Sunday, October 13, 1996
I woke up at 6:30, ate breakfast at Shoney's on I-75 (breakfast bar) and actually got on the road by about 7:30.
Didn't we leave Williamston a week ago?
Williamstown, Kentucky looks amazingly similar to Williamston, Michigan.
This driveway crosses over the railroad tracks to the farm house on the other side. It sure looks amazingly rickety.
Those of you who (like Ritt) live where there isn't snow and ice on the
roads in the winter, might not recognize this 18 sided structure. It is
an "igloo" full of salt for the roads in winter .
We managed to climb about 3,000 feet vertical today. Though the
roads had no shoulders at all, the drivers were great and the scenery was
gorgeous: the sort of country one associates with Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett--hardwoods.
We passed several barns filled with tobacco hanging from the rafters to dry.
At Georgetown, we got directions to lunch from these nice people (note the little girl in the front seat). They explained that the community had grown rapidly with the location there of a Toyota factory and bemoaned the fact that they don't know people on the street anymore.
When we departed from our planned US-127 route at Covington, we did so to be along I-75 and all its services. US-25 parallels I-75 and repeatedly crosses it.
We were lucky to reach Lexington on a Sunday. It is a big city (complete with skyscrapers), but on Sunday, the traffic was real light.
At Thoroughbred Park in Lexington, I saw the best bronze sculpture I've seen since I happened upon Rodin's piece at Calais, France. The horses and their jockeys were almost real. The illusion of motion was fantastic--only one foot of one horse was actually touching the ground. I don't know who did the artwork, but I was very impressed.
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On our way out of Lexington, we passed the Henry Clay Estate.
About half-way between Lexington and Richmond, we crossed the Kentucky River on the old US-25 bridge (Clay Crossing). US-25 now crosses the river high up in the air on the newly widened I-75 bridge where bicycles are prohibited. We crossed just a few feet above water level. We had a long 30 mph descent to the river valley and an 800' 7% grade climbing out. That was serious work after more than 60 miles in the saddle on a fully loaded bicycle.
Total distance for the day: 76 miles.
PS: Uploading trouple. I had hoped to get some updates uploaded to the website tonight, but for the second time on the trip, I was stumped by a digital phone system in the Days Inn Motel in Richmond, KY. The phone had a note on it to the effect that an alarm would sound if the phone was unplugged, so I went to the office and asked the manager if I could unplug the phone to use my computer. He informed me that the phone system is digital and can't be used with a modem; that one guest had already ruined his laptop trying and had billed Days Inn for his loss. He offered to let me use the motel's conference room fax line, but I do most of my uploading late at night in my underwear, so I put off uploading for another day.
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© Ed Noonan 1996, 1997