93 miles. Portsmouth, OH to Paris, KY
Probably one of the best mornings yet. We were on the road by seven and the mist added a cool effect. Right before crossing the Ohio River to enter Kentucky we went to check out the Portsmouth Flood Gate murals. Its this .5 mile stretch of floodwalls that trace the history of portsmouth in huge murals. Each one in itself was overwhelming and having about 50 of them was out of this world. My favorite was the very first one showing some kind of weird crop circles which is supposedly Portsmouth at the beggining of time or something. Talk about modest beginnings...They were also totally pristine and graffiti free. Major props to Ohio for that awesome public artwork.
The bridge crossing the ohio river has been our coolest yet, it was one of those A designs and just really pleasant to cross with no car traffic. Right on the other side was our welcome sign into Kentucky, which had a way too long web address. You would think it would simply be kentucky.gov but it was really beautifulpristinewildruggedunbridledkentucky.org or something like that. The whole concept of crossing into states has been kinda wierd in general since it all blends together after a while.
The roads were great though and the Kentucky scenery was really beautiful with its gentle green hills and pastures. At one point there was this awesome red exposed wall of rock on the side of the highway. We made super great time and flew 40 miles all the way into lunch. The day off had really re-energized all of us and we were totally feeling it. Larry and I stuck together the whole day. He was great as always, such a cool dude, Had some good conversation about music, and learned he played the euphonium. I also learned that there is such a thing as a euphonium.
By the second lunch the sun had def started having its way. It's cool though since this soda delivery guy apparently decided to donate several cases of cola to our group. First of all i love regional specialties. This was a cola called Ale - 8 - 1 pronounced "A late one" that's native to Kentucky. The story behind the name still doesn't make sense but it is a ginger drink and I love it.
The riding is great though I wouldn't mind more fun things to do along the way. Most of the time we're literally in the middle of nothingness, as beautiful as it is. Paris is a nice little time which is apparently the land of "Horses, homes, and hospitality" in that order. Could we even think of 3 more awesome words to describe a place?
We're staying at a YMCA tonight and upon arriving we all celebrated our longest day yet(92 miles) with a pool party and some fun diving. Afterwards 14 guys piled into the less than 14 person sauna. Things def got steamy in there.
For dinner we all went out to this decent Chinese restaurant for some MSG goodness in what was yes, the tallest three story building in the world. Again, we ate dinner in the tallest three story building in the world in Paris, Kentucky. Life is great. Also, Colin Hood explained to use that in Asian cultures it is considered crass to hold your chopsticks close to the bottom and the higher up you hold them the more you are respected. My fortune cookie for the night stated: "You are about to pass a difficult test" Deep and personally relevant as always...
Tomorrow is another 5am day and 80ish miles but i'm pumped for Louisville. Hopefully i can pick up a baseball bat (really useful when biking i know), We have our first day off there which will be much welcomed.
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