About 10 miles out of the camp, we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone. Well that is our home time zone, so we must be getting close to the end now. As there was rain again overnight, the 5:30am departure time included heavy foggy air that spotted up my glasses like it was misting rain. The front and rear lights were turned on this morning! After riding away from the state park area, the landscape was rolling but nothing drastic. In order make the trip more interesting, the dogs were in the mood to chase me today. There were a total of 6 chases today, of which a couple included multiple dogs at the same time. It got to be so frequent that as I would approach the next house, I start to survey the porch and farm yard for the “knights of terror”. If you see them early in the morning, try to keep very still without shifting gears and yet increase your speed. I made it past a couple right as they realized I had about slipped by. Even then, they took chase to the end of their property and even beyond. Understand that we are talking dogs on the larger end of the scale, not little ankle biters. Do cyclists really look threatening? We are really nice people, but the “knights of terror” apparently see the chase as a sport.
Amish were scattered along the trail today. There was a young fellow on a bicycle, a mom and son who were going into the Dollar General Store, and a buggy with 4 young kids moving along in the rain. Oh yeah, the rain came down for about an hour in the middle of the morning. It is part of the experience, just like the “knights of terror”.
At about 60 miles, I stopped at the Abraham Lincoln birthplace National Historical site. It was somewhat disappointing. The visitor center was primarily focused on selling souvenirs. The log cabin was a replica enshrined in a large temperature controlled marble building which had multiple marble steps leading to the front door. The replicated cabin looked like they had gone to Home Depot last week to purchase the lumber used to assemble the one room log cabin.
The balance of the day was mostly overcast with some rolling hills and long stretches of relatively flat riding. As I had a very long ride, God was good to me in providing cloud cover, cooling rain, and manageable climbs. The cattle ranches, earlier in the day gradually shifted to horse farms by the end of the day. Additionally, the corn and soy bean crops started to include fields of tobacco. Everything is much more green than in previous days. Even the rivers and streams have water flowing, instead of bone dry bed of rock.
Bardstown, Kentucky is home for some distilleries. Apparently the natural lime in the water supply is conducive for making bourbon. The town is also the home of the author of the song, “My Old Kentucky Home”. The campground for the night was a The Old Kentucky Home State Park. It was a very nice park with large shade trees, a nice shower house and paved spots. Tomorrow’s ride is much shorter, plus the time change will allow a little later start.
A unique house, right?
Hey, even the Amish like to shop at the Dollar General. I saw the Mother and young son go inside.
The building that houses the "replica" of Lincoln's boyhood home. I will say no more...
Wow, look at the rack on that guy!!
Glad to see that all is well - your faithful blog followers have definitely NOT abandoned you. :) We were just anxiously waiting for your next internet connection. You're close to the home stretch now - prayers continue and looking forward to seeing you again soon!
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