In light of the horrible weather, we decided to bail out early on the first part of this tour. We rented a Ford Focus in town and bought a cheap bike rack at Walmart. We then drove to Milford to pick up our car and returned to Corydon with the rental car. The rain and wind were severe the entire trip. We loaded up the tandem in Corydon and drove back to West Virginia, stopping at a motel when the darkness, rain and fatigue wore us out.

We learned later that the storms had been very severe in the Nashville area, resulting in fatalities on interstate highways and flooding in Nashville. The Kentucky Derby was one of the muddiest in years. We made a good decision bailing out, in addition to saving some money. Our plan next spring will be to finish the UGRR route starting in Corydon instead of Milford and we'll be sure to avoid Derby weekend.

It's going to be a long winter.