Cycle Across America
RA
Day 21 of 7315 June 2010

Day 21: Rough River

Day 21: Rough River
View route map — see where this day sits on the trail
Route overview

73 days, one line across the country

67 riding days · 6 rest days · 4,227 miles · Yorktown, Virginia → the Oregon coast

Start — Yorktown (Atlantic start), VADay 1 — Chickahominy Riverfront Park, VADay 2 — Ashland, VADay 3 — Ashland, VADay 4 — Mineral, VADay 5 — Charlottesville, VADay 6 — Afton, VADay 7 — Lexington, VADay 8 — Lexington, VA — rest dayDay 9 — Daleville, VADay 10 — Radford, VADay 11 — Rural Retreat, VADay 12 — Damascus, VADay 13 — Rosedale, VADay 14 — Breaks Interstate Park, VADay 15 — Hindman, KYDay 16 — Hindman, KY — rest dayDay 17 — Booneville, KYDay 18 — Berea, KYDay 19 — Bardstown area, KYDay 20 — Hodgenville, KYDay 21 — Rough River Dam State Park, KY (you are here)Day 22 — Sebree, KYDay 23 — Cave-In-Rock, ILDay 24 — Eddyville, KYDay 25 — Carbondale, ILDay 26 — Carbondale, IL — rest dayDay 27 — Chester, ILDay 28 — Pilot Knob, MODay 29 — Eminence, MODay 30 — Houston, MODay 31 — Fair Grove, MODay 32 — Golden City, MODay 33 — Chanute, KSDay 34 — Eureka, KSDay 35 — Newton, KSDay 36 — Larned, KSDay 37 — Ness City, KSDay 38 — Scott City, KSDay 39 — Sheridan Lake, CODay 40 — Haswell, CODay 41 — Pueblo, CODay 42 — Pueblo, CO — rest dayDay 43 — Cañon City, CODay 44 — Fairplay, CODay 45 — Silverthorne, CODay 46 — Hot Sulphur Springs, CODay 47 — Walden, CODay 48 — Saratoga, WYDay 49 — Rawlins, WYDay 50 — Jeffrey City, WYDay 51 — Lander, WYDay 52 — Lander, WY — rest dayDay 53 — Dubois, WYDay 54 — Colter Bay, Grand Teton NP, WYDay 55 — Grant Village, Yellowstone NP, WYDay 56 — West Yellowstone, MTDay 57 — Ennis, MTDay 58 — Twin Bridges, MTDay 59 — Jackson, MTDay 60 — Darby, MTDay 61 — Missoula, MTDay 62 — Missoula, MT — rest dayDay 63 — Powell, IDDay 64 — Kooskia, IDDay 65 — Riggins, IDDay 66 — Cambridge, IDDay 67 — Richland, ORDay 68 — Baker City, ORDay 69 — Mount Vernon, ORDay 70 — Mitchell, ORDay 71 — Redmond, ORDay 72 — Eugene, ORDay 73 — Florence (Pacific Ocean), ORYachats, ORLincoln City, ORPortland, OR

Every dot is a real day on the trail, placed from the towns named in that day's post — click one to jump straight to it. Hollow-ringed dots are rest days along the way. The lighter branch up the coast is the post-ride detour to Portland. A few days without a clearly named stop are interpolated between the nearest confirmed ones. The highlighted dot is where you are right now.

OriginalStorytelling

54.08 miles (Total: 962.04) Average Speed: 11.6mph Max Speed: 39mph

We sharply left the Cruise Inn this morning and soon got back onto country roads through wheat and cornfields. I slowed as I spotted a big dog up ahead in the middle of the road but we soon realised he was harmless and even came over for a good stroke before rolling onto his back for a belly rub, this was one of the friendlier mutts on the trip.

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Flat terrain at last!

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We wanted to stop in the small town of Sonora for food but as we passed through saw nowhere to eat. We asked a guy further up main street and he directed us back to and unsigned building in the middle of town. On the way back another person recommended it to us, by this time it was getting quite the reputation. The food and service was great, they even had a huge TransAm guestbook to sign, to think we had cycled right past at first. Nothing outside suggests its a diner. I guess these kind of places you miss out on with a sat nav and a car.

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The humidity soon kicked in which can be suffocating and make even the simplest of riding a challenge, its becoming increasingly important to keep the electrolytes topped up as the heat of summer starts to take hold. We stopped at a convenience store that had tables an a guy with a baseball cap which read “Resurrection Bound” made us some sandwiches to order then gave us a free popsicle and had us sign the cyclist guestbook. Its cool to see who is just ahead of you on the trail but the most exciting thing is knowing that there are people right behind you who you don’t know about.

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Me in paparazzi mode

There were several options for camping tonight as we headed towards the Rough River Dam State Park. We pulled into one and asked for a spot, they guy agreed to let us have 4 tents on one site but we were not aloud to pitch on the grass, gravel it is. Before we setup he rolled up on a motorbike and said he had a better spot. Everyone else had big RV’s and he took us to a pretty small spot for an RV right on the lake and said we could camp there for FREE! I guess he couldn’t sell that one. We all had one thing on our minds, jumping in the lake. So in we went and it was the perfect temperature, gently warmed all day by the hot sun.

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Cooper and Terry took care of dinner on their small stoves for the gang as me an Joe cycled unloaded back to the store to pick out some ice cream for dessert, the skies were clear so no rain but the air remained sticky so I slept with my tent door open.

2 comments from 2010

Aaron15 June 2010

Nice last pic ry, keep it up lad

Amy Anderson16 June 2010

Wouldnt fancy camping on gravel!! Glad you all got to have a wash, i mean swim, in the lake! x

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