It was off we go to Springfield. The first order of business was to make the journey to the cyclist rest stop at the Bluegrass Long Horn Ranch. After a few twisty roads and climbs, and a quick trip through Paint Lick, we made good time to the rest stop. The rest stop is a welcome site for cyclists because the family that runs the facility has gone out to make it very convenient and accommodating. They purchased the property to run their cattle. Their house is next door. In this rest stop there is a composting toilet, solar heated shower, small pavilion where the milking station was located in a demolished barn, grass, security, and cold water kept in cooler. They also invite cyclists to camp overnight. While we there the lady that operates the stop came by and provided us with a small loaf of banana bread and a chocolate brownie. It was a hot and humid morning so the ice water and food was very much appreciated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as we left Berea the countryside changed. The hills were lower, the poverty was gone, the houses larger, the yards and fences well maintained, and there were actually fields of crops growing. However we did still have some dogs to deal with but not as frequent or large. One dog still managed to slobber on Sue\u2019s left pannier but a blast, and my final blast, from my air horn was enough to stop any damage to the bag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After leaving the rest stop there was a quick left turn. The road signage was covered by shrubbery and we almost blew by the turn. Bill and Greg behind us were not so lucky. Greg missed the turn but Bill saw it. We kept on going up and over the hills and stopped for cold drinks about 20 miles later. As we were leaving the convenience store in Bryantsville we both heard a whistle. It was Bill. We waited for him to catch us and he was in a panic in that he could not find Greg. We knew that Greg was not in front of use. A quick phone call to Greg let us know that he was about 10 minutes behind us. So we waited for Greg to also to catch up to us. It was not Greg\u2019s fault that he missed the turn, we almost did too. If it was not for the phone app we probably would have as well. From this point we decided to ride together again but we had to push hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill and Greg were going to stop in Harrodsburg and Sue and I were going to continue to Springfield. In the last 4 miles before Harrodsburg we got separated. Bill and Greg took another wrong turn and we waited 40 minutes for them to catch up to us, but they never did. Their wrong turn took them through Harrodsburg and on the way to Springfield, which was 30 miles west of Harrodsburg. When we finally spoke on the phone we determined that they were 6 miles beyond us. Instead of turning back they continued onto Springfield. We needed to hustle to catch them and get to Springfield before dark and also before a storm hit. The scenery in the last 20 miles was absolutely fantastic with stretches of one lane roads, covered by tree canopy and somewhat flat. We never caught Greg because of the lead he had on us out of Harrodsburg and because he can make great speeds on his recumbent bike on the flats and downhills. Bill, we caught 12 miles before Springfield, and passed him. Our rush was to avoid as much of the lightening and rain storm as possible. We did ride in the rain but the lightening seemed to be behind us. We all made it safely to our destination for the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s stats: total mileage 77.06 miles; average speed 11.8 mph, elevation gain 5003 feet, elevation descent 5121 feet, max speed 36.4 mph. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was off we go to Springfield. The first order of business was to make the journey to the cyclist rest stop at the Bluegrass Long Horn Ranch. After a few twisty roads and climbs, and a quick trip through Paint Lick, we made good time to the rest stop. The rest stop is a … <\/p>\n

Read On<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n