September 12, 2022
Day One: Henderson, Kentucky to Marion, Kentucky
I decided for the first day of this tour that I'd ride to Marion, a town on the TransAmerica Trail near the Illinois border with Kentucky on the Ohio River.
I've been to Marion many times on day rides on my road bike, so to make it interesting, I worked out a mostly different route, on quieter roads, including a fair amount of gravel. I estimate I'd never been on 70% of these roads before.
First, though, there were some miles with very familiar scenes, including this odd-looking truck, which I've seen parked in various places in Henderson county while riding. I don't know why someone would want to drive something like this, but it's certainly distinctive:
Another familiar site is a car dealership (of sorts) out in the country. Most of the vehicles in the dealership lot appear to be immobile. Today there was a new piece of inventory:
The weather was nearly perfect. Nice and cool when I started out (mid-50s.) There seemed to be a little bit of headwind, but it didn't dampen my mood
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THIS IS AN FARM *thick country accent*
1 year ago
I was on a pleasant, shaded gravel road whose name I can't remember now, when I glanced to my right and saw one of the aggressively worded political signs that are not uncommon in my part of rural Kentucky:
I've often wondered what the people who purchase and display signage like this hope to accomplish. Is it to "own the libs" as they like to say? If so, how many "libs" are likely to be passing by on this remote, rural gravel road in any case? If I were the guy, I think I'd devote more time to repairing or replacing the extremely rusty roof on my trailer. That thing looked like it was going to cave in soon.
I pulled into a cemetery to eat some snacks, and a cat came out from behind the church to investigate.
The cat was friendly, and I played with it for a while. I texted a picture to Joy, and she accused me of "cheating" on our own cat.
There was a bowl of water and an empty food bowl on the church steps, so it appeared that someone was taking care of the cat. He didn't look skinny, but I was slightly worried he was hungry, so I offered him one of my cheese-crackers, which, after some sniffing, he ignored in typically finicky cat fashion. I left it on the ground in case he changed his mind later.
Back on the road. I was really pleased with how my backroads route was turning out today.
I was making my way toward Wheatcroft, population 173, a village I'd seen on the map. I assumed there might be something slightly interesting there.
Sure enough, Wheatcroft featured an odd establishment called the "Cat House." I could not determine what business was transacted at the "Cat House", but a sign on the door indicated it was open "By Appointment Only."
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As I looked around Wheatcroft, a man came out and asked what I was doing on the heavy bike. I was only a few miles away from the TransAmerica Trail, where touring cyclists have been a common sight since the 70s, but here in Wheatcroft I was a novelty. The guy asked me how much the bike cost, and seemed slightly disappointed that it wasn't an "E-Bike." I suppose he thought it was ridiculous to spend $2,500+ on a bicycle without a motor.
I left Wheatcroft and made a right onto Granny Hill Road, slowly pedaled up the short, steep hill, and then coasted down.
After leaving Granny behind, I turned onto an empty state highway and rode through some open farmland.
After some barely maintained chip seal road, I rejoined the TransAmerica Trail for a mile or two
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Could’ve been more creative. Or added some clarifying graffiti above.
1 year ago
And then two of the best roads of the day: Several miles of Coolsprings Road, and then Cave Springs Road.
Coolsprings Road was shaded gravel. After a while I encountered a county road crew working on the road, which had now turned to chip seal. The men assured me that they were only patching holes here and there, and I wouldn't have any trouble. After my recent debacle riding through a freshly oiled road, I was super cautions about that now. I had vowed to my wife, who helped me clean my bike in the aftermath of that fiasco, that I would never, ever ride on an oiled road again.
I was enjoying the riding, but with ten miles to go until my destination of Marion, I was getting tired. The hills seemed harder. I really am out of shape, at least compared to previous years.
I arrived in Marion, population 3,039, at the very busy US 60 intersection in the middle of downtown, made a stop at the bustling FiveStar convenience store - Every time I've ridden to Marion, the place has been packed - then walked a few blocks to the Marion United Methodist church, which has been hosting touring cyclists riding the TransAmerica Trail for years.
The church secretary let me in, and encouraged to walk my bike up the stairs on a rickety wooden contraption, which she informed me that boy scouts had built:
It would have actually been easier for me to just carry the loaded bike up the stairs, but I dutifully wheeled the bike up the track as instructed. It was surprisingly difficult.
After setting up in the youth room of the church, and using the shower, which was contained in a small closet, I walked a few blocks to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, which was tasty indeed, and where the waitress, with a glance at my Ortlieb handlebar bag, immediately identified me as a hungry cyclist, and kept the chips-and-salsa refills coming frequently.
Back at the church, I was feeling pretty good about things until I received a call from a customer, in which I learned that I had misunderstood one of the requirements for some software I was creating for him, and would need to redo some of it, probably during this tour. Sigh.
I worked on it a little bit then went to bed early in one of the bunk beds constructed the boy scouts.
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 70 miles (113 km)
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