When we left off in Part One, Diane and I were invited to sleep indoors in the warmth. Once in the spare bedroom, I was asleep within seconds.
I woke to coffee and breakfast served by our hosts – my future brother in-law and his wife. I had hauled my Esbit stoves with me for morning coffee, but this turned out to be unnecessary.
We were able to shower before heading back out. This was quite nice, and different than the average bike-camping trip.
Unlike Saturday, we didn’t have to worry about rain. It was a beautiful day, if a bit cool.
I had a different route planned. It was a little longer, a little hillier, and a little more scenic. We struggled on the hills. We eventually scrapped the planned route and took a more direct route. This required taking the lane on busy multi-lane roads. We had no issues.
My favorite part of the day was a brief break we took near the Snyder Freeway. We pulled off into a grassy field, and sat in the grass, drank wine, and ate some crackers. We should have brought cheese!
I adjusted Diane’s saddle (and watered the brush) and we were back at it.
We stopped at Mark’s Feed Store, Diane’s favorite BBQ place, along Shelbyville Rd. There was a large crowd waiting to get in, and they really liked the loaded tandem.
We had a large lunch and a beer and moved on.
We really were in “get back to the barn” mode now. This was the last of the pictures. We did make another stop for beer, but it was brief.
We rode three roads that I usually avoid: Shelbyville, Hurstbourne, and Taylorsville. They are high-speed, heavy-traffic, multi-lane roads. I took the right lane and let people go around. We really didn’t have any problems other than odd looks.
I do think that Louisville drivers are pretty clueless about how bikes fit into traffic. I don’t think they’re all that aggressive about it. There are always exceptions… but not for us on this trip.
We arrived home, tired and sore. This was more than 50 miles over the weekend – which is new to Diane. I still have saddle issues on the tandem, so I was a bit tender.
Overall, Diane still loves the tandem. She tells me that pretty regularly. How can I not love her for that?