Stage 7 - Hazard KY, 70mi (113km)

Early in the morning I dropped down the mountain from Breaks, out of the morning fog and across the state line, into Kentucky. 

I would have stayed a second night in Breaks, I liked the place where I was staying. But the weather looked surprisingly good and I preferred to move on. The day was another long one, 70mi (113 km) towards Hazard. As the weather forecast for the early afternoon announced more rain and scattered thunderstorms I decided to bypass again the original route through the mountains. There were numerous dog incidents, none serious. Nearly always, the dogs were chained, or trained not to cross a boundary and in two or three occasions my loud yelling made them scared. At the junction in Ashcamp I followed 197 straight direction to Jenkins as proposed by a lady I met at the restaurant last night when I had dinner. My original goal was to bypass two climbs today and catch up the original trail again in Virgie. 

At the junction towards Virgie, however, I approached Luther and Katie (if I remember the names correctly) to ask whether I was on the right path. Due to the weather forecast they both suggested to bypass the mountains entirely, if I was not compelled to ride them. I took their proposal into consideration as the distance was about the same, just less hillier. 

The ride went vie Jenkis then Whitehouse on Rt 119 to Hazard on Rt 15. Luther was very helpful and draw me a very useful map.

I rode along great streets, at some point more or less traffic, with many cole trucks, but only with a few climbs to make.