Day 5: Hazard KY to Pikeville KY

The key word for today is Flood Zone.  OMG - so much damage and devastation!  About 6 weeks ago there were huge rainstorms in the area and we rode through some of the most affected areas today.

Our launch time was delayed by about one and half hours.  Too much fog to have safe visibility on the road.  

We finally got underway about 9:40.  A later start than we wanted given the distance and climbing ahead of us, but better to be safe than sorry.  It's always pretty as the fog starts lifting.  

At about 5 miles we reached the tiny community of Bulan.  I saw this read truck in the tiny creek and started a conversation with a lady across the road.  

This woman kindly gave me about 15 minutes of her time and shared her personal story of the flood.  Where I stood to take this picture used to be where her home (a trailer) of 31 years stood.  It was washed away and destroyed.  Her son's home across the street had up to 5 feet of water in it.  They and their neighbours lost so much.  A bit further down the road, though, the losses were even greater - including the loss of over 20 lives.  At that place we meet a team of volunteers - church members and out of state relatives - who had come in to help with the relief efforts.  All along the route we saw debris high above the riverbanks and backhoes in the rivers removing vehicles and tree debris.  It was interesting to note that one of the waterways causing the most damage was called Troublesome Creek.   

I could have taken so many more pictures of the flood damage, but I just didn't have the heart.  The cleanup and restoration have been happening incredibly quickly.  It's hard to believe that the floods themselves were just six weeks ago.  

We went through a number of small towns today, including Dwarf and Hindman (looked like the epicentre of the flood damage).

  

Once again I was amazed at the court infrastructure presence in such small towns.  Here's what Hindman (county seat of Knott County) has.  Population is 777.

And here's a sign I found coming out of Hindman.

Our two big climbs today were between 40 and 60 miles.  It was so darned hot and humid by then that I opted for a bit of hike and bike on both of them.  The downhills were awfully fun, though.  Long sweeping turns on quiet roads through narrow valleys, often with fresh pavement on them.  The fresh pavement on the ascents, though, just added to the heat factor; so hot (and humid)!  And the best part of the day - no loose dogs.  

 And finally - one last climb into our destination town of Pikeville.  The goats were a good excuse to get off the bikes partway up the hill.

There is good reason for such a winding route to get here. I'm sure the main highway probably follows a bit more direct route, but we're on the secondary roads which are usually in the valleys following the meandering creeks and small rivers.  Steep hill/mountain sides close by on either side.  And occasionally we have to climb out of one valley and into another; thus the steep climbs that are scattered throughout our day.

Stats for the day: 

Distance:  76.07 miles / 122.4 km

Elevation (Garmin):  4352' up, 4728' down / 1327m up, 1441m down

Elevation (RWGPS):  1745m up, 1877m down.

Weather:  Very foggy first thing, but the sun burned it off and the day became very sunny, hot and humid.  Temps 18C - 32C.  

I realized today that Ride With GPS also records the ride as we go, and thus also records the mileage and elevation that we actually do (according to it).  It had me climbing 1745m.  Hmmmm.  In any case, it felt like a lot, especially in the heat.