I had ignored a suggestiOn n Lexington to tighten my engine mount bolts an operation that would be a hassle since I had to move around the rats nest of wiring this bike seems to need but on a long downhill in Kentucky I had to stop and tighten them. The vibrations had gotten serious and I sheared an exhaust bolt. What had been a decently quite bike dominated mostly by engine noise now sounded like a nightmare of every scooter that used to awaken me in college winding up the hill outside my apartment at 4 am. The fact that it could have been avoided makes it even worse. I had taken to standing on the exhaust pipe to stretch my legs. Something I can no longer do. It also seems to have robbed some power although the ride was an almost constant climb to christiansburg. The roads that followed the crooked road were terrible easily the worst of the trip but road crews were out in full force repairing places were the shoulder had clearly been undermined and slid off the hillside. The route quickly joined little one one roads through rural cattle farms. The nicest thin I've noticed is eastern Kentucky and Virginia have prominent signage forthe bikecentenial trail and warnings for drivers to share the road with bikers. Drive was pretty and gave no idea that a hurricane had past just east of here the day before. I feel bad I ve steadily taken less pictures. In some part the scenery had been monotonous in the middle of the country. Here another problem cropped up. Familiarity wih Appalachia and a haziness to the sky I didn't get out west where I could easily grab crisp panoramas with my camera phone. The weather was perfect as it's been almost the whole trip but the cold from yesterday continued I had to layer on almost as many clothesi reached christiansburg the end of this section of my map and got a hotel and warm kea to ready myself for a 300 mile slog home tomorrow.