Utica, Ky to Marion, Ky – 70 Miles
Alarm went off at 6 AM today. Snoozed it twice, didn’t actually get up until around 630. Made some coffee and ate some cereal (Crunch Berries knockoff brand) I had bought the night before at the Dollar General across from the Fire Station. By the time I was finished with breakfast and packed up I was on the bike by 730 AM.
One a side note, I finally rigged up another flag for the back of my bike. lost the first one and the top half of the pole somewhere on day 2. I’m not sure how much it increases my visibility, but it gives me peace of mind when a semi is raging up from behind me at 65 mph.
It was a dreary, cold day. I was wearing under armor, rain jacket (although it never did rain), and gloves practically the whole day. It was nice to not have to constantly be applying greasy sunscreen though. Pretty uneventful day. Kept a decent, but slower pace because the winds were strong. Took a few pictures.
At around noon I got a message from Max saying him and Dries had taken a rest day and they were at the United Methodist Church in Marion, so I decided to meet them there. I rolled into town at around 430 PM. Went to check in at the church. The Pastor, David (can’t remember his last name now), let me in and gave me a quick tour. Seems like a nice guy.
Went to grab some food at an Italian restaurant (Main Street Italian Grill) up the street. When I rolled back up to the church Max and Dries were hanging out outside. We sat and talked for a bit and caught each other up on the last couple days. From the stories it sounds like they’ve had an interesting couple days. It was still pretty early so I decided to walk around town a bit and grab a cup of coffee and an ice cream cone at the McDonalds. Took this photo on the way there.
Came back to the church and now we’re just sitting in the basement listening to Dries play the piano.
He plays in a couple bands and is a music instructor in Holland. He just got done playing Philosophy by Ben Folds flawlessly – he’s pretty good.
Excited to ride with people again tomorrow. Sounds like Max is planning on a short day to Cave-In-Rock, which is just over the border in Illinois, to meet up with a friend. Dries is planning a slightly longer ride. I’m just looking forward to not only have farm animals to talk to during my ride tomorrow.
