After a bit of discussion the previous night, we finally decided on a plan of attack that would and keep us on the bikes for the four days. We left LagoLinda a bit later than desired but within reason, and set ourselves for Irvine and then Berea. It was a bit disappointing that we were retracing some of our route, but the goal was to get to Richmond to get Patrick's wheel fixed. The morning at Lago Linda was fog-bound and ethereal. The route to Irvine was expected to be a drag, a transpo connector back to some "riding". Instead I think it was the nicest road route of the weekend. It began with a 2m descent down 52, a long, flowy, not-scary wake-up call through the fog. Once at the bottom the route was rather flat (that helped), but mist-shrouded and cool- we were both in wool long-sleeves. We decided to turn onto 1571 because it looked a bit shorter, only to find later that we missed a 2mile climb. Serendipity. 1571 rolled along between the Kentucky River and cliffsides through flood plain farms, all with virtually no traffic, morning sun and a little fog burning off. It was wonderful, actually.
 |
| Lago Linda in the fog. I literally was chasing it across the fields as it burned off. |
 |
| Smallest church ever? |
 |
| Typical scenery |
 |
| Kentucky River in morning light |
 |
| Better times in Irvine? |
 |
| Irvine bridge |
We had a second breakfast at a little cafe that wasn't on google results, but the name escapes me. You can make out the facade on googlestreetview at 214 Main St. The pancakes hit the spot. From there it was time to make way towards Berea with a side trip to find a church where Patrick's father-in-law worked. After using some local advice, he found it a couple miles down 52 at Sand Hill. I found a slight route change taking Patsy Rd instead of 499 as we did coming in to town a few days ago. The only things I can say about Patsy Rd. are that I saw 3 woodpeckers there, it was hillier than 499, and it was what I would expect out of E.KY, just sort of beat up and slummy.
 |
| Up that little hill is Patrick looking for his wife's roots. I stayed below. |
 |
| Patrick pulling away on Little Rock Rd. |
That put us back on our original track on 499 and we rode pretty straighforwardly- and slowly- back towards Berea. At the detour from Day 1 we were able to take an alternate road of Little Rock Rd. and avoid scrambling. Somewhere in this area I began to lose power, and at that point the ride for me was a miserable crawl. Our final mileage the last day wasn't particularly long or difficult, but I just crawled those last 20 or so miles, bitching about it much of the time.One thing for sure, the roller-coaster rollers we relished on Day 1 had become all uphill at 10% on day 3.
As my dad would say, "weak!". We arrived in Berea, took on some calories and immediately headed for Richmond and its bike shop.
Comments