Louisville was given an unlikely respite in late August this year. The temperature plunged to low and mid 70s, humidity disappeared, and a cool breeze filled the air. Perfect opportunity to really build some miles. I had to sit off to the side both weekend days past. The schedules my wife and work are great for not having to pay for daycare…less great to squeeze any amount of time in for oneself. So as I did things like cut the grass I thought longingly of hitting the road for 50-60 miles. The nice exception was a visit by good friend Tex to theoretically watch the conclusion of the Tour of Ireland on TV. We saw some of the race as we fought to pay attention over the general melee unfolding in my basement. At least we got to drink some beers…

Monday at lunch I set out for one of the harder rides I have in my arsenal. Six to seven good, reasonably well trafficked roads lead up to the Spickert Knob climb. It has a pretty long ramp up before it hits you with the steep grade for about a half mile. If you fail to take into account the lead-in you are duly screwed on the main climb. From there I thread my way across the top ridge line overlooking all of Louisville and the Indiana boroughs. This leads to some fine riding across the back of the Knobs with low traffic and mostly flat roads. However, after I crossed Paoli Pike it brings you through Old Hill Road. This is a stretch of rollers that will make you wonder why you put this at the tail end of the ride. That was good for 23 and I hit the showers.

Since the weather was so nice I left my car at work and scooted home. I keep an extra shirt etc. at work for such occasions. The PM/AM flip is an interesting way to knock out a commute. Sure I left my car on the street all night but who really cares. I have honed my route home down to its shortest length at 12.85. I made decent time and proceeded directly to dinner making upon arrival. I found out the next morning that there was a colossal wreck on my driving route home that would have caused me much havoc and lateness. Score one for bicycle commuting…I had no idea.

This morning I set out at about 5:07 and meandered toward work. It was cool and damp as I set out and fortunately I remembered to bring a towel to mop the seat and bars prior to departure. I tried to take a picture of downtown Louisville from across the river but I needed a tripod so I abandoned it. There is a stretch of road from Clarksville to New Albany that goes along the river from the Lewis and Clark landing site to Emery crossing. It has the weirdest feeling I ever encounter on a bike. It is pitch black and almost feels swampy. In fact it reminds my of the spooky swamp parts of “Wild Things” and “Adaptation”. I was glad to clear it, roll down that fresh blacktop on Spring Street and hit the office with a cool hour under my belt. It is kinda wild to have ridden 14 miles, showered, shaved, and be at your desk at 6:30 am.

Although this constant riding and showering was tiring me a set an ambitious route for lunch today. I headed North along Budd Road heading towards the casino more or less. It is a mostly blissful, scenic, low traffic deal with one huge exception – 1.5 ugly miles of Indiana 111. There is a lot of haul-assing, and bike-clipping going on. So much that today I said screw it and just rode in the ample but bumpy shoulder. I saw an amazingly hot girl fetching her mail on Gap Hollow Road in the vicinity of the surely interesting “Gap Hollow Coon Hunting Club”. She looked like she belonged in a magazine shoot, she shot me a smirk – likely a reaction to my ridiculously tight get-up…and so it goes. I also got stung by a bee at high speed for the second time in about a month. That makes for a moderate freak out on the bike, its like it was flying around with its stinger out.

So that did it – 22 more miles in the book, one more shower.