The Fat Guy

Four of us got together for the RCCS Gravel Wander/Training out of New Washington today.  It was partially just because we enjoy gravel and partially to train and judge our ability for the Gravel Grovel that is only six days away.

The weather started out in the mid-50s, a tad warmer than expected with heavy overcast skies.  It had rained overnight and the roads were wet.

Patrick was riding his new Salsa Fargo, Timothy his new Origin8 29er, Tim was riding his Cross Check, and I was riding my LHT.  So, two disc-brake mountain bikes, and two “road” bikes with cantilever brakes.

We headed northwest out of New Washington on lightly traveled roads.  It was quite nice.  We did stop to adjust clothing early in the ride as we had overdressed.

On Concord Rd was this interesting concrete railroad bridge.  There are no longer tracks on it.  It was built as part of the Marble Hill Nuclear Plant project to bring construction material in by rail.

Shortly after the bridge, we turned on Arbuckle Rd, a nice stretch of gravel.  I wasn’t feeling strong and my speed dropped in the gravel.

After a while, Timothy and I were riding together while Patrick and Tim were further ahead.  As we neared a left turn on the route, Tim and Patrick continued straight.  We yelled for them, but they couldn’t hear us.  We waited a bit but they disappeared from sight.  The “left turn” took us through a gate on to two-track and I thought this was the “mud pit” road I had ridden with Tim in August of last year.

Timothy and I rode down the two-track, figuring we’d meet up with the other two later.  We passed a parked Jeep and continued.  The two-track opened up into a cornfield.  The corn had been harvested leaving 3-inch stalk sticking out of the ground.  We made our way in the general direction of the “road” according to the GPS, but it was veering out of the field into thick underbrush.  We eventually decided that this was not the “mud pit” road and turned around and went back.

While exiting back on to the road, a hunter with a large rifle approached us and asked what we were doing.  He was worried we were messing with his Jeep.  He was actually friendly once he figured out we were not messing with anything.

I talked to Patrick on the phone, and he said they’d meet us at Hutch Rd.  We detoured around the “not road” marked by Google and my GPS as S 900 W.

We made our way to W 500 S and the GPS track for Hutch Rd had us turning left… into a driveway.  Tim and Patrick were not there.  I checked my phone, and there was a text saying they would meet us at the north end of Hutch Rd.  Timothy did not seem eager to ride on private property after the encounter with the hunter.  We detoured around Hutch Rd, but did not see Tim or Patrick where Hutch Rd intersected with S 850 W either.

We continued on for several miles.  Eventually I noticed Tim and Patrick behind us.  They apparently had been chasing us for some distance after seeing my tail light from a distance.  I also found out from Tim that Hutch Rd was the “mud pit” road from last year.  We missed out on that.

We meandered north toward roads Timothy had found while planning the route for the Charlestown Populaire.  Once getting north of Deputy Pike, these were some of the best gravel roads of the day.

I was forcing myself to eat and drink at this point.  I wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but I knew I’d bonk if I didn’t get things down.  I still felt okay though.

It was shortly after this picture was taken, at about mile 28 or 29 that the rain started.  It was a light misting rain.  It persisted for the rest of the ride and made balancing temperature more difficult.

This area was near a small branch of the Muscatatuck River.  We’ve ridden near/over this river many times, just not near here.

We meanders southeast for a while, eventually coming to the town of Hanover, our lunch stop.  We hadn’t researched where to eat, but Hanover has a few places.  Between the GPS devices and smartphones we had, we quickly found Jendy’s Pizza that was only a quarter mile away from where we pulled over to discuss options.  We continued to Jendy’s and walked in quite soggy.

I had a small pizza, a 12″, I think.  Comments were made about my ability to eat large amounts on a ride.  Yes, I’m a pro, don’t try this at home.

The bad part about a lunch break on a cold, wet ride is that you get colder.  Getting back on the bike was hard.  I really wanted someplace warm to curl up and sleep.

We left Hanover descending a steep downhill toward the river.  It was raining a bit harder now.  Tim and I, with out cantilever breaks, were riding the brakes down the hill to keep them dry enough to function.  Timothy and Patrick were enjoying their disc brakes.  All of us were freezing.  A fast downhill without a chance to warm up first made things quite uncomfortable.

We were heading for River Bottom Rd.  The northern part of the road near Hanover is gravel, yet I’ve never ridden that section.  Eventually a sign marked “Road Closed – Travel at your own risk” and the pavement ended.  That was different!

This gravel was large chunky stuff.  It was tough going.  Hit a rock wrong and the bars would try to twist out of your grip.  There were also large black rocks stacked off the side of the road that looked like coal.  I didn’t stop to inspect it, I wanted to keep moving to stay warm.

As we were now down in the river valley, the river was to our left, and hills to our right.  Low clouds were rolling in just over our heads, obscuring some of the hills.  It was surreal, like something out of a movie.

This picture doesn’t do it justice.

Eventually the pavement began again and before long we were on a steep climb on a smoothly paved road – W Prospect Rd.  I was glad for my low gears as I slowly spun up the climb.

We were all very tired by this point.  There was still much gravel.  I can’t remember which roads were gravel, and which weren’t but we still had plenty of gravel.

There was one small loop off of paved road that I had originally planned to ride, as it was extra gravel on those three roads.  We all decided to skip it and moved on.  There was still more gravel.

Somewhere around Taflinger Rd the gravel ended and we were on the home stretch.  We rolled New Washington – Bethlehem Rd into town and back to the cars.

Tim drove me home, but we stopped for coffee on the way.  Once I was home I hopped in the bathtub full of hot water.  I was chilled to the bone, and that seemed the best remedy.  I stayed in the tub for a while reading, until the water started to cool.

Next Saturday is the Gravel Grovel, and I’m about as ready as I’m going to be for it.  I’m fairly certain, barring calamity, that we can make the eight-hour cutoff.  I’m optimistic that we can finish in six and half hours, allowing us to see the awards ceremony.

I’m also fairly certain that my mileage for the month will be quite nice!

Many cyclists will “ride their age” on their birthday.  I wanted to ride 40 miles back in April for this reason.  I was busy with other things and it didn’t work out.

Today was Tim’s birthday.  He broke from tradition and decided he wanted to do a century, and no, he is not 100 years old.  He mentioned something about it to me on Sunday evening, so I took the day off work.

This meant scrambling last night to get the fenders installed on the LHT, as the weather forecast was calling for rain ALL…. DAY…. LONG….

This morning the weather was as predicted.  I rode in the rain to Breadworks for coffee and snacks before heading out.  Temperatures held steady in the low to mid 50s all day, which made clothing decisions a little easier.

We intended this to be a “tempo” ride.  We didn’t want to slog through at 10mph all day.  The route promised a lot of rollers.

We headed south-east on roads that we’ve both traveled before.  Once we were south of Shelbyville, we turned north (and out of the wind!) to our first store stop in Shelbyville at about mile 39.  They welcomed soggy customers.

My camera got wet and you can see the rain drops on the lens.  It’s still working, but not quite right.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures.

Yes, that’s a piece of breakfast pizza and gatorade.  I inhaled it and we moved on.

We headed north out of Shelbyville, then turned north west toward Crestwood.  Mt Zion Rd seemed much longer than it should have.  The rollers were never-ending.  We were wet.  Did I mention it was raining?

We knew we were getting close to our lunch stop in Crestwood, which was also approximately the 62 mile (100K) mark, and would be a good indication of our pace.

We were both riding pretty strong at this point.  We felt better without the headwind and were pushing to make the lunch stop.

We rolled into our lunch stop, Frascelli’s at 1:30, which meant we did a 100K in 5:30.  That’s faster than any other I’ve done.

I had one beer, a glass of water, fried ravioli, and a burger.  I didn’t pay attention to Tim’s food, other than the fact he didn’t eat it all.  Unlike him, I can put down a large amount of food and keep on riding.

The waitress was kind enough to bring us paper towels to dry off with.  Did I mention it was raining?

The rest of the ride was a bit of a slog.  I felt good about my time to the lunch stop, but it went downhill from there.  I was quite cold when leaving Crestwood.  I did warm up after a climb, but I didn’t have the same energy level.  I’ve done a lot of 50-70 mile rides this year, but few centuries.

I was also starting to have saddle issues by mile 80 or so.  I think it was poor position on the bike due to fatigue, but I’m not certain.

There were two stretches of US-42 to travel, which was less than pleasant.  Once we got to River Rd in Louisville, it was rush hour, and we were just in heads-down-get-through-this mode.

We turned into Indian Hills which relieved the traffic situation, but there were well, uh, hills.  They aren’t big hills, but we were tired.

We rolled back in front of Breadworks after nine and a half hours on the bike which is slow, but a good time for me on a century.  Tim rode home to celebrate with his family.  After I rode home, I had about 108 miles.

Issues:  GPS craziness, rain, cold, everything getting wet, sore bits toward the end of the ride

Good things: Felt great when I got home, 100K time was good, food was good, stayed hydrated

It rained about 80% of the ride.  The “miserable” part near the end is where we actually didn’t have rain for a while.  The temperatures started around 50, climbed to about 55, and dropped back to the low-50s by the end of the ride.  I never had to add or shed layers.  That was convenient.

I don’t want to wait until a birthday to do the next century.  I’d like to get one in per month!

* “I am not a nutritional role mode” quote shamelessly stolen from Kent Peterson.

Yesterday’s populaire left me exhausted.  I went to bed early and had plans of getting up early to ride around town with Tim.

I slept through the alarm.  Once I did wake up I noticed a text message from Tim.  He had gone on without me.  Good, I’m glad he didn’t wait.  He watched Dale race at the cyclocross event.

I eventually got enough coffee into me to ride down to Sunergos to drink more coffee and meet up with Tim.  After finish my “breakfast of champions” (scone and brownie), we headed out through UofL and south down through Beechmont and South Third St.

We were fighting quite the headwind in this direction.  The wind was stronger today than what I suffered through yesterday.

We turned on Kenwood Dr to go to Iroquois Park, but Tim decided to check out Kenwood Hill Rd.  We quickly turned around and started our climb.  It seems an interesting part of town, and home of the Little Loomhouse.

Kenwood Hill Rd loops around and dumps you back on Kenwood Dr.  Then we headed to Iroquois Park again.  The day was warming up and there were quite a few walkers and joggers.  The leaves were crunching underneath the tires.  It was quite a peaceful ride, climbing the hill at a relaxed pace.

I stopped at a scenic overlook for pictures.  We continued to the top and rode through a walking path cut through the tall grass.

We left Iroquois Park and headed northeast on Southern Parkway.  Tailwind!  We cruised along at 17-21 mph with very little effort.  It was nice.  This lasted (only slowing or stopping for lights) all the way through UofL and eventually turned southeast on Bradley Ave.

Our route took us through Joe Creason Park and eventually Dundee Rd.  We split up there.  Tim headed for home, I turned north and went to breadworks for more carbs and coffee.

I took the direct route home giving me 27.5 miles for the day (27.9 according to the GPS).

I think Tim had about 10 miles more than me, due to his riding while I slept.

I rode my first LBC populaire in July.  There were several of us RCCS guys on the ride.  I was quite slow, riding the ‘bent, and still recovering from my neck issues, yet I still had people riding with me.  As I recall, there was also a good turnout for that ride.  I also barely made the time limit due to stopping too long for lunch in Lagrange.

I rode another one in September.  My neck was healed about as much as it ever will.  Timothy advertised it as fixie-friendly, perhaps for a stronger rider, and I rode my single-speed.  I walked a few hills, but I enjoyed the ride.  I also rode alone most of the time.

Yesterday was the November populaire.  It was billed as a “distillery tour”.  It left from Buffalo Trace in Frankfort.  Strangely that was the one distillery that I didn’t get to visit.

I managed to get a ride from Timothy to the ride start.  I was well stocked on food as I had no intention of stopping to eat during the ride.  I was riding the LHT with trunk bag for clothing and handlebar bag for everything else.

There were a total of five of us gathered for the ride.  The other four were much stronger riders than I.

We headed out on Wilkinson Blvd and made our way to Bridge St, where an metal-grate bridge goes over the Kentucky River.  My fat tires on the LHT mean that  I couldn’t really even feel a difference in the road surface, but the fact I could look down and see the water below was a bit weird.

At this point, Timothy and David King had pulled out into the lead.  I was in the middle and the two other riders back behind a bit.  I had hoped to stay near other riders as I’m not good at reading cue sheets and GPS data was not provided for the ride.  I did have my GPS tracking my route though.

Eventually we turned left on Devil’s Hollow, our first real climb.  It’s a little over a mile long and varies between 6% and 10%.  It was a workout, but I never felt the need to drop into the granny gear.  I am slow on climbs though, and it was in this stretch that the other two riders passed me.  I was now riding alone, less than four miles into the ride, and would remain riding alone for the remainder.

I was looking for my left turn at Pebblebrook Way followed by another on Pea Ridge.  I was riding along and noticed that I sailed right past Pea Ridge.  I turned around and went down Pea Ridge, assuming that Devil’s Hollow had turned into Pebblebrook Way.  It wasn’t until reviewing my GPS track and maps today that I realized I missed the turn.  My error didn’t save any mileage, so hopefully RUSA won’t care.  :)  Actually, they probably would care if I were trying to get Brevets in to qualify for PBP, but I’m not.

Anyway, at this point I was unsure I was going the right way.  I’m lousy with cuesheets and I was beginning to wonder if this whole thing was a bad idea.  Maybe I should have stayed in bed.  Adding to the morose attitude were these remains on the side of Pea Ridge Rd.

I was frustrated with riding alone on a group ride.  I was frustrated about not knowing where I was at.  The cue sheet seemed a thin thread to keep me going.  I was frustrated with the headwind I’d been fighting my whole time on Pea Ridge Rd.  I came to KY-1665 and headed south.  This gave me confidence that I was indeed headed the right direction.  It also took me directly into the wind.  It was at this point I remembered I had to eat on the bike.  I grabbed a pop-tart out of the handlebar bag and started chewing it while sucking wind.  Not a good combination.  I almost choked.  A few swigs of water later I was better.

I followed KY-1665 along until S Benson veered away, then I followed that.  This brought me to KY-151.  I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I’ve driven KY-151 many times.  It was part of the route I would drive to Harrodsburg when Kristy lived there.

If the route would have taken KY-151 all the way to the 127 bypass, I would have realized where I was, but the route made a quick jog west on KY-512 then south on Puckett Rd.

Puckett Rd was narrow and scenic, but the first half mile had a number of houses and a bit of traffic.  Once I got beyond that area, traffic thinned out.  I stopped to eat and drink (about three minutes) so I didn’t choke on my food, and continued on.  This eventually led to Hammonds Creek Rd, which is busier than the maps would lead you to believe.  I was passed by several large diesels blowing fumes at me.

My mood at this point in the ride was dark, but I was still determined to follow the cue sheet and had no further issues with it since the Pebblebrook Way thing at mile 3.8.  I also knew that I’d eventually be going the other direction and this damn headwind would be a tailwind.

A short jog on KY-44 and turn south on Powell Taylor Rd.  The terrain around Powell Taylor was wide open.  There was no shelter from the wind.  There were often short stone walls that were falling apart.  That’s part of Kentucky I enjoy, but something a little taller to block the wind would have been nice.  The first half of Powell Taylor Rd was a slight climb, followed by a gentle descent.  A group of cows in a field scattered as I rode by.  I nearly choked on my snack again as I tried eating and riding.  At least getting a drink of water was easier.

There was a quick jog on US-62 before I turned southeast on Mill Creek Pike, or KY-513.  It looked much like Powell Taylor Rd, but had a yellow line down the middle.  It was fairly low-traffic.

A quick turn on Bonds Mill Rd (still KY-513) brought me to the first control.  At 30.9 miles was Four Roses distillery.

It as a beautiful, if windy, day and there were plenty of tourists coming and going from the gift shop.  I was in a hurry.  I ran in and used the restroom, refilled my water bottles, and got my card stamped.

I had a couple of questions from the other tourists about my bike, the silliest was “does it have shocks?”

There are rosebushes decorating the grounds around the building.  Quite fitting for “Four Roses”.  I was surprised to see some semblance of roses on them in November.

I headed back out and felt a ton better.  Knowing I was almost half done with the ride coupled with having full water bottles did a lot for my mood.  I had also adjusted to riding alone again, and was enjoying myself.  No, there was no bourbon consumed.  :)

KY-513 continued eastward to US-127 (or is it the bypass, I don’t know).  I had to make a left here, and did so without incident.  I saw the “By-Pass Motors” sign that I’ve seen dozens of times on trips to Harrodsburg.  I knew I was south of Lawrenceburg (Larryville?)  What I didn’t realize is that the route was taking me in a big loop around Lawrenceburg without ever going into town.

I also didn’t realize that my right turn at Harrodsburg Rd was the old 127, so I went past it briefly before figuring it out, and doing a U-turn on the bypass.

I headed north on Harrodsburg Rd.  There was surprisingly little traffic considering it’s the former US-127.  I guess the bypass is really working.  I was approaching the town of Lawrenecburg, but I would turn east on Wildcat Rd before reaching town.

Wildcat was pleasant.  It was slightly rolling, but eventually began diving into the creek valley.  At this point the pavement ended and the route followed the one section of gravel.

The beautiful scenery of Wildcat Rd was marred occasionally by junk dumped on the side of the road or even in the road.  I had to ride around a mattress.

Once reach the lowest elevation it’s going to, Wildcat bends sharply left, the pavement begins again, and a rather eye-catching house greets your entrance to Tyrone KY.  Tyrone is a (former) town along the Kentucky River.  I’m guessing it floods often enough to be unsustainable.  There are more former houses there than occupied ones.

Following Tyrone Rd along the river is pleasant until I come near the quarry.  The gravel trucks rumble by often throwing gravel and diesel fumes.  One passed close enough at full throttle that the jet of exhaust coming out the side warmed my leg briefly.

Then there was a nice climb up to the Wild Turkey Distillery.  I was hoping to run in, get my card stamped, and leave quickly. Unfortunately, there was a good crowd in there and a long line at the counter.

I was able to by-pass the line for a quick stamping of the card, then I was on my way.

Visible from here was the US-62 bridge over the Kentucky River.  It’s quite a distance over the water due to the terrain on the other side.   Also visible is a railroad bridge that’s even taller and substantially older.  I don’t know if it’s still used, as it looks pretty worn out.  I’ve been told it’s called high-bridge.  I did not get a picture.

I continued on Tyrone Rd and turned right on US-62.  From where I turned to the bridge was downhill.  I managed to hit a good speed and took the lane.  There was one car behind me, but he didn’t seem impatient.  After the bridge is a sharp right then the road slopes upward.  I was heading southeast again and had some wind in my face, so my speed suffered.

Visibility on this stretch of road was bad.  Even though I was now hanging to the right it wasn’t safe for cars to pass, and they weren’t passing.  Once a good line of them had built up, I pulled off the road too let them pass.  I took the few moments to eat and drink some more also.

The route eventually turned off of US-62 to Milner Rd, then to Steel Rd, which I followed for quite a few miles.

Steel Rd started out in typical “rough-rural” form.  A few farms, some ramshackle homes.  Eventually it looked more like what rural Kentucky is known for, horse farms and well-manicured estates.  I think I prefer the ramshackle look.

Also I was now heading north.  I had a tailwind!  My mood had improved dramatically.  I hadn’t been lost in many miles and I knew I’d easily make the cutoff time.

The cue sheet had an upcoming left turn for New Cut/McCracken.  There was a right turn for KY-1659/McCracken Pike shortly after that.  I came to a stop sign and the cross road was McCracken Pike.  It was still to early to the first turn.  I zoomed out on the GPS and saw that New Cut would loop around and meet up with McCracken Pike.  Timothy had added this little bit to get the mileage right.  So, I continued straight and later turned left on New Cut.  New Cut was typical horse farm country.

I met back up with McCracken Pike and it was a short ride to the Woodford Reserve distillery.

I’m not a bourbon connoisseur.  They all taste the same to me.  I’ve never had Woodford, and I didn’t have any yesterday.  I’ve heard that it’s overpriced.

I will say this.  Their setup for giftshop and tours is better than the others.  It’s larger, well-staffed, and I was greeted and had freebies pushed at me as soon as I walked in the door.  I really just wanted my card stamped.

They stamped my card and ate a free bourbon ball and was given a shot glass.  I may have to buy a bottle of Woodford just for the service I got as a non-customer.

I continued north on McCracken Pike.  It runs parallel to Glenns Creek for a while.  I went through the tiny town of Millville, which has no other streets.  It’s just McCracken Pike with the creek on one side, and a clump of houses on the other.

I eventually pass the now-defunct “The Old Taylor Distillery Company”.  It looked vaguely familiar.

It took me a bit to remember where I saw it, but I believe this road was on the route of the 2009 Ride to Conquer Cancer.

McCracken Pike eventually is know as Glenns Creek Rd then Martin Luther King Dr.  I ignored the name changes and enjoyed the view.  Where Glenns Creek joins the Kentucky River the road follows the river instead.  It then goes underneath the two impossibly-tall I-64 bridges that seem to cross the whole valley.

As the route enters the Franfort area again, I turn left on Coffee Tree Rd. I saw no coffee.  I could have used a cup.  I did see the State Police Training Academy.

I was on a bit of a hill and had a nice view of the Capitol Building.  A zoom lens made this shot possible.

I didn’t take any more time with pictures.  Coffee Tree Rd pretty much does a 180 where it crosses KY-676 and becomes Glenns Creek Rd, but with no connection to the previous Glenns Creek Rd.

One more climb then a left turn at US-60/Main St with a nice downhill run into town.

From there it was a stroll down Wilkinson Blvd and back to Buffalo Trace.  Buffalo Trace was now closed, but Timothy was waiting at the end to mark my card.  I finished the ride in 5:55, my best 100K ride yet.

What is the indecision?  I’m not sure if I want to do more populaires, or worse yet a brevet.  My riding style is more relaxed, slower, and with stops for food and pictures.  On the other hand an occasional populaire/brevet is good for making me faster without resorting to dedicated training.

I also like group rides to, you know, ride as a group.  I spent nearly all of the ride alone.  I don’t mind solo rides, but those start solo, and won’t have anyone waiting for me at the end.

I don’t know.  I’m still undecided about the future of doing these rides.

The early part of the ride I really wanted to give up the populaire and head for Louisville.  I would have sent Timothy a text message to let him know I wasn’t going to need a ride home.  I then could have ridden any pace I wanted, guilt-free.

Later in the ride I was completely enjoying myself.  I didn’t take as many pictures as I normally do during a ride, but that means few to post here (which is a bit of a pain).

So, I remain undecided, yet overall pleased with the ride yesterday.

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.