Day 16 - Tuesday, May 26

Start - Hindman, KY
End - Booneville, KY

Miles (on the route) - 65.5

Miles (total) - 69.65

Avg Spd - 11.3mph

Max Spd - 34mph

Total Ride Time - 5:55

I woke up, thanked Paul once more for the use of the facilities and left to go to Hazard. My clothes needed to be washed pretty bad and the closest sure bet was Hazard with a population of 5000. It was only a few miles off the route so I was confident I would be able to still make good ground on the day. On my way out of Hindman, I had another dog attack. I waived and said hello to a lady standing in her front yard, and as she smiled and waived back, her 50+lb beast came charging from the side of the house. I heard her lazily call the dogs name, as closed in and latched onto my rear right panier. He put his weight into the kill and got my bike swerving quite a bit. He kept with me a few hundred feet down the road before finally quitting and heading home. My reward? A nice tear down the back of my panier. I knew I brought duct tape for a reason. The bags were nice, and not cheap, but I guess battle scars are fun. I know it sounds cruel to some, but I'm shopping for pepper spray. It's officially necessary!

On my way into Hazard I came across this piece of American kitsch. I hope I find more across this great land. I know there is the world's lagest twine ball somewhere out west! Reminds me of that 30ft Amish man in southern Lancaster county.

The climbs are frequent but growing more gradual, they are down to several hundred ft now instead of thousands. Things are flattening out and I can just cruise through portions of this territory. I rode through another downpour or two, but they were short lasting and it was a sunny evening's ride.

I finally made it into Booneville towards dusk, and was looking forward to settling into another actual town. Wrong! There was no population listed on the map, but it did say there were a full range of services and a library. The local church advertised on the map that they allowed campers so I was set there. The town was pretty much the meeting of two roads and the courthouse that stood there. A few houses, a dollar general, and a dairy bar and gas station. You never know exactly what you will find just by going what is indicated on the map. The dairy bar was delicious as always and I settled into my tent behind the church to call it a night. I found out the population was 105. There were more people in my last apartment building.