Sonora yet so far – Day 41

Date: Saturday 18th September   

Route:  Glenville, Kentucky – Sonora, Kentucky 

Distance: 106 miles 

Total climb: 5,178ft 

Net climb: 209ft

As initially planned, this was to be a monster day of 130 miles; but we had clocked an additional twenty miles the previous day and so felt confident that we could make it.  As it turned out, we were foiled by the heat and the clock.  That said, in our efforts to make it we annoyingly failed to take any decent photos of the day.

Our day began, as it had ended, in the sprawling retail park on the outskirts of Owensboro, with softball players everywhere.  Fortunately it seemed that we beat them all to breakfast, as Denny’s was empty when we wandered through the door.  A chain yes, but a superb breakfast served up by a rather moody waitress (it was tempting to point out that at least she didn’t have to cycle over 100 miles that day, but that would have been churlish).  After we had polished off our sizeable portions, we headed back in the car to the crossroads at Glenville and set off, at around 10am by which time it was already getting warm. 

By the time we had steered ourselves to Whitesville (24 miles into the ride) it was positively warm and the large “soda fountain” in the “gas station” there was soon our best friend.  A few more drinks and a couple of slices of pizza later and our core body temperatures had cooled sufficiently to head back out on the road, although not before Parkes had identified, purchased and eaten a large bar of Dairy Milk chocolate.  This proved to be ill-advised and led to him feeling sick for the next 10 miles of pedalling.  We paused before heading out; first to note some creative graffiti in the toilets (the most memorable example being “the South will raise (sic.) again”) and second to chat to a couple of local kids (aged around 17) on bikes who wanted to know about our trip.  They told us not to expect much on our route over the next 10 miles, but after that they couldn’t say what was in store – they had never travelled that far.  Somewhat astonished by that revelation we headed on to Fordsville – the 10 miles journey that we had spoken about with the lads – and met team Stockham on the outskirts of the town, talking to someone who was in the process of building a car from scratch.  It was the Fordsville motor festival and the whole town was full of “petrol heads” who were “kicking rubber” as well as lots of locals who were milling around and the various stalls and exhibits.  We stopped for a quick look, but resolved that although it looked fun, our time would be better spent pedalling.  We did stop long enough, for another random act of kindness, when a local chap paused to chat and gave us a free bag of cookies each.  He also told us that there were a couple of cyclists a few hours ahead of us.  This was all the incentive we needed – we were racing again!

Once again we had arranged a meeting point with team Stockham at a junction 7 miles past Fordsville, where our map informed us that there was a shop and a gas station.  It turned out to be an idyllic spot where we could lie on the grass under the shade of a tree.  Unfortunately, the shop had recently closed and so there were no cold drinks to be had.  Still, Tammy was stocked full of water and Ma Stockham had bought some fresh peaches so we didn’t go completely without.  Nonetheless, it’s always disappointing when you have your mind set on something and it fails to materialize – especially when at times on the bike there’s little else to think about other than your next drink/meal (note: I think this might be less true for Fred, for whom food plays a less significant role in the day…)

After we headed off from our bucolic haven the heat did not relent one jot and although the sight of large expanses of water at the Rough River Dam was pleasant we really needed some time out of the heat and some more substantial food.  Cometh the hour, cometh the Knotty Pine family restaurant in McDaniels, who not only provided some much needed fries and a milkshake but also gave them for free when they found out that we were doing our ride for charity.  Yet another example among so many of just how kind the American public is at large – such incidents never cease to cheer us and to spur us on towards our goal.

For the rest of the day we continued through the rolling Kentucky countryside and although the temperature cooled, this correlated (as it so often does) with a loss of light.  We spent the last hour of the ride in total darkness, although for the final four miles we were accompanied by Team Stockham on the back, ensuring that any traffic was forced to slow down.

Unfortunately, we had failed to take account of the fact that we were passing into the Eastern time zone and so we lost an hour of riding time; this combined with the heat meant that we couldn’t sensibly make it to our intended destination.  We therefore stopped in Sonora, ten miles short of our target. 

Team Stockham informed us that there were no motels in Sonora or anywhere on the next ten miles of the route, so after loading the bikes into the car we headed north on the I-65, only to strike gold again.  We checked into the Glendale Economy Inn (a bizarre name given the Neo-classical exterior – for those in the know it resembled a certain Hotel Tall Trees…) which was located opposite an Iron Skillet restaurant.  Now I am prone to exaggeration when it comes to the quality of road-side food; but this place was simply incredible.  Open 24 hours-a-day, with a shop and a restaurant, and serving really excellent food; it was exactly the kind of place you would expect to find in the US but which just doesn’t seem to exist in great numbers.  It is a chain and no doubt it would seem soulless after a few consecutive visits, but it was exactly what we needed.  No need to worry about sorting breakfast in the morning.  It was suddenly all about the Skillet.