Day 14: Hills for Breakfast

June 19, 2022 in Owensboro, Kentucky

WAHOO I finished the ride!! After a lovely night under the stars and a 5:30 wake-up covered in dew, I was ready to get the day started. Or maybe more "damp" than "ready," but it is what it is.

I rolled out with a group I'd never ridden with before, around 7 or 7:30, and we headed straight for a local donut shop. I got a strawberry glazed to eat after lunch.

We cruised pretty fast today, averaging between 12 and 18 miles per hour, and we made awesome time before lunch, with just one quick stop for a snack.

Lunch was also delicious, and I had a turkey cheese and spinach sandwich with hummus, my donut, and a cup of coffee.

After lunch, the ride continued to be beautiful, with rolling hills and farmland on both sides. There were very few cars as well, and the ones that did pass were very friendly and didn't swear at us at all!

Around 11 miles after lunch (15 before our host) I bonked, which means that I got too hungry and started to feel gross. We pulled over in the shade and my friend gave me some salty chips which helped a lot.

We also made our submission for sweepstakes, which is a challenge that sweep (the last people riding whose job it is to stay behind everyone in case they need help) comes up with every day. Today was who can find the best piece of roadside garbage (and take pictures). We found a TV and obviously won.

As an added bonus, we saw an Aussie today who looked just like my old dog, running in a field. She looked very happy.

Then, another exciting moment on the road happened around 8 miles from the host! I was leading my group which was now four people and we had just gotten in to position in the center of the lane to turn left. All four of us had our left arms out to signal the turn, but a motorcycle still passed us on the left, almost hitting us.

I didn't panic, and yelled to everyone to keep going straight. I then signaled and pulled everyone off at the next left turn, then circled around and took the right turn to get back to where we were trying to go.

I was very proud of myself for keeping my cool and making a safe decision for the group.

Three miles later we passed a Dairy Queen and got blizzards, so there's some good karma out there for sure. I got Thin Mint and it rocked my socks off.

It felt so, SO awesome to roll into the host on a bike having killed it on the ride.

The showers, however, were not so awesome. I am not exaggerating when I saw it was a single trickle of cold water, but I made do.

And the host made us dinner! A full taco bar, brownies, sweet iced tea, and lots of electrolyte drinks called Body Armour. It was the best meal I've had since Richmond!

I FaceTimed my dad for Fathers' Day and my mom (just because I like her) after dinner, and now I'm on the phone with Jonathan as I write!

I am in the truck tomorrow (thank goodness), but the wake-up time is still 4:30, so I'll be getting in bed as soon as the laundry is done.

Yay for a very good day!!