Dispatches

 Dispatches from the road by Bill Poindexter

Day 24 and 25, 6:30 AM, at the first Baptist Church in Hindman, Kentucky. Yesterday I rode from Buckhorn to Hindman it’s a good ride. But not without incident, my sealant stopped holding up in my back tire after the first big climb. Had to stop by the road change tubes. Decided not to patch as I wanted to get to Hindman Which was about 45 miles away. A local who had a house across the street from where I was changing my tire yelled to me and said her husband had a air compressor that I could use and I did, the man’s name was Bill he was very kind and had very kind eyes. We pumped up the rear tire. And it held throughout the day which is great. This area Kentucky’s it’s really super beautiful. Lots of ups and downs. Much poverty, and there are lots of dogs that chase bicycles. At one point I was rolling down the road and a guy was walking his bike out from driveway and he just had an old single speed kids bike and a small backpack and decided he was going to ride with me to his next job, He was an interesting guy basically said he left the city had something to do with being wanted and Wanting his freedom. And he was ask me more questions so I feel comfortable asking about where I was heading etc.… But he seem like a nice guy said I would be in his prayers and I thought that was kind of him. And as I rode down the road I noticed more single man -one in particular -coming out from under a tarp putting on his shoes looked at me from a Topohill I Rolled by, I looked up he looked down we exchanged peace signs… Just to fellow human beings crossing paths. The Buddhist say that most people go through this world as though they live in an egg shell, safely through the world, and there are some of us who breakthrough that shell to see what’s on the other side. Well I kept rolling temperature got hot again it was 90 the day before it got up to 85 yesterday. Not being used to the temperature it was hard on the body so I was drinking lots and lots of water and electrolytes. I stopped in one town to eat a lunch called Aimee from the road, I was laying on the porch of a building and a jeep pulled up to check on me and make sure I was OK it was a young couple with her two kids and a husband just wanted to make sure I wasn’t stroking out because of the heat. I didn’t made a final push to Heineman as I was only 19 miles away from that at that point And as humility put it I noticed some liquid sealant spraying on my leg, this time from the front tire…oh crap, but luckily it held and my back tire was held up -no more spare tubes time to do some patching though. Luckily the tires held up to where I am now at the Baptist Church. Oh by the way I forgot to tell you that a tent pole snapped at the Buckhorn Campground the night before so that needs to be repaired. And I think the bike just needs a good going over I need to do all the patches on the tubes and just get everything squared away really looking forward to finding a bike shop in the future. But I have faith that everything will be OK as in life there’s always ups and downs right? I just have to look at the big lesson. I do want to say that the people of the state, Kentucky, are very hospitable, very kind and friendly. People of offered food shelter, even clothing if I needed. So I’m gonna take a vantage of the hospitality of the first Baptist Church here in Hindman today and do my necessary repairs my body needs a break my legs were swelling a little bit, most likely because the heat in the hills. And probably because two days ago I did 70 miles in yesterday I did 45 hard miles as well. I’m only 62 miles away from the Virginia border so I’m excited about that. I may make a push tomorrow to do that in its entirety. But today is a day of rest also I’m really excited to explore the small mountain town which has some really unique architecture and I was told they have a specialty shop where they make musical string instruments like and violins by hand, that I’m gonna take pictures of and will post most likely tonight or tomorrow. I hope you like my writing. If you don’t know this already I will compile all this at the end of the journey and at the end of the summer on my cheesemaking experience on Martha’s Vineyard and turn this into a fun book book. If you would like to support my writing and wanna keep following me and read my writing every day or every couple of days I would love you to! If you can support me financially I’d appreciate it I can always use a cuppa coffee and some sandwiches, and actually a spare tire And tube :-) you can find me on Venmo it’s picture of me with a beard, or you can go to my blog site which is wholeearthguide.blogspot.com

Well that’s it for now I sleep for another hour and let my body rest up a bit. Having so much fun out here! Peace and love from the road Bill Poindexter, oh by the way if you wanna reach out to me directly feel free to probably the best way is by messenger. And if I’m coming through your area please let me know maybe we can meet up for a cuppa coffee.