We had a fast-moving violent storm rip through on Saturday evening. It knocked out power to me and 120,000 of my closest friends here in Louisville.
Tim, Patrick, and I had planned a 50-mile road ride in Shelby and Oldham counties for Sunday morning, but we weren’t sure how passable the roads were in rural areas so soon after the storm.
Tim and I met near Bardstown Rd. We headed toward St. Matthews to meet Patrick.
Storm damageWe worked our way through the parks.
Beautiful morning in the parksEverywhere we went, there were more trees in the road.
Tree down on Rock Creek RdIn some cases, houses were damaged.
Damaged house on Dayton AveWe eventually made our way to the Heine Brothers location in St Matthews. Luckily they were open and we had coffee while waiting for Patrick.
Once Patrick arrived, we talked bikes for a while before heading out.
Tim and PatrickPatrick didn’t miss out on the storm damage on the way either.
Crunch!We eventually wound around to River Rd, including me riding on some mud that was pretty much un-rideable. It later required me to wash the mud from the fenders.
We ran a paceline of three down River Rd at 19-21 mph. That’s fast for me, and it was my first real paceline with rotating leader. I still wouldn’t want to ride like that on a regular basis.
We wound our way back toward the parks again.
Traffic light outages were quite common during the ride.
No power – no traffic lightsWe saw a large tree that had succumbed to the wind.
Poor treeWhen we rolled back into the park, there were a lot of people there.
Nice day at the parkI’m guessing that many people didn’t have power at home (as Tim and I didn’t), and were enjoying being outdoors.
Hogan’s FountainI was taking pictures while riding, thanks to my handlebar bag.
Tim shows how much he wanted his picture takenWe met up with another cyclist going around a downed tree. Before this picture was taken, he pulled off a neat trick by diving down into a cement drainage culvert and riding down it. It reminded me of bobsledding.
Another treeThe park really did seem to get a lot of damage.
Yet another treeIt really was a nice day.
People enjoying the parkI split off at Douglass Loop and meandered toward home. I, of course, saw more trees down along the way. Bonnycastle Ave was completely shut down between Norris Pl and Fernwood Ave. There were power lines on the ground, and a tree service busy working.
Tree and power linesThe clouds were rolling back in by this time. It never did storm again, but it did get windy and a few splatters of rain came after I made it home.
It was far short of the 70-mile day I originally imagined. It was to be a 50-mile road ride, plus 20-miles round-trip to get to the ride and back. Instead it was an urban ramble of 38 miles. I can’t say I was disappointed.
Blimey it was windy here the other day and I was complaining, but looking at your pictures we have nothing to complain about other than our constant rain and lack of sun ha ha
I see now that other folks are getting some of the rain that belongs in Texas. We’ll pass on the damaging wind, but a little rain for the thirsty prairie would be swell right about now.
Always good to see a group of friends on a bicycle outing…
We were out getting dinner at O’Charlie’s after finishing up our hunt for DesertBikes when that storm rolled through — it was really startling. DD looked up (his seat faced the window), said, “Wow, that sky looks ominous,” and then it rolled on over us. It was startling, afterward, to see how much damage there was.
That shot of the house on Dayton pretty much sums it up.
Great shot of Tim, BTW! 😀
Looks like a good ride, it’s a shame about all the damage, though. It’s funny how sometimes something as simple as a small tree in the road can be impassable by car, but bikes can usually get by just fine. Glad to hear you got the camera in the handlebar bag, it’s a great way to go!
Blimey it was windy here the other day and I was complaining, but looking at your pictures we have nothing to complain about other than our constant rain and lack of sun ha ha
I see now that other folks are getting some of the rain that belongs in Texas. We’ll pass on the damaging wind, but a little rain for the thirsty prairie would be swell right about now.
Always good to see a group of friends on a bicycle outing…
We were out getting dinner at O’Charlie’s after finishing up our hunt for DesertBikes when that storm rolled through — it was really startling. DD looked up (his seat faced the window), said, “Wow, that sky looks ominous,” and then it rolled on over us. It was startling, afterward, to see how much damage there was.
That shot of the house on Dayton pretty much sums it up.
Great shot of Tim, BTW! 😀
Looks like a good ride, it’s a shame about all the damage, though. It’s funny how sometimes something as simple as a small tree in the road can be impassable by car, but bikes can usually get by just fine. Glad to hear you got the camera in the handlebar bag, it’s a great way to go!