Stage 11 - Falls of Rough KY, 100mi (160km)

Today has been the most beautiful day so far - sunshine and ideal temperature in the morning till early afternoon.












It got progressively hotter and as of 1PM it gets to the point where it feels cycling in a furnace.  Mid-morning, a breeze got up from the SW and helped at certain turns in my direction, and, it had a cooling effect. There were 4 dog chases today. My tactic was to yell, 'NO', 'GO HOME'! This worked out for three of them but for one I had to pull out and use my pepper spray for the first time - he turned back immediately! At about 11AM I crossed from theEastern to the Central time zone, set my watch back an hour, then cycled the hour to 11AM all over again. There was no sign announcing the transition, perhaps to avoid having motorist take their eyes of the road to fiddle with their watches. It is interesting that Kentucky is split between two time zones. I can already tell, that the countryside is changing rapidly and that I left the big hills behind me.

The landscape is changing, the view is getting wider and more open and the the meadows become flatter and the lush green color slowly disappears and changes into a flowery meadow.

15mi before my final destination I met Mark and Julie from the UK also cycling across the country. The approached me by asking: "Are you Pierre?" How could they know? Well, they had met Greg (remember the American I met in Berea) yesterday and he told them about me. And of course my Swiss flag helped them as well. We exchanged briefly some of our experiences, took a picture and moved on as the heat progressively increased. I will probably see them again tomorrow in Sebree.





I was happy when I passed the sign of Falls of Rough - my destination of today.