Wednesday June 29 ~ Ride Day 14
Cloverport, KY to Historic Corydon, IN 61 miles
HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY, MAHLIQUE!!
I rode today but not yesterday. Yesterday I started a conference call at 9:30AM CST and kept working afterward. So, no ride yesterday which means no pictures from me. But Suep has some!
We arrived in Cloverport, KY and met the most incredible and wonderful couple in Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley. They are in their 80's with grandchildren our age! And they run an antique store with fantastic and interesting artifacts. Mr. Wheatley was also twice mayor of Cloverport in the past. They own the beautiful and historic home that is now a bed & breakfast. It was a perfect stay with four bedrooms, boys, girls and adults.
Mayor Susan Hendricks treated us to dinner in the new restaurant in town and we followed it up with a tour of her husband Bob's koi pond. That expanded to their lovely pool area which resembled a tropical outdoor bar. Then Bob invited us into his "man" cave where no Youth Cyclists were allowed to go. There we had adult only conversation and laughed quite a bit. The kids hated not being included; and that was the point of it all. hehe. We ended the night and watched the amazing sunset that they see every night in the summer.
I awoke early today to get a little work done as I'll be in rural KY most of the day. With that completed I roused the crew and soon was outside packing the van. At first touch, it was chilly. Had to be in the high 60's. By the time I pulled everything down to the van I no longer was wearing a light jacket. The sun was warming even in the early hour of 7am.
The ride was uneventful with the exception of a few stunning views of the countryside. Itza, my ever faithful ride partner, was there to share the view and take a picture before my battery died. Of the most memorable was the ride across the Ohio River. This was traditionally (at least for some time) the crossing of River Jordan, Freedom! As we crossed the bridge I felt something stir within that made me elated that we've come this far. As I looked down from the bridge I thought of all the people who used this section as their crossing point. I viewed from bank to bank and thought of how difficult, exhilarating and complete it must have felt to finally be over the other side.
Toward the end of the ride we were winding in and out of small neighborhoods paralleling the major highway. Only a few dog chases. All were stopped with the simple "STOP" command. None looked vicious except the large red doberman pincher. But he never came out of his yard. He sure did make the boys "woop", though. hehe
Toward the end it was Chris, Itza and I riding behind the rest of the group. Soon, they were out of site but we kept going along Hwy 135; riding along the shoulder. At what seemed a very large hill upcoming we decided to check the GPS. It said we should double back 2miles and turn left and take Old Hwy 135. Instead, we went 200 ft up and made a right to connect with the same road to get into the city.
Once we arrived we saw no one familiar to the group. Where's the van? Must be at the YMCA. Stopped at the Visitor's Center to get directions and then headed to they "Y" to discover no one was there! Well, Ibn and Ife were, so we were in the right place. After a while everyone was there and my mother-in-law, Jit and grandmother-in-law and family drove in from Spencer and Bloomington, IN to meet up with us. Jit cooked a wonderful selection of Thai dishes for the Youth Cyclists to eat.
Afterward, they met with Ms. Maxine Brown who was willing to meet our group and share the history of the Leora Brown School. A one room school house with a rich history in the African-American community. Ms. Brown's aunt Leora (the school was named after her years later) was a student, then teacher of 25 years at the school. I'm told, it was the only school for Blacks at the time. Ms. Brown also treated the Youth Cyclists to a lasagna dinner. Thai food for lunch, Italian for dinner. I would be amazed if someone said they were hungry later. Well, not really. We have ways to burn off this fuel.
I know all this second hand as I worked today and was not a part of the festivities. But working is what allows me to make this magic happen and I'm happy to do it.
I'll try to upload more photos, too. You may view them at Picasaweb.google.com. Search for spokenrev
Cloverport, KY to Historic Corydon, IN 61 miles
HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY, MAHLIQUE!!
I rode today but not yesterday. Yesterday I started a conference call at 9:30AM CST and kept working afterward. So, no ride yesterday which means no pictures from me. But Suep has some!
We arrived in Cloverport, KY and met the most incredible and wonderful couple in Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley. They are in their 80's with grandchildren our age! And they run an antique store with fantastic and interesting artifacts. Mr. Wheatley was also twice mayor of Cloverport in the past. They own the beautiful and historic home that is now a bed & breakfast. It was a perfect stay with four bedrooms, boys, girls and adults.
Mayor Susan Hendricks treated us to dinner in the new restaurant in town and we followed it up with a tour of her husband Bob's koi pond. That expanded to their lovely pool area which resembled a tropical outdoor bar. Then Bob invited us into his "man" cave where no Youth Cyclists were allowed to go. There we had adult only conversation and laughed quite a bit. The kids hated not being included; and that was the point of it all. hehe. We ended the night and watched the amazing sunset that they see every night in the summer.
I awoke early today to get a little work done as I'll be in rural KY most of the day. With that completed I roused the crew and soon was outside packing the van. At first touch, it was chilly. Had to be in the high 60's. By the time I pulled everything down to the van I no longer was wearing a light jacket. The sun was warming even in the early hour of 7am.
The ride was uneventful with the exception of a few stunning views of the countryside. Itza, my ever faithful ride partner, was there to share the view and take a picture before my battery died. Of the most memorable was the ride across the Ohio River. This was traditionally (at least for some time) the crossing of River Jordan, Freedom! As we crossed the bridge I felt something stir within that made me elated that we've come this far. As I looked down from the bridge I thought of all the people who used this section as their crossing point. I viewed from bank to bank and thought of how difficult, exhilarating and complete it must have felt to finally be over the other side.
Toward the end of the ride we were winding in and out of small neighborhoods paralleling the major highway. Only a few dog chases. All were stopped with the simple "STOP" command. None looked vicious except the large red doberman pincher. But he never came out of his yard. He sure did make the boys "woop", though. hehe
Toward the end it was Chris, Itza and I riding behind the rest of the group. Soon, they were out of site but we kept going along Hwy 135; riding along the shoulder. At what seemed a very large hill upcoming we decided to check the GPS. It said we should double back 2miles and turn left and take Old Hwy 135. Instead, we went 200 ft up and made a right to connect with the same road to get into the city.
Once we arrived we saw no one familiar to the group. Where's the van? Must be at the YMCA. Stopped at the Visitor's Center to get directions and then headed to they "Y" to discover no one was there! Well, Ibn and Ife were, so we were in the right place. After a while everyone was there and my mother-in-law, Jit and grandmother-in-law and family drove in from Spencer and Bloomington, IN to meet up with us. Jit cooked a wonderful selection of Thai dishes for the Youth Cyclists to eat.
I know all this second hand as I worked today and was not a part of the festivities. But working is what allows me to make this magic happen and I'm happy to do it.
I'll try to upload more photos, too. You may view them at Picasaweb.google.com. Search for spokenrev
Spoke 'n Revolutions Youth Cycling UGRR Tour 2011 ~ Visit the nation's National Parks.
Let's Move Outside!
No comments:
Post a Comment