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Wutheringbikes Home -- TransAm Bike Ride
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June 28th 2004 (Mon)
Pippa Passes to Booneville Presbyterian Church. Nice and hot, not too humid.
A hilly-ish ride- either you're going over1500 foot hills or you are going
down or gently up a river valley. Deciduous woods mostly, with little communities
and a few barky dogs. Nothing too difficult. Various locals asked me if
I new of their families back in England. One man asked me about the Caudell
family - surely I knew them, they were English. There's a good deal of curiosity
about England, and it is a bit of a rosy image (little thatched villages,
dramatic moorlands, old Victorian buildings).Generally I was unable to help
- "no I don't have them as next door neighbours, but...". The likeable Caudell
character told me that although lots of coal is mined in Kentucky, the local
economy sees little of the resulting wealth, which heads towards the shareholders
of a UK based firm, apparently. I think it was Lonrho. The coal truck drivers,
who weave a wobbly and coal spilling way around Kentucky, are contractors,
not part of the firm, and so they are pushed hard to do as many trips as
possible. Hence their speedy and scary driving. They leave a trail of spilt
coal - why would people buy it when they could just take a short walk along
a road? Today was 74 miles. |
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Wutheringbikes Home -- TransAm Bike Ride
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