Day 2 - Pikeville, KY to Vincennes, IN

CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S ROUTE

Today started at 5:00... coffee, shower, finish packing up, quick breakfast at the hotel, load the bike, fuel up and get on the road at 7:00. There was pretty thick fog this morning, and it was only 57 degrees, so it was almost like riding in the rain again. 

Just 13 miles into the day was the first and only kitsch stop of the day!

Behold the awesomeness of the worlds second largest seated Lincoln statue! This was a bit odd. I had read about it on Roadside America, but at the statue, there is no information as to why it is there. Just a big ol' statue of Lincoln on the side of the highway in Kentucky. 

Shortly after leaving Lincoln, the thick fog started to burn off, and the sun started to come out. Pretty soon the steep mountains of the Appalachians gave way to the rolling green hills of Bourbon County, Kentucky. There were lots of 2-lane roads today winding through absolutely beautiful horse, cattle, and tobacco farms. I have been in Kentucky before, but had never been out in the countryside. It really is a beautiful place. Although I didn't see any today, I certainly need to come back and do the bourbon distillery tours!

Not only was the scenery beautiful, the weather today was equally as nice for most of the day. The temperatures were in the mid-60's to mid-70s for most of the day, with clouds rolling in and out. I must have been chasing the rain from yesterday, as lots of the roads were half wet. I'd much rather chase the rain than be riding in it! Just like the disappearance of the mountains, soon enough the rolling hills gave way to flat farmland with lots of corn and soybeans. 

Once I got into Indiana, there were miles and miles of corn. Then right in the middle of all that, there was a really beautiful stretch of curvy road through the Hoosier National Forest. I thought that I had left all the curvy roads behind, and had nothing but straights until I hit Montana, so this was a nice surprise. The roads straightened out again, and the temperatures started to rise. The warmest I saw today was about 85 degrees, but that is still not too bad to ride in, even with full gear. Just keep moving!

I arrived at the hotel in Vincennes at about 3:30 this afternoon. I unloaded the bike, then found a grocery store to get some food for the evening. I didn't feel like going out to eat, so I thought I'd just grab some snacks and a beer for the room. 

The grocery store didn't have any cold beer, so I went looking for another store. I noticed that all the liquor stores were closed, so I stopped at a convenience store. Same thing... no cold beer. I asked the woman behind the counter where I could buy cold beer. Her answer was less than welcome: "Nowhere. At least on Sundays - no alcohol sales on Sunday at all". 

Gah! By this time I was pretty sweaty from riding around town, and a cold beer would have been fantastic. I had to settle for a nice cold Coke Zero!

I had some snacks, and did some maintenance for the tomorrow - cleaned all the bugs off the helmet, gave the motorcycle chain a good coat of lube and covered it up for the night. All in all a really good day of riding. 

Miles ridden today = 353

Miles ridden total = 694

Kitsch stops today - 1

Kitsch stops total - 2

States today - Kentucky, Indiana

States total - North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana.