July 16, 2021
Day 5, riding US 150 to Danville and then getting on US 127 to go north to Harrodsburg
Another long hot day on the road when the weather folks are saying don't exercise outside during the main part of the day because it is too hot and humid. I'm good at exercising in these conditions so I don't pay attention to those warning. I did get some sun burn today because I switched to shorter sock for this tour. Tonight I switched back to the one pair of regular socks to give my sunburn some time to heal. I've already sunburned my chest and stomach area because of my upright riding position. I need to unbutton my shirt to let my body cool itself and, depending on the direction I'm riding relative to the sun, a lot of skin that doesn't normally get much sun exposure is getting it now. Unlike fair skinned people, I rarely get anything more than red skin and a little discomfort from this exposure. No big deal.
Speaking of big deals, I had a heck of a time getting yesterdays page up to CycleBlaze. The local McD's service provider - who cover a LOT of McDs out here - decided that CycleBlaze.com was a risky site and cut my connection, causing me to lose a lot of work. I responded by moving most of the work off-line so I wouldn't lose it and they, at several different McDs redirected my wireless connections to uselessness whenever I tried to access CycleBlaze.com. I finally got that page up tonight using the wifi at the Economy Inn in Harrodsburg KY. This is the cheapest - $45 a night inclusive - motel of the trip and one of the better ones!
In Mount Vernon, I left the motel after a very enjoyable inter-action with an middle aged Indian fellow who sounded like might be the owner and rode over to the nearby McDs where I had a good breakfast and another nice interaction with an 89 year old local farmer who came over to visit with me. Bicycle touring without interacting with locals, even if they,like the the Indian fellow are obviously familiar with a lot of other countries or like the 89 year old are just very wise local people, contribute a lot to my life.
Because of these interactions and the fact that I was hungry, I did not even think to use my computer until after I was heading up the hill to get to where US heads west in Mount Vernon. Then it was a long way to the next services of any kind, but what wasn't missing was opportunities to put off the road to wild camp or just take a break off the road in the shade. Actual shaded was pretty rare since 150 is a major high way and runs in a wide valley, and even when that valley was 'enhanced' to make the road flatter. After about two hours of riding, I did find a good place to get a snack and food break in the shade. My only interaction there was with a dog who came over to see if I might offer him a share of my snack. When I ignored him, other than to say hello, he wandered away.
I finally got lunch at the McDs in Stanford after 25 miles on the road. It was very good to stop there and eat even thought my interactions were not as good as they had been in Mount Vernon and my efforts to connect to CycleBlaze resulted in a useless wifi connection, but it was bad that the great 150 shoulders went away in that town and didn't come back for many miles.
The riding wasn't dangerous like the ride from Corbin to London, but it was riding focused on the inconsistent nature of the shoulders and the behavior of the traffic coming from behind me. The great 150 shoulders made riding boring because they so effectively allowed me not to need to focus on those things while riding. The riding environment after they were gone made riding more intense.
The great shoulders did come back at the county border and lasted till US 150 became 150 bypass and US 150, starting with great shoulders, quickly lost them. Riding 150 with small or sometimes no shoulder was not a problem because there was very little traffic. After 150 got into Danville proper, there were interesting lanes marked that gave parked cars a safe way to open their car doors which, providing I kept a close eye out for folks opening car doors and they kept an eye out for bicyclists. Interestingly, in Germany drivers training which is much more intensive than it is in the US, actually includes training drivers to open the car door with the hand on the opposite side of their body from the door so they will always turn their upper body to face the door before opening it. This is exactly what drivers in Danville should be trained to do.
US 150 merges with US 127 near the college and then 127 turns north and shortly - after riding through an area where there are neat traditional stone fences on both sides of the road - 127 joins with the 127 bypass and heads north to Harrodsburg. On that ride I was watching for the steep hill before Harrodsburg that Google maps warned me about yesterday. I've done that ride many times and never noticed that 'steep hill.' It is a pretty hide through prime horse country.
When I got into the middle of Harrodsburg. I stopped at a McDs to check to where the Economy Inn was located on 127. It is well north of McD's so when I rode literally out of Harrodsburg without finding it I was confused until I saw signs that said 'South 127' and realize I had ridden back the way I had come instead of riding on north. Then I turned around and rode north for about three miles which I figure turned my 45 mile day into a 50 mile day. The Economy Inn review were very good about saying how well kept the rooms were and how nice the staff was. I wasn't disappointed when I got to my room. It was spotless. It was also hanger less. Literally there is no place to hang a coat hanger. My drying strategy relies on coat hangers so I had to adapt . My drying shirt is hanging from my bike handlebars and drying socks and underpants are hanging from the only towel rack.
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Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 188 miles (303 km)
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