We left Breaks Interstate Park on the border of Virginia and Kentucky today. Actually, if you ask me - and you did just by reading this blog - Kentucky got the short end of the stick with this park deal. About 99% of the splendor is in Virginia. The irony was not lost on me as the horror stories about Kentucky rolled off the tongues of the cyclists that have been here before. A dark cloud loomed over our descent into the true Appalachia - a place unfriendly and unwelcoming to cyclists, or so it was said.
I have to admit that it wasn't as bad as it was painted for me - that isn't saying much though given how negative the portraits of this state were from last years' riders.
Dogs, and coal trucks, and no shoulders - oh my. Well, they were all there, the chasing dogs, the barreling coal trucks, and the shoulders were non-existent, or worse yet, buttressed by rumble strips. All that aside, however, this place is damn hilly! It's amazing how the fear of all of these other sources of despair overshadow the day's work.
I think I took the smart road by staying in the middle of the pack - all of the dogs were tired by the time we came by, and it's a good thing too since I did not have the energy to run for it.
The coal truckers were crazy, but they were more respectful to riders than I thought would be the case.
One area where the reports were particularly accurate was the crushing poverty. That was no joke and may even be worse than what I was told - perhaps hyperbole would have been appropriate here. TO add insult to injury, they are raping the landscape to extract coal. I suppose I don't have an answer to that question though.
I just wanted to give you all an update before we plumb the depths of eastern Kentucky.
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