Day 14: Buckhorn, KY - Berea, KY (23/150)

Today it was mainly hot, very hot! As I did a long ride yesterday I allowed myself to sleep a bit longer and eventually got on my bike a little before half past 9, thereby missing most of the cool morning. I don't know exactly what the reason was why the heat got to me today, it didn't feel much warmer than the previous days, but the going was slow nonetheless. There was not much shade on the road today and hills had some very steep grades (highest indicated by my Garmin was 17%). The most impressing part about the route was the descend into Berea which was over the shoulder of a two lane road, which was kinda tricky, but had a nice easy grade to go down and led through a very nice valley with ridges on both sides. Beyond those ridges I could already see the flat terrain for the upcoming days :) By reaching Berea I finished section 2 out of 12 for the complete route!

Tonight I'm staying with a family that I found via WarmShowers, a sort of couch surfing for and by cyclists. This is the first time I'm actually using WarmShowers on this trip. Even though I only contacted Dany during lunch, it was still fine to stay with them this night. He would even pick my up in Berea and drive me to their home. Their I met his wife, Paige, his mother-in-law, their two daughters and their 7 extremely friendly dogs. Their hospitality is simply awesome! The have a separate room with a bed for me, let me use the shower, let me join dinner, did my laundry and also let them use their computer to write this post. It appeared that Linda, who I met yesterday in Buckhorn also stayed here last friday, funny coincidence. Dany and Paige are truly awesome hosts and I will try to find WarmShowers hosts like them more along the route.

The saddle soreness didn't become much worse today (also not much better) so I think I won't have a rest day tomorrow, but do plan to visit the bike shop and see if they have some advice for me. Otherwise I hope it's not more than a few more days of pain, after which I should have an ass of steel :P