dirt road that was part of our planned route. The road was tough riding with some hills and unstable sandy conditions in a couple spots. About five miles into it we came upon a swollen brook that consumed the road. Our dirt road journey was over. We had to traverse that crummy road again and reroute.

Gravel roads are bad enough with a heavy bike doing them twice just plain sucks. The constant bumps and jarring is tough on the bike to body contact points.  Mostly for Tim and Ken it was their hands and wrists.  They have already been worked from the previous eight days of riding. Even Joe’s palms are tender now.

Again for us there were no shortage of hills either. In the past 10 days the Team has endured 58,000 feet of climbing!  Most are short steep climbs which for a cyclist are the worst.  One thing for sure we are getting stronger as the hills are hurting less.  Remember our bikes are all over 70 pounds with gear.  It is like having a 10 year old along for the ride that does not help with the pedaling chores!

The end of riding day came at 7:30 pm when we rode into North Bend State park where we had reserved a cabin for the night.

Oh and what a cabin we had! What a nice surprise after a day of suffering to see this beautiful monster cabin that we rented for $140. Ken was hoping it would be pouring rain in the morning so he could suggest we just spend an extra day here.

By the time we unpacked, mapped and hit the sac it was already midnight the alarm goes off at 5am.

Friday we woke to what looked like a perfect day. Sun and temperatures slated to be around 80.

We knew we had a long day in front of us the next planned sleep spot was 100 miles away.  And let’s not forget the hills they are still with us. Again we have a gravel road on our route.  And again this gravel route will bite us in the butt! After another bumpy ride down a lousy road we reached a dead end.  No warning, no signs nothing.  Just come around the corner and bingo the show is over. Turn around and regroup.

We did come across a few long dark tunnels to go through again.  These are unlit and eerie to go through.

Another kick in the chops for the Team on what was already a long day and after a beating from the day before. Nobody complained or wined because we knew it would not do us any good.  We wanted to complain but to who? For what? We still have to ride that terrible road again.

Once back on the pavement we tried to make up for lost time only to get beat up again.  The road we were on had just been scraped for re-pavement! For us it was like riding a bike down a never ending rumble strip.  Our bodies and bike were being vibrated to death.  Our already tender hands were getting punished.

We arrived 123 miles later at 9pm feeling like we had be hit by a freight train. Another night we did not get to bed before midnight.

Weather 80 degrees

Day 9

95 Miles

5252 Feet of Climbing

Day 10

123 Miles

7272 Feet of Climbing




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