Every Sunday, Carrick and I head out on our bikes for a long ride. Sometimes the rides are 10 or 15 miles. The past couple weeks they’ve been 20 or 25 miles. We don’t really plan in advance where we’re going to go. We decide that morning while we’re getting dressed and eating breakfast. A lot depends on the weather. By the time we’ve finished breakfast, pumped up bike tires, filled water bottles and completed various other cycling-related pre-ride tasks, we’ve decided where we’re going. Lately, we’ve been talking about riding out to Farnsley-Moreman (about 25 miles) and back. Today, we decided to ride downtown and out to Shawnee Park to pick up the Louisville Loop. We figured we’d ride toward Farnsley-Moreman, see how far we get before getting tired, then turn around and come back. We ended up doing the entire route, a 50-mile round trip. We stopped at a “cyclists welcome” convenience store to get water and snacks and realized we were only about 10 miles from Farnsley-Moreman. We couldn’t be that close and not finish, so we decided to keep going.
It was a perfect day for a ride. The temperature was probably in the low 80s, humidity seemed very low and it was a beautiful blue-sky day. I’m glad we took advantage of it. The ride took about 4 hours, which I figure isn’t too bad for our first 50-mile ride. Or second 50-mile ride if you count the 50-mile “round-and-round” 100-mile to nowhere ride we did back in May. Overall, it was a pretty fantastic day.
This section of the Louisville Loop runs near quite a few power plants, chemical companies and a couple other companies spewing who-knows-what out of the smokestacks.
Another smokestack.
A cemetery next to one of the huge smokestacks. Seemed strangely appropriate.
A bridge on part of the Louisville Loop trail.
Cyclers welcome.
An abandoned house along the Levee Trail near Farnsley-Moreman.
A bike friendly community.
Railroad tracks among the trees.
Carrick gives the Root Beer a thumbs up. Root beer has become our favorite sugary drink on a long ride. Something about the thick, syrupy sweetness gives the perfect jolt of energy.
I loved this old rusty truck inside a junkyard. There was a huge "Electrified Fence!" sign just to my right. I wasn't sure if it was the outer chain-link fence or the inner fence, but I didn't get close enough to find out.
The Old Spaghetti Factory building in downtown Louisville. I love the architecture of this building.
Today’s food journal:
Breakfast:
– Whole wheat english muffin = 1 point
– 1 Tbsp peanut butter = 2 points
– 1/2 banana = 0.5 points
Lunch (during bike ride):
– 1/2 Builder Bar = 2.5 points
– 1 apple = 1 point
– 1/2 package cheese/peanut butter crackers = 2 points
– 1/2 small Root Beer = 2 points
Dinner:
– Grilled chicken sandwich = 9 points
– About 5 waffle fries = 4 points
– BBQ sauce (less than 1/4 cup) = 1 point
– Iced tea = 0 points
Exercise:
– 50 mile bike ride: 4 hours, 12 mph average = +29 activity points
Life’s a journey. Enjoy the ride!
_O
\<,
…( ) / ( )
Thanks for visiting.
Fantastic photos! I envy you that ride.
Hi Alice,
It was a really good ride. I can’t wait until the Fall color starts – it’ll be even better! Hope you’re doing well!
Alice
[...] Mayor Abramson was active in events and projects which supported the cycling community — the Louisville Loop expansion, Eva Bandman Cyclocross Park and the bi-annual Hike & Bike events, just to name a [...]
[...] to have the headwind on way home. I’ve had this happen on several group rides and also the 50-mile ride Carrick and I did out to Farnsley-Moreman a few months ago. It’s always fun to get 25 miles from home, turn around to ride back and [...]
[...] been out to Shawnee Park, Iroquois Park and Waterfront Park many times and this summer we rode the entire Louisville Loop (the 25 or so miles that are finished anyway. From home and back that day ended up being around [...]