Another KY Adventure

Alright, there must be an entry about the road ride the rest of us did while Stinky & RideInPink were off enjoying their wind sheltered mountain bike ride.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the winds were somewhere around 25mph, although it felt more like 40mph at some points... but anyway, we took off to do a 27 mile loop in the flatest part of KY we could find (as we were all pretty gassed from the hilliness of our Mammoth Cave route the day prior). Flatest route on Map My Ride… but still fairly hilly nevertheless.

Anyway, we had directions written out on paper tucked into the leg of our shorts that would have been fairly easy to follow, however, street signs seem to be optional in KY. And it is also worthy to mention that KY is full of “Y’s, T’s, and forks”. Don’t ask me which one is which… I do not have an eye for these sorts of things.

But I digress…We made the best of the directions we had , and only ended up doing an extra 13 miles with all the wrong turns and back tracking. It was pretty comical, however, that our directions told us to take a 180 degree turn and we all sat at the corner perplexed for several minutes before we realized 180 degrees is a straight line. Boy did that bring a pretty good chuckle.

The wind made echelon practice ideal. We could all really feel the “sweet spot”, and could easily shift into a pace line type format as we took (what we all now know as) 90 degree corners to head into the wind. We really had it down to a science.

Lucky for us, the locals really got a chuckle out of seeing 9 women in pink pedaling their “titanium” bicycles along their roads. They were always polite and quick to point out that we weren’t from aroun’ these parts. At one such “T or Y” in the road (whichever it was), we flagged down a Southerner driving a tractor to ask for directions. He found us quite amusing. He shut off the tractor and opened the door and said, “Looks like an invasion” (said in your best southern accent).

He quickly followed with “Ya’ll ain’t from aroun’ here, are ya?” What a sight we must have been from his usual routine. Anyway, he quickly asked us to say the word “R” “O” “O” “F”. When we said “roof”, he said “Oh, say it again”. He was just having a blast with us. Eventually we were given the instruction we needed and were off to finish the ride. I’d like to send that man a team picture. I have a feeling he’ll be talking about us for years, as we will do the same about him.

Those are the highlights from that group ride as I remember it.

It is important to note that the people in KY are awesome! I have never come across a more patient, friendly group of people. Their courtesy is fantastic, and their willingness to share the road with cyclists is something everyone should try to emulate. I was thoroughly impressed. Thanks for letting RWT “invade” your space.

-Kathy