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Lon's Description: The next day we will cross into Kentucky
on an old ferry boat at the Ohio River. Kentucky is a nice
area with lots of trees and pretty good roads.
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Lon's Description: The next day we will cross into Kentucky
on an old ferry boat at the Ohio River. Kentucky is a nice
area with lots of trees and pretty good roads.
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Today we rode from Vienna, IL to Madisonville, KY.
The route was almost entirely on back country roads with
a ferry crossing over the Ohio River. The terrain on today's
route was rolling hills, and very scenic and peaceful.
We were blessed once more with excellent weather, with temps in the low 40's at the start, warming up to the 70's by early afternoon. We had an enjoyable lunch in the tiny community of Shady Grove, Kentucky. The contrast between the peaceful country roads we ride on and the busy streets in the larger towns is dramatic, and it almost seems like a different culture in the country. The rolling terrain provided a substantial number of short climbs and then rewarded us with downhills. Our progress is being charted on a large map of the United States that Lon updates daily, and it is encouraging to see that we are about 75% complete. As of today, we have ridden 2342 miles on the tour, and it's a long way from San Diego. |
| Estimated Distance: | 100 Miles |
| Actual Distance: | 105.3 Miles |
| Cumulative Actual Distance: |
2,342 Miles This includes the following off course added miles: San Diego - 2.0 Miles when Chuck and Bob Harting missed a turn Winslow - 4.7 Miles when Chuck, Ken, and Les Drake went to the mural painting after the ride Pagosa Springs - 3.1 Miles when Chuck missed Lunch Alamosa - 11.2 Miles when Chuck missed the turn for Lunch |
| Estimated Feet of Climbing: | 3,500 Feet |
| Actual Feet of Climbing: | 4,730 Feet (Ouch!!) |
| Cumulative Feet of Climbing: | 72,900 Feet |
| Elevation of Destination: | 500 Feet |
| Average Speed on the Bike: |
16.3 MPH |
| Maximum Speed on the Bike: | 42.0 MPH (A great roller!!) |
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Chuck's Heart Rate Data: Max Heart Rate was 196 BPM a few weeks ago before PAC Tour |
Time above 150: 0:08 Time between 130-150: 4:08 Time below 130: 3:10 |
| Dairy Queen Count: |
1 Blythe, CA 2 Twister's Ice Cream in Williams, AZ 3 Dairy Queen in Cortez, Colorado was phenomenal 4 Dairy Queen in Monte Vista, Colorado (PAC Tour Hot Fudge Banana Split: Bananas, 3 Scoops Ice Cream, Hot Fudge on Side: Awesome!!) 5 Dairy Queen in Pratt, Kansas 6 Dairy Queen in Winfield, Kansas - PAC Tour Hot Fudge Banana Split 7 Ice Cream at All You Can Eat Buffet in Cuba, Missouri (Boy, did this restaurant lose money on us!!) 8 Dairy Queen in Farmington, Missouri - Dinner 9 Dairy Queen in Vienna, Illinois - Excellent Chocolate Marshmellow Shake |
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The ferry ride across the Ohio River was fun.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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On the right is Robert Choquette from Ottawao, Ontario,
Canada. Robert is the only cyclist on this PAC Tour from
outside of the United States. Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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On the other side of the Ohio River, we were
greeted by the "Welcome to Kentucky Sign", a popular
photo opportunity for sure!!
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We wanted to stay at the Lunch stop in
Shady Grove for the rest of the afternoon, it was so nice.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Osman and Judy Isvan from Aptos, California,
drive a great tandem that has helped us single riders
cut through the winds.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Burritos for lunch tasted real good.
The Cherry Pie and Suzy Q's were excellent for desert.
We eat a ton of food and the PAC Tour Staff do a great
job buying a good variety for us.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Ed Boecker from Appleton, Wisconsin,
was mighty glad to see his family at the finish line
today.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
| Highlights: |
Another OUTSTANDING day of cycling!!
I noticed some cyclists on the opening segment of Good Morning America and thought to myself: we're going to be doing that in just a few minutes. Cool. There was a great Bird Paceline with three V formations above us early on in the rolling hills. We watched the Men's Olympic Road Race last night and the talk today in the PAC Tour Peloton was: "How in the world did the German Squad manage to get away from everyone else so cleanly to take all of the medals???" At the top of a roller climb, we came upon a Farmer driving his tractor. He saw us stuggling up the last of the hill and made his arms turn like they were cranking, wiped this brow, gave us a big thumbs up, and a HUGE GRIN. It was very inspirational to us. I measured one steep grade to be 60 feet of climbing in one-tenth of a mile ... about 12%. There were a couple of these really steep pieces today. We crossed the Ohio River on a ferry which was a nice break in the action. The roads in Kentucky were of excellent quality with very little traffic. Today and the past couple of days have been overwhelmingly beautiful. PAC Tour takes you to some of the most awesome places in America. I hope to bring my family back here someday to spend more time and do some serious Antique shopping. We're riding our small rockets on a huge Rollercoaster that just keeps going and going. We're in charge of the throttle, the brakes, and our job is to keep them rolling all day. |
| Memorable Scenery: |
After lunch, a beautiful yellow butterfly flew next to us up
a climb. Beautiful farms and cow pastures Many small lakes by people's houses Awesome green forests and canyons No trash bonfires in the front of anyone's house. This compares very favorably to the many we saw in Missouri. Wild sunflowers on the side of the road. |
| Mechanical Problems: |
Chuck had his Third Front Tire Flat. This was
discovered early this morning in the Hotel Room.
Swapped out the tube and Ken found a small wire in
the tire which Chuck evidently ran over in the
Hotel Room. These Hotel Rooms are extremely
dangerous to our tires!! |
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Biomechanical (Engine) Problems: |
None to report!! (And we don't take this for granted!!) |
| What Worked: |
Nice Rollers: The ones where you can get enough momentum
at the bottom to launch you up the other side and over
the top while still in your Big 53 Tooth Chainring. Most
of the rollers today were nice.
Scott and Jim Sitler's pro bike wash and wax job on Chuck's bike way back in Alamosa, Colorado. The Blue Spectrum is still looking good ... thanks to Scott and Jim. No wind Blue skies and warmth of the sun Chuck loves his Aero Bars |
| What Didn't Work: |
Nasty Rollers: The ones where you can't get
enough momentum
at the bottom to launch you up the other side and over
the top while still in your Big 53 Tooth Chainring so
you have to shift to your Small 39 Tooth Chainring.
Most of the rollers in Missouri were nasty.
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| Quote of the Day: |
Sign in front of Church Early this morning outside of Farmington, Missouri |
| Chuck's Song of the Day: |
I'm for tossing in my sleep... I was too tired To see the news when I got home Pulled the curtain And fell on the bed alone I'm an Aerostar I'm a Cutlass Supreme In the wrong lane Trying to turn against the flow I'm the Ocean I'm a giant undertow" Neil Young "I'm the Ocean" on "Mirror Ball" Neil's songs are easily good for 100 miles of cycling!! He's the owner of the Lionel Toy Train Company |
