2014-07-09: Day 14 The Appalachians Conquered, Booneville to Berea, KY
Post date: Jul 9, 2014 9:19:57 PM
Mileage Today: 38 Total Mileage: 725
This afternoon as a look out my hotel window, I can see a tower perhaps 8 miles in the distance across a flat landscape. Hallelujah! We left the Appalachian mountains behind. Just a few miles out of Berea we descended a 2 mile, gravity induced, 6% grade, thrill ride down Big Hill, KY. We have ridden mountains since Day 4 when we climbed into the Virginia Blue Ridge. Feels really good to get the Virginia and Kentucky mountains behind us. Pictured are the most western Appalachians in this area.
Jon and I have seen a lot of quilt patterns painted on the sides of houses, signs, and barns in Kentucky. This seems somewhat common here. It maybe part of the heritage of the region. I included a couple of pictures.
We had a bad day with dogs today. So, I thought I would address that topic. All cyclists on tour are faced with badly behaving dogs. Let me say right here I am a dog person; I like dogs. Let me also say that all riders that we have met carry dog spray. Jon and I are also both carrying dog spray. I hope to never actually use it on a dog.
Most dogs run to the edge of their property and bark until you ride off. Perfect dog behavior! We have experienced more of these good dogs that we can count. However, there are those "other" dogs; The ones that chase you down the street while making aggressive growling noises. My first strategy is to put the power to the pedals and out run them while yelling "Go Home". If the dog is small or I am going down hill, this works great. However, if the dog is fast or I am climbing, I have to activate strategy 2. I attempt to negotiate with the dog. Perhaps reason with it. While reasoning with the dogs, I reach into my right hand back pocket and pull out my spray can. They have all recognized their error as soon as I have pulled out that spray. The dogs that have a habit of chasing cyclists are really quite smart. They have seen the dog spray before. As soon as they see I am "packing", they have all immediately turned away and headed home. So far, everyone has gone away happy.