Todays ride from Marion to Utica started early about 7.30am. I left the church and rode under grey skies...cool and humid..a weird combination. This was the first ride on the new cassette and it held up ok on a few sharp hills early in the ride. I was making good time as gradually the hills got less steep...either that or I was cruising after my rest in padduca!
Then I got hit with an overwhelming.g hunger...lord knows why as I've been eati.g and resting...anyway I found a small cafe/drugstore in severe and hit the ice cream counter...filled up on Gatorade..m and ms and coke...junk food heaven...all good while riding but its a bad habit and ill have to stop it . Thing is there is never any real food in these small places..well rarely.
That and a weak will ...oh well..its not every year I cycle across america!
I am starting to see tobacco fields now as I get into the heart of Kentucky. They sell chewing tobacco here in the shops...y u c k!!

I spoke to a lady in a wheel chair who was about to have a new knee fitted and had got an exercise bike to work out on...a young lady with a ratio on her back of a tiger she was keen to show me...a guy in a truck who knew more about cycling than me even though he was twice his safe bodyweight and had never even sat on a rodebike...and the fireman at the Utica fire station where I am sleeping tonight. I got to Utica by 1pm and was tempted to keep riding and go for a hundred mile ride and camp at falls of rough...but if it rains again Luke it did last night it would not be any fun...besides I'm in no rush and have nothing to prove so I'm happy with my 68 miles for today.

The fire station here has an air con room where they have.kindly let me sleep..showers and a tv. I think English fire stations should be as accomodating to cycle tourers.

My left knee is still hurting ..that was the knee they cut out the cartiledge from a few years ago...I have painkillers though.

It has cooled down a lot recently...there was even a point this morning when I was tempted to teach for.my base layer!

I've been looking at the maps for the last two sections of the transam. I have 966 miles left to Yorktown. My return flight is booked for Sept 15. That means I only need to ride 34 miles a day. BUT...I want to have time to see the civil ear battlefields on Virginia so I will still ride at least 50 miles a day.
Also included in those miles are the mountains in Virginia.

I'm starting to think I could ride this ride all over again back to the west coast...or just keep going up the east coast to New York and beyond...the limiting factor is of course cash...I just need to figure a way to bum around on a bike forever for free and that'll be my life sorted...dream on eh lol!

The people alo.g the route today were all friendly as usual...only two loose pitbulls but they went away when I shouted at them. Kentucky is green..and after the storm last night the streams have muddy water in them. There is still a lot of rain up there I sense.

I.should have kept riding I think. I could have got over a hundred miles in I am sure and now I'm unable to sleep because I haven't done enough exercise for the day! To wired.

Thing ill go and play.with a fire engine or something lol!