Distance: 22.0 mi, Climbed: 1,660 ft
Completed: 1,078.4 mi, 56,238 ft
Yesterday afternoon’s rain cut our ride short, so today’s route was really the second half of yesterday’s ride—just 22 miles in total. Most of the day was spent in Indiana before Rich and I finished by crossing into Kentucky.
It was another day of quiet roads and wide-open farmland, with a constant blend of rural and suburban life. Along the way were picnic tables in front yards, flags waving from porches, birds chirping, paddocks holding grazing cows, homeowners cutting their lawns, the cock-a-doodle-doo of chickens, tire swings hanging from trees, and side-by-side garages sheltering both tractors and family cars. It felt like the kind of landscape where people spend a lot of time outside.
Every so often, the landscape shifted from open farmland to forested hillsides that were too steep to farm. The valleys held the homes and fields, while the hills were left covered in dense green trees.
Crossing into Kentucky over the Ohio River Bridge was the day’s one tense moment. The shoulder was barely there, and cars and trucks sped past us nonstop. Rich took the lead, holding a steady cadence and keeping us riding as close to the bridge’s edge as possible while traffic roared by.
The reward was waiting on the other side—a proper “Welcome to Kentucky” sign.
We stopped to take a few pictures. Since it definitely wasn’t a pedestrian-friendly area, we were surprised to suddenly notice a man briskly walking toward us from a car that had pulled over nearby. Rich and I immediately wondered if we were somehow in trouble.
Instead, it turned into one of those unexpected moments this trip keeps giving us.
Ron and his wife Susan have been bikepacking for more than thirty years, and Susan runs a bicycle travel blog. They’re planning a Seattle-to-Nova Scotia trip next summer, so naturally we had plenty to talk about. Ron shared ideas for future trips Rich and I might enjoy, gave us his phone number, and insisted we call if we needed anything.
For such a short riding day, it ended up holding a little bit of everything—quiet roads, a stressful bridge crossing, and another reminder of how quickly strangers can become connections out on the road.
