The Plan

Tim cooked up an awesome route to train for the upcoming Gravel Grovel without having to drive too far.  We discussed with Timothy and Patrick.  Both were interested, but Patrick couldn’t dedicate that much time.  It’s a good thing he didn’t try to “squeeze it in”, we were out for many hours.

The Morning

I got up early and cooked eggs.  I wanted a substantial breakfast before a ride like this.  I should have had more carbs.  This became important later.  I had also planned to grab some snack food at the local gas station to carry with me, but the station was closed.

I drove Tim and I out to pick up Timothy, or so we thought.  We met Timothy as Heine Brothers Coffee where we each had a cup and a scone.  I grabbed another scone for during the ride.  We thought Timothy needed a ride, but instead he followed us.  This is the last drive in my truck.  I’ll have more about that in another post.

Okay, so the Timothy transportation snafu was just a communication error.  That’s what happens when all of our planning is done via email.

The ride started in New Castle KY in Henry County, northeast of Louisville.  It’s just far enough away to be quite rural.

The Ride

We were on the road before 9:00am.  It was cold, probably just a bit above freezing.  We headed north east.  Tim let me know that his GPS was not working as expected, so he told me to navigate.  I had loaded the route on my GPS as a track the night before.

I wasn’t feeling strong.  I was cold.  I fell behind.  Tim and Timothy were riding ahead of me, far enough that they couldn’t hear me yell at them when they missed a turn.  We were less than a mile into the ride.  Not a great start.  I have chase  and eventually got their attention.  We all turned around and went back to our turn on Flat Rock Rd, our first gravel of the day.

Did I mention it was cold?  Tim said these were “foam plants” that froze after oozing their foam.  I’ve never heard of them, but they were everywhere.

Blocked?

Flat Rock Rd was a pleasant downhill run into a creek valley, but at 5.5 miles into the ride we came a a creek crossing with two problems.  1) The creek was deep enough that riding through or walking was not possible without getting wet.  2)  We couldn’t see where it crossed to.  We figured that once across somehow, that we’d pick up the road somewhere.

We walked up and down the bank looking for a good location for crossing.  It didn’t exist.  Tim and Timothy began throwing stones in a shallow but fast-moving section to try to build a bridge.  It would have taken a lot of stones and time to make it where we could simply walk across and stay dry.

It quickly became apparent we’d just need to walk through the water.  With the cold temperatures, it was best to do this barefoot.  Timothy went first.

Timothy left his bike behind, know we could pass it to him.  I wanted mine with me to hold on to if I started to slip.  I didn’t slip, but I did submerge by bike deeper than planned.  It’ll need a new bottom bracket and the hubs re-packed soon.

I was too busy helping move bikes and cursing at cold feet to get a picture of Tim crossing, but he did the same as us.  Once across, we all sat warming and drying our feet as much as possible before putting shoes and socks back on.  Timothy had brought a towel and was drying his feet with it.  Luxiourious!

Okay, Now Where?

Once we again had our footwear on, we started looking around for the “road”.  This “road” is marked as such by the county maps that Tim uses for these excursions, and normal web-based maps aren’t accurate enough.

We eventually found signs of an old road bed that had been long-abandoned.  It also “shared space” with a tributary of the creek we crossed earlier.  Undeterred we followed along, following the happy purple line on my GPS.

After leaving the creek bed we still had to walk our bikes due to the poor condition of the old road bed.  Eventually after a small climb, we were dumped back on Denner Ln where it “dead-ends” into somebody’s driveway.  … and away we go….

My Issues

Before long we were on paved roads again.  I was trying to keep up, but I had no energy and kept falling behind.  I was really beginning to hate the ride.  I was questioning my ability to ride it, and the Gravel Grovel.  I was in a foul mood, and I really wanted to just take the most direct route back to my truck.

This turned into self-loathing because I know that part of the problem is my recent weight gain.  Part of it is that I don’t do long rides as often as I used to.  Most of my mileage is around town these days.

The third cause was the real one.  I hadn’t eaten enough.  On was on the verge of “bonking”.  I stopped to eat my extra scone and drank some water.  I still needed more.

We turned on Joe’s Branch Rd, a rather pleasant downhill gravel stretch.  My speed was limited due to sketchy roads conditions but it was fun.  Tim struggled more here with his narrower tires.  There were several mostly dry creek crossings, but they paved those short stretches.

We turned on Sixmile Creek Rd, which was probably the best road I’ve ever ridden.  It runs along a creek valley floor, so it’s not too hilly.  It was rugged, but varied enough that it wasn’t just a long slog over rough gravel.  It’s unfortunate that I was still feeling horrible and wanted to quite the ride.

Lockport

Sixmile Creek Rd goes into Lockport, a tiny little town on the Kentucky River.

Lockport had nowhere open to buy food on a Sunday morning, but they did have dueling churches across the street from one another.  One was Baptist, the other Methodist.

Toward Gratz

The next town would be Gratz.  I had hopes for food here, as I had done a little research ahead of time.

389 had some nice views of the Kentucky River.

The stopping for pictures helped me feel better, but I was still dragging.

Gratz

As we approached Gratz, we realized that Hwy 22 has been re-routed to a new bridge over the Kentucky River into town.  The store stop I researched (but never called) doesn’t seem to exist anymore.  There was a restaurant, but they’re closed on Sundays and Wednesdays.  No food in Gratz.

Monterey

Monterey is the farthest point of the ride.  Surely there is food there!

The trip to Monterey was on Hwy 355 for much of the way.  I fell behind (again) and came to a turn we supposed to make at Severn Creek Rd, a nice gravel road.  I was pretty sure that Tim and Timothy had not gone that way, but I wasn’t positive.  I stopped and waited a few.  I tried calling Tim.  I sent him a text message.  Nothing.

I continued on Hwy 355, ignoring the turn.  That was the right choice, they were both heading back toward me on 355, wondering where I had went.

I mentioned the turn, and it turns out that they had discovered last night that that road does not go through, and modified the route to stay on 355.  Unfortunately, that was after I loaded the route into my GPS.

We continued to Monterey, and there was nothing in town.  We stopped and asked a guy who was outside, and he gave a directions to “the store”.    It was south-east of town on Hwy 127.  Nice wide shoulders made this busy road easy to ride on.  There was indeed a gas station/convenience store that sold burgers, hot dogs, and pizza, along with the usual fair.

We took our time.  I had Gatorade, a burger, chips, and bought several oatmeal creme pies for later.

We went back into Monterey, and started looking for Old Landing Rd, that promised to be gravel.

Old Landing Rd

We found some two-track off of High St that looked like it was going the right direction.  It was rutted dirt, mud, and sometimes grass.  We kept following it even as we could see on the GPS that we were deviating from our desired direction.  Eventually our “path” came to a dead-end at the Kentucky River.

We turned around, I was at the tail-end of the group.  I saw the soupy mud up ahead, and I decided to charge through it rather than risk bogging down.  Instead I fell.  I banged my shoulder and tweaked my neck, but luckily mud is soft.  I did get rather dirty.

While making our way back, Tim noticed and old roadbed and the remnants of an old bridge over another creek.  Was this our road?

It was neat to see, but there wasn’t anything rideable on the other side of the creek.

We didn’t want to hike through this.

We sat around a bit getting our bearings.

Heading back to the bikes.

Looking back where I fell.

We went back into town and tried another street… and found an easy turn on Old Landing Rd.  The old roadbed that we had been looking at used to be part of it, but it’s been re-routed a bit.

Our dead-end jaunt while looking for the road was actually very close to it.  We didn’t see it because it was up higher than we were.

Old Landing Rd was a gravel road that runs along farmland and the Kentucky River.  It was a really nice ride.

Luggage

Along this point I started feeling much better.  The food was doing it’s magic.  The temperature was warming substantially too and I needed to lose a couple of layers.

I’m used to riding a bike with a rear rack and usually have at least a trunk bag, and sometimes a pannier or two.  I didn’t really have a place to put clothes that I removed since I was only carrying the handlebar bag.

Timothy found a bungie cord along the side of the road.  I put my jacket and sweater on top the handlebar bag and used the bungie to hold everything in place.  It worked well enough.

Mechanical Issues

Now that my food issue was solved, Timothy started having bike issues.  His bike wasn’t shifting properly, and he had to replace a bent link in the chain.  He had a low rear tire, gave it a quick pump, and as we rolled into Lockport on the return trip, he stopped to replace the tube.

This worked well, as the store that had been closed was now open.  I went in for more Gatorade and oatmeal creme pies (yeah, I know, bad food).

It was an interesting store.  There were at least three friendly dogs in the store.  They seemed well behaved.

Return

After leaving Lockport, we got to ride the wonderful stretch of Sixmile Creek Rd again.  Very nice.  We also took another section of it south that was also quite nice to get down to Hwy 573 then directly back to New Castle.  No more hiking through the woods for the day.

I still wasn’t going fast, I’m not a fast rider.  I was feeling better and not bitching much at this point.  Timothy, who’s a stronger ride, was falling back.  Although he’s used to longer (mileage) rides, he’s not used to being in the saddle for 8+ hours for a sixty mile ride.  I would assume the cold-water crossing is new to him too.

Tim was in the lead, until almost at the ride finish, when Timothy poured on the speed.  I didn’t try to catch up.  Tim managed to pull ahead again, leaving Timothy behind.  Timothy and I arrived in New Castle together with Tim waiting for us.

What I Learned

This is training for a race.  Today’s time would have been a disqualification.  Then again, the race is not likely going to require me to take off my shoes or hike through woods without as much as a trail.

According to our bike computers and GPSs, we spent almost three hours STOPPED.  Keeping moving is important.

I need another bag on the bike.  I’ll probably just throw the rear rack back on and use the truck bag.  I don’t want to spend the money for a large saddlebag.

I’m not convinced I’ll do anything like this next year.  I like stopping for pictures, food, or just to take a break.  I don’t know that the GO GO GO type riding is really my style.  I’ll do it for this training, and the race itself, but after that, I’ll have to put some real thought into it.

The Route

I stopped at OYLC on the way home from work to pick up some parts I ordered.  I was riding the Big Dummy, so I had plenty of room to carry my cargo: a new stem for that bike, and a set of SKS P65 fenders (mudguards for my UK friends).

The Big Dummy is the only bike I own without fenders, so it was time to fix that.  We’ve had rain recently.  I rode in light rain today for the commute.  The rain wasn’t bad, but the wet roads made for a sloppy mess on the bike and on my lower legs and feet.

I was also stretched out a bit too much, so the shorter stem will hopefully fix that.

After getting home, I pulled up a chair to the Big Dummy and got busy.  removing the old stem and replacing it with the new one was easy.  A torque wrench is recommended, but I don’t own one yet, and I can get it good enough by feel.  I did notice that the steer tube was cut poorly.  I may have to do something about that someday.

After getting the rest of the required tools, including the required bike-themed beer I attempted to install the Surly front rack that used to be on my LHT.  I couldn’t figure out how to mount it without interfering with the brake caliper, so I decided to hold off on the rack.

I did find that the KickBack kickstand would keep the front forks off the floor with the front wheel removed, if I used the front wheel as extra weight in the rear.

I installed the front fender (mudguard), but I think I cut the stays a little short.  It has a rather lousy fender line.

I had planned on putting the rear fender on tonight also.  I also planned to strip my LHT for gravel training.  However, I’m tired and grumpy and not happy with how this came out.  I’ll save the rest for tomorrow.

I can’t say I enjoy working on bikes.  I do enjoy the end result, even if it takes me several attempts.  I’ll probably buy a replacement hardware set for the fenders and re-do the stays on the front.

What’s next for the Dummy?  I need a new saddle.  I want a sprung Brooks saddle.  This bike is supposed to have a rather upright riding position.  I haven’t ridden it since installing the new stem, but I assume I’ll be nice and upright.

The LHT?  I’m removing the fenders and rear rack.  I’m installing some wider tires that probably won’t fit with the fenders.  I’ll also move the small saddle bag and handlebar bag over from the single-speed for tools and snacks.  This is in preparation for the Gravel Grovel, which I still intend to ride.

Tim and I met for coffee and snacks this morning.  We had a pretty sedate ride though the parks, including a mountain bike trail, Beargrass Creek Trail, Butchertown Greenway, and part of the ‘cross course at Bandman Park.

Nothing unusual about that, except we were both riding cargo bikes.  I was on my Big Dummy, and Tim on his Kona Ute.  Unfortunately, I didn’t bring a camera, but Tim grabbed a picture of me with his phone.

I met Michael (last year?) at a car-free happy hour.  I think I’ve only ridden with him a couple of times before today.

He suggested in an email that we meet for a Riverwalk/Louisville Loop this morning.  He lives in my part of town, so he suggested meeting at Sunergos at 9:00am.

I left home a little early to run by the ATM, then arrived at Sunergos to get a cup of coffee (and a bacon donut from Nords).  I was riding the single-speed and not carrying panniers.

Michael arrived as I was drinking my coffee.  He was riding a nice looking Jamis Aurora.  After finishing we headed north to downtown and on to the Riverwalk.

Once we neared Shawnee Golf course, but were still on the open portion of the Riverwalk, we detoured off of the path and followed a overgrown trail into the woods.  The woods we were in is listed as Portland Wharf Park.

This route quickly became mountain-bike-like with fallen trees, leaves, mud, and rough spots.  Riding road bikes made this interesting, but the view was quite nice.

The trail eventually led us back to the Riverwalk, but it was still almost like a mountain bike trail due to mud, leaves, and branches.

Hmmm…. we both had handlebar bags.

Yes, the commuter rig is playing in the trees.

We eventually came to a large barrier crossing the Riverwalk along with a sign marking it as closed.  I know Tim has gone through there recently, and Michael was game, so we crossed the barrier and continued.

There was enough mud to clog up between tire and fender.  Several times I had to stop and use a stick to clear the mud.  Michael had less of an issue as he didn’t have a front fender.

The worst part was right along the fence of the golf course.  We actually started walking our bikes on the golf course side of the fence, but turned around and went back to the trail after seeing people on the course.

We eventually made it through the worst of it, and out the other side, back to an open section of Riverwalk, where I cleaned the mud out again.

We wound our way through Shawnee Park and unto Southwestern Parkway.  This eventually becomes Algonquin Parkway and gives access to the Louisville Loop path.

I do find it odd that the best separated cycling facilities in town are in the west end.  Too bad they’re all designed for recreation rather than transportation.

This short stretch of path then dumps you out on Campground Road, which has a bike lane debris-filled gutter.  We took Campground Road to Lee’s Lane and continued into the Lee’s Lane Superfund Site.

We deviated from our course and rode through the now cleaned up site.  It is open to the public and has a trail into the woods.  We rode until we were near the river and the going got a bit tough.  We were able to see the casino in Indiana peeking through the trees.

This was a dead-end for us.  We took a moment to rest and take pictures.

Michael was unsuccessfully trying to find a good spot to get a picture of the casino.

After backtracking and going down a different bike path (there are more bike paths out here than what show on the map!), we took another one down toward the river.  I wish I would have gotten a picture.  It was a short ride on a smooth paved path to a paved lookout area over the river.  We were only about 500 feet from our earlier turn-around, but the elevation was higher.

So, we got back on the Louisville Loop heading south.  This was a nice stretch with guard rails!?

There was also a nicely built bridge over Mill Creek.

For such a small creek, it sat in a large valley.

The path took us parallel to Cane Run Road, and past the Cane Run power plant… coal of course.

There was a huge amount of coal ash nearby.  What isn’t in the picture is the houses across the street.  The coal ash has been in the news recently due to concerns by nearby residents.

We continued and followed the Louisville Loop to the end.  It has an end because it’s not finished.  It ends at the Farnsley-Moremen Landing.  We rested there before turning around and heading back (mostly) the way we came.

We stopped at Nana’s Country Restaurant on Cane Run Road.  I had pancakes, sausage, and coffee.  Stopping was Michael’s idea, but I’m glad he suggested it.

The place is a very “country” restaurant as you would expect.  I didn’t expect fake palm trees outside though.

We continued backwards along our earlier route, except the “diversions” until we got to Broadway, just south of Shawnee Park.  We headed east toward downtown.  We followed Broadway all the way to First Street.  I wouldn’t normally ride on Broadway much, but it wasn’t bad on a early-afternoon Saturday.

We arrived back in Germantown, and went our separate ways.  I had 52.5 miles.

The idea for this ride was Michael’s.  I wish I could take credit.  It was a great ride.  It had enough bizarre terrain to be challenging.  We seldom had to ride in traffic, and when we did it was pleasant.  We weren’t in a hurry, but still rode over 50 miles.  We took little side-trips down unknown paths.  It was the kind of ride that RCCS was formed for, but yet it wasn’t an RCCS ride.  It was just two guys riding around.