Today’s blog post has two interwoven themes: coal mining and Ray Sanders.

First, I want to correct an oversight in yesterday’s message: I forgot to mention we overnighted Monday in Bluefield, Virginia. Bluefield is on Highway 460 in Tazewell County.

Our 225-mile Tuesday begins in another Bluefield — nearby Bluefield, West Virginia, nicknamed “Coal City.” And for good reason. This area has the world’s largest and richest deposits of bituminous coal.

Coal trucks whiz by us as we head South on Highway 52. They’re bringing coal from the mines to rail yards.

In the Appalachian regions of West Virginia and Kentucky, coal is the economic lifeblood of this area. Yet we ride through some incredibly impoverished areas en route to visit Ray’s roots.

The roads in West Virginia — at least the ones we rode — are well engineered and in good condition. Many are part of the Robert C. Byrd Appalachian Highway System. Ya gotta love pork.

Appalachia must be seen to be believed. Broken-down old trucks, houses, storefronts — within feet of the roadside.

There seems to be so little hope here. Which makes Ray’s story all the more inspiring.

Orby Ray Sanders was born in 1930 in  Dunham, Kentucky — deep in coal country. Ray’s Dad was a coal miner, and the family lived in a coal camp. At an early age, Ray moved to nearby McRoberts, Kentucky.

Ray’s Mom operated a beauty salon.  During the war years, Ray attended schools in Pikeville, Kentucky.

Pikeville College is the pride of this city, having won the 2011 NAIA Division 1 basketball title last March — the first men’s national championship for the Pikeville Bears.  If you’re keeping score, Pikeville defeated Mountain State, 83-76, in overtime.

When Ray left Pikeville, he enrolled at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, from which he received a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering and a master’s in metallurgical engineering. Smart guy.

Ray left Kentucky for his first job, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and never returned to Kentucky — except to visit.

In Oak Ridge, Ray met Sarah’s cousin, Tina Pugh. Ray and Tina married in 1960.  They share a passion for motorcycling, and that’s why I’m lucky enough to join Ray, riding Tina’s bike, on my 2011 Harley Hillbilly Holiday.

We leave the Pikeville area and head for Norton, Virginia — tonight’s destination. Along the way, we ride US Highway 23, designated as the Country Music Highway.  The designation honors the large number of country music performers born in an eight-county stretch along Highway 23, among them: Billy Ray Cyrus, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Naomi and Wynona Judd, and many more.

What will tomorrow bring?