Out of Coal Country

May 30

Eastern Kentucky was once the swampy border of an inland sea that produced a lot of vegetation.  Then, some time past and the sea level changed and the swamp vegetation died and got compressed and some other temperature/pressure alchemy transpired to produce heaps of lovely coal.  You know the rest of this story…coal fueled a multinational industrial revolution, caused moths to change wing color and generally made a mess for a long time…still does, and all that lovely coal gets dug out and loaded onto rail cars or big trucks 24 hours a day.

Today Eastern Kentucky is a lovely but slightly unnerving place to bicycle.  The terrain has been described as looking like a dried apple, all bumpy and it is most definitely hilly.  Looking at the satellite view of google maps, you can see that no one gets through without doing some climbing.  Also, no one gets through without riding with the coal rigs.  Unless, that is, you are willing to ride all the way through coal country on a long holiday weekend.  We were.  So instead of roads full of coal trucks making their way along the very narrow valleys to distant…somethings….we had the opportunity to take full inventory of the vast population of above ground pools.  There were many, of all descriptions and all were occupied as the mercury repeatedly reached for 90* with success with heat indeces even higher.

But temperatures be damned, we were getting out of coal country while the truck drivers were grilling dogs and floating.  After interviewing several locals, it was determined that Booneville was the place to be on Monday night.  That meant two days at or near 50 miles and one 25er regardless of terrain, weather, time...everything.  Conveniently, this coincided with the distances between lodging or sanctioned camping.  Believe me when I say that East Kentucky is not the place to be caught stealth camping on someone’s property. 

So, on Monday afternoon, we were at Booneville. Along with five other cyclists who had the same determination or possibly more ambition.  We are officially out of coal country and have been promised rolling hills through picturesque farmland…after a day off in Berea.