Today was practically perfect.

Even though I had yet another terrible night of sleep, (It’s too still. Also I’m sleeping on the ground.) I was my normal happy self today. We got underway by 8:30 on the 54 smile route under overcast skies, which made it nice and cool.

We only had to navigate a mile or two of busy road at the start. It had an ample shoulder, but something you don’t notice in a car is how messy that shoulder is. Lots of gravel bits and general garbage over there that makes riding pretty nerve-wracking. And way more bolts than you’d expect. Where are all the bolts coming from?

We stopped at mile four for breakfast at an art glass / coffee shop and I fueled up on a fresh made breakfast sandwich and mocha latte. Then it was off for adventure!

Today was all about farmland. We soon found ourselves wheeling past Mennonite farms, with rolling wheat and corn fields and barns with cows and horses. After Sunday’s challenging climbs, today seemed fairly tame. I don’t know if it’s just that I’m getting better at this, but I didn’t much suffer today. I think the cooler temps and overcast sky helped. So much for yesterday’s sunblock investment.

On one uphill I rode slowly past an old Mennonite woman standing near her mailbox. “Out for a tour of the country today?” she asked. “Yes!” I replied brightly. I wonder what all of the farmers on their tractors that passed by us thought of these people on bicycles with silly outfits. Whatever they thought, they were friendly, almost all waving as we went by.

The second rest stop featured one of my favorite finds of the trip… a cat!

Then, we went from farmland…

To forest.

The trees were dripping and the pavement wet from a missed storm, there were hardly any vehicles, and Cynthia and I were able to ride together for quite a while. There was also some fun local color around.

We rode a road today that was my favorite of the trip so far: Hopkins Gap. It was my favorite because not only did it wind through nice forest and countryside, but going the direction we were, it was ten miles of downhill. I was either coasting fast through gentle curves, or pedaling easily in high gear. Ten miles of bliss. Truly couldn’t have been better riding.

A the end of Hopkins Gap, we took a rest at a country store and got a little silly. To sustain us for the rest of the ride, we bought dill pickle chips, chocolate covered coffee beans, and rubber snakes. As you do.

Refreshed and now protected, we continued on. This route was a little more uphill than down, but featured still the lovely farming vistas. At one point the road ran right through a sawmill, where I stopped to watch some kind of bark-removing machine that will surely haunt my nightmares.

There was also a cool abandoned church next to a wheat field. Far less creepy

As usual, we’d been dancing around the valley with several small storms, and we finally got caught with only a few miles left. It was only a few minutes of it, but riding in a hard rain is no fun. And pretty chilly.

Still, today was by far the best day of the trip, exactly the kind of riding that I, well, ride for. The roads, the scenery, and the people were great, and I enjoyed them even more in the company of my friend Cynthia.

We stayed in camp for dinner, choosing meals from the food trucks and having a couple of brews in the beer garden with some live music. It was a nice, relaxing end to a great day.

Tomorrow is the last day of the tour, and we’re planning on the 50-mile route. Hard to believe it’s almost over, and that I’ll be sleeping in a hotel tomorrow night with electricity, running water, air conditioning, and a real bed. Maybe I’ll sleep well!