Into The Wind

May 24

Kentucky Dam to Morganfield, KY

72 Miles

Total Miles to Date ~ 756

Today's ride was 91 miles, the first 60 of which were directly into the wind. We worked hard for every mile. There were two significant climbs, the first hill with a grade of 18 to 20%. I walked part of each, as did Holly and Mary (they did not walk quite as much as I). Holly continues to be a much stronger climber than I - or possibly it is just that she has more determination. 

We have left the hills of Tennessee behind us, and even those constant hills of Kentucky, and are riding along the southern shore of the Ohio River. The next few days will be odd as far as mileage goes. Today was 91, tomorrow 27, the following day close to 70, and the last day another 90+ day. Those middle two days were broken up according to where lodging could be found, and because WomanTours felt three high mileage days in a row would be a lot to ask. Boy, were they right.

FLORA AND FAUNA UPDATE:

Shorn sheep - and one fluffy male.

Swans in a pond.

Swallows crossing the road.

A jay. Not what we have at home. Not what Holly has at home in Connecticut. I am going to check the Internet to get a name.

More Horses.

Beautiful cattle. Some solid white. Some black with black and white faces.

Fields that have been prepared for summer's planting.

Fields that will most likely lie fallow.

Fields of yellow surrounded by deep green grasses. Mustard? Golden rod? We are not sure what it is, but it is pretty.

Ticks. One fell off of me, and one of the women found two on her body. We think we picked them up at the 70 mile rest stop. 

When we got to town - in the van - we passed the cyclists' ice cream of choice, Diary Queen. Patty, our cook/guide, wanted to stop, but we could not. There were riders at our motel waiting for their luggage. However, after another delicious dinner, we were surprised with a DQ cake and some Dilly Bars for dessert. Did I tell you that our heating coil, the one we use for making hot water when we are in a room with no coffee maker, broke? Well, it did and we are in a room with NO coffee maker. So, after dinner when we came up to our room and I suggested a cup of tea - oops! We walked to Rite Aide, Dollar General, and Wal-Mart. No coil! No tea! 

Our room smells like the inside of an ashtray. Georgia, who is next to us, told us she has three ashtrays in her room. We have become spoiled. Out here in small town USA there are often NO motels and when they are non-smoking rooms are a luxury, the major department store is Dollar General, and gas stations/convenience stores are few and far between. The hotel has free WiFi, with a password. My computer will not connect - and on a morning when we have so much time to kill (breakfast is not until 8:30) - we cannot Google Kevin Bacon, check out the next town on our route, or check our e-mails. Ah, spoiled!

TWJ and Holly