I left Saturday about 2 of the clock. It's about a 2:20 minute drive, so I cranked up some music and got comfortable. Unlike most people my age, I am not a huge fan of driving. I also have this REALLY bad tendency to get sleepy all them time. That didn't turn out too well for me once. So although two and a half hours may not seem like much driving, it felt like forever to me. It was cool though, its all back roads and it goes over the Cumberland Gap. Its a nice drive.
I pulled into Barbourville, KY. Time for a geography lesson. Barbourville is a little Kentucky town near the Cumberland Gap. It has a very small population, I don't know the exact number, but probably a bit smaller than Erwin. Barbourville is situated in the middle of a dry county. It is the home of a small college named Union College. It is also home to a large number of meth labs, moonshine-making operations, and marijuana patches. Almost everyone owns a four wheeler, so ATV trails criss-cross the woods around town. There is a group on facebook about this here "Barvull". Its quite an interesting place, and I really like it.
So I pull into Barbourville. I pull up to Greg, Nano, and Brad's apartment. It is a really sweet place. You walk up the steps and on your right is a large moose head. You walk in and there are 10 bikes leaned against the wall of the apartment. Old forks, number plates, and wheels grace the walls and windows. I brought the Bighit upstairs. Brad rode it around inside for a while. Savoring the 14" of total travel. Good stuff.
Then we all went for a ride on the new trails they've built. They've taken some of those old ATV trails and made them into bike trails. These trails are characterized by steep ups and downs, technical drops, and trailer parks. They're brave, that land very well could have a pot grove on it. But the trails are fun, and they'll get better as those guys ride them.
One of many jumps.
One of the many (steep) climbs in the woods around Barbourville.
Brad after hitting a jump too fast and going into the bushes. Split his ear. Nice.
Well the real fun began that night. 6 of us loaded up and went to Barbourville's finest eating establishment. Pizza Hut. Nice. We demolished 3 pounds of pasta, a large pizza, and 20 chicken wings. Excellent.
Then we went down to the local supermarket. Perfectly normal, right? hehehe...
People here in Barbourville LOVE to cruise. Every Friday and Saturday night, they cruise from the supermarket to the town municipal building (right in front of the cops) and then back. 30-40 times in a night. At least. Over and over and over. Doing burnouts and drifting as much as possible, of course. It's not enough to waste gas by cruising, they also have to floor it every couple of minutes. These people are crazy. Actually, a better word is stupid. The people are so stupid they are entertaining. Incredibly so. Well, we watched these people cruise for a while, then we headed back to the apartment. One of the coolest things about the apartment is that it overlooks the town square, right there where everyone cruises. So we got out of the cars and chilled there and watched the people some more. The next logical step was to get the bikes out and do a lap ourselves. When we jumped on the bikes and started our lap, the people didn't know what to think. The locals started calling out at us unintelligible things so redneck I wasn't able to understand them. I did hear one guy tell me to change the fluid in my bike because my "light was blinking". Whatever that means hahah... This little trip turned into an urban assault session where we jumped around ledges and curbs and stuff. It was good fun, it lasted till 11:30 at night.
The next morning we woke up and went to the trails in Daniel Boone National Forest. Lots of pisgah-like trails, with less climbing and a little more hike-a-bike. Still they were a heckuva lot of fun. I'm getting kind of sleepy, so maybe I'll talk about it a little later, but for now I'll just appease you crazy blog-readers with pictures. Enjoy:
I actually rode down this later.
German Leonardo Bermudez, aka Nano railing the corner.
Yours truly riding up and out of one of the many creek crossing. The Union guys gave me a jersey to wear for the day. Hopefully I'll be able to wear it a lot come next fall.
I was not, unfortunately, able to ride this little segment. That would make for a neat picture though.
Peace out guys. Don't do drugs.
