Blerioterring

After yesterday's debacle today was a new day and the afternoon provided the need to spin. It had rained all morning and I wasn't in the mood to "kit up", so I went out anticipating a ride on the LHT but I saw the Bleriot, laying there forlorn and unloved; our romance had broken back in the Spring when I realized how fat and lazy it was compared to the IF. It seemed like a good lazy day option today, though, so with Crocs on my feet and some podcasts on the Nano I went a Blerioterring, first making my way along the general path of my ride Monday to see if random broken glasses were lying anywhere in view. Pushaw!

Funnily enough, as i stretched out and warmed up I began to feel pretty good on the ol' blue pig, although the tailwind was helping to be sure. I went downtown for some not-challenging, flat miles and into Portland, still with the tailwind. Once at Shawnee I decided to come back via as much Riverwalk as I could.

Riverwalk wet ambience

Cockpit. Note garmin500, iPod wire, stored RBW hat, strapless Croc.

Bleriot with nice, high bars

"C'mon, how closed can it be?"

First 20ft of "good" part of Riverwalk. Game over.

I lasted about 20ft on the upper closed Riverwalk. It was covered with flood mud and I determined it to be ridiculously impassable. Just my short tenure on it filled the brakes and fenders with gunk. It sounded in small, small, small detail like the stories of the DK200 mud that people encountered. I lasted 20ft, not 20m. I pointed towards Portland and back closer to the city.

Old store to left, old brick street center, and RR tracks on right, ones which cross the river via a bridge *with* car lanes.

Once back on the Riverwalk by the tracks I was overcome with the sweet scent of what I think was/is cloer of some sort, and this within rock-throwing distance of downtown. The path here runs right next to I-64, seen in some pics, but I could have been in a field 50m into the country, with clover, grasses and wildflowers surrounding me. It was a nice moment, to be sure.

I finished up with a trip up the Beargrass Trail where I saw some nice rainy day KY fauna, including lots of birds. Below are a couple pics snapped.

Very big turtle on the far bank.

Blue Heron being elusive. Don't know if it's Ol'Blue. This one might have been a juvenile, as its coloring was mottled and muted. Took me a while and several shots to get this.

Ohio River flood mud

Bleriot right before a rinsing