June 17, 2006
Day 16: Harrodsburg, KY to Bardstown, KY
55.46 Miles, 4:40:16 Ride Time, 12.20 Average Speed, 34.3 Maximum Speed
We got an earlier start this morning, and decided we had time to stop at McDonalds for breakfast. Before we left, Peter had a chance to talk about his obsession, World Cup Soccer, with an another fan - the Mexican man working outside the restaurant. I was happy for Peter's rare opportunity to discuss soccer with another interested fan...
Once we got out of Harrodsburg, the roads became less busy, and after a little climbing, we rode mostly along ridgetops. The area around Mackville was some of the nicest, neatest countryside I have seen in Kentucky - all of the homes and fields were neat and well-cared-for. We passed several yard sales and yet more Baptist churches (the Baptists have easily outnumbered other denominations in Kentucky by 10 to 1 so far).
We stopped for a while in Springfield, and spent some time checking out the Washington County courthouse. We were told that the best place to eat in town was Mordecai's, just down the street, so we stopped there. I had a burger and fries, and several glasses of lemonade (very good). Our waitress filled up our bottles with ice and water before we walked outside into the opressive heat (at least it seemed oppressive, after spending an hour inside the heavily air conditioned restaurant...)
As we rode down the street, we saw Mark and Ryan (from yesterday) sitting in front of a gas station, eating sandwiches. We talked to them for a minute, then continued down the road, missed our turn, and got back on the trail. The ride out of Springfield was uneventful, except for a broken spoke on Peter's bike. We stopped while he used my FiberFix replacement spoke (the first time I had seen this done).
The ride into Bardstown on US 62 was very busy. After stopping to get directions, we rode some back streets to a motel, where we saw Mark and Ryan - How had they gotten ahead of us?? They had apparently taken a shortcut across US 250 from Springfield to Bardstown, while Peter and I had taken the scenic route on the Adventure Cycling maps. I prefer to take a longer route with less traffic whenever possible.
The motel we had stopped at didn't have internet access, which, as I've mentioned previously, is a must for me (at least as long as I'm carrying the laptop with me), so we all decided to ride a few blocks and get a couple of rooms at the Best Western. After we checked in, Peter and the other guys headed for the pool, while I took a shower.
After a while we regrouped and walked next door to the Stephen Foster Restaurant, and their all-you-can-eat buffet. After yesterday's unpleasant experience, I studiously avoided all seafood items on the buffet, and ate lots of pie.
After dinner, Mark and Ryan came over to our room, and we talked about how the trip had been so far. It was fun to hear their perspectives on some of the same things I had seen - I was especially surprised to hear that they seen the aftermath of the car wreck on the ride from Booneville a couple of days ago. They must have been just ahead (or behind) me that day, and I didn't realize it.
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Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 920 miles (1,481 km)
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