YTD – 910
MTD – 171
Sunday – 39
Getting out for a rare non-lunchtime ride was the plan for last weekend. On Sunday I squared up my babysitting, got the kids to bed for nap, crammed in a bunch of chores and hit the road.
I met up with Tim at his house, pumped up the tires and got after it. Tim chronicled the ride here. The week leading up to Sunday had been pretty chilly, I was pleasantly surprised to find the temperature at 50. Tim and I joked about him going to church/Thanksgiving lunch and being a good family man. I said surely his getting right with the Lord had done the trick.
We went out Eastern Parkway toward U of L then hooked over to Algonquin Parkway towards the West End. and Shawnee Park. I don’t think I have ever been to Shawnee park despite living in Louisville my entire life. We hooked onto Southwestern Parkway which featured a bike lane that was nearly unusable due to being strewn with tire killing rocks. We came into the park and headed onto the Riverwalk. I was aware of its existence but never actually been on it. The path stretches roughly 6 miles around the city. Through a good portion you can actually see the New Albany roads I normally spend time on. We came through town and headed out River Road. There was a great uncrowded stretch through lower River Road where we pushed up around 20 mph and were really getting it. Our path led us into St Matthews and back to the Highlands. Tim felt compelled to bag on me for having poorly adjusted quick release levers. When we got back to his house he gave me a lesson in their operation and fixed mine to the appropriate position. He even suppressed his frowns when noticing that I had cranked them so tight that the metal was grinding off…sorry. Of course I had given it to him about his decided lack of a brass bell for his otherwise very “bobbish” bike.
As I headed back to my house I somehow forgot that I would have to climb one last hill up Trevillian to get back home. My legs felt great until I got hear and then I finally had to shift down to the small ring in the front. After that it was smooth sailing and I was ready to hang it up. This was my longest ride so far and it sure felt great. We made hopeful plans for century rides and S24O camping trips come spring and summer.
It was a great day and like Tim likes to say – we kept a smile on our faces all day.
