Day 10

I woke up at Breaks interstate park cold, wet, and not in the mood to ride or do much of anything really. However sitting there freezing cold in the park was not going to do me any good so I got up and began moving out. I found myself again in the restroom worming myself by the hand dryer and trying to figure some way to keep warm while I rode. I was looking through everything I had and weighing my options. I finally got to the bottom of my bag and found an emergency blanket that my sister had given me for Christmas. I opened it up and draped it over my arm. I was so surprised to feel the heat begin to build in my arm. I franticly found a way to wrap it around my body while I rode. It was the only reason I made it through the day, that and the thought of a warm shower that was promised to me that night.

I rode 80 miles at 11.3 mph in 7:08 with a max speed of 34 mph. The whole day was rainy and cold. To make matters worse there were coal trucks every where and dogs on top of that. I really did ride as far and as fast as I could all day long. Tough 11.3 mph probably does not seam all that fast. When you are tiered and cold that’s moving faster than you feel like going.

I eventually made it all the way to Emmalena KY where I met Orlo Fisher and his wife Dorthy. When I walked into their home I could not believe what I smelled. All day they had been preparing a beef and potato stew and corn bread biscuits for me. My stomach began to growl so I quickly showered and took care of the essentials such as laundry as I had nothing warm or dry to wear any more and then we sat down to a glorious meal. I ate for of five bowls of soup and three of the biscuits. Then later after I had cleaned my bike and set all my camping gear out to dry Orlo and Dorthy gave me a huge piece of Rubarb pie and ice cream. It was a wonderful end to a rough day.

Than night on the phone talking to my parents I learned that Hindman was the town my grandfather grew up in. That explained all the shops being named “Combs …” There were even streets named Combs St. It was interesting to see where I came from, where my people are from, at least half of them. However it scared me a good bit and I was happy to be out of that part of the country.

A little later I fell a sleep and had a good relaxing night of rest.