2014-07-11: Day 16 Kentucky Rollers, Berea to Mackville, KY

Miles Today: 71 Total Miles: 796

Debbie and Teresa stayed back in Berea to attend an arts and crafts festival while Jon and I advanced the ball by riding west. They picked us up about 4:00 this afternoon at the little town of Mackville, KY (population: 206). Today's miles represent the most miles I have ever ridden at one time even during training. The high miles are the result of a day of rest yesterday and the fact that we are not in the mountains. We also were forced to ride some extra miles because frankly we lost the route and ended up too far to the north at one point. The very well signed Trans American bike route is not marked starting at Berea, Kentucky. For the rest of Kentucky we really need to pay attention to our ride maps. We were in a rural, hilly section of Kentucky with minimal road signs and just ended up too far north. So, we used our map and compass skills, looked to determine which side of the trees had moss, and then studied the direction of the sun across the sky to determine which way to go to get back on the route. PS. We might have also taken a very quick look at Jon's GPS tracking and map software on his phone. It was a short look, I promise.

We have entered a more prosperous region of Kentucky. Gone are the abandoned cars and the junk in the yards. Those have been replaced with bigger acreages, nicer homes, and some horses along the route. We definitely rode rolling hills most of the day as we just began to touch on Kentucky's Blue Grass Country. We saw a very significant number of quilt patterns on barns today.

This evening I visited Old Fort Harrod, the first permanent settlement in Kentucky (June 1774). It was settled initially by 37 men but many more settlers followed in the next few years when Daniel Boone opened the way into Kentucky via the Cumberland Gap (1775).