To Louisville, Day 3 - Louisville!

I’m finally in Louisville. I’m staying at an apartment that a couple of my friends just moved into, and there is not yet any internet here, so this is being posted a few days later. Regardless, here’s what happened on the last day.

I woke up, still in my tent. It was one of those nice, foggy, crisp mornings, with dew everywhere. I packed everything up at a deliberate pace, and set off after a breakfast that cost far more than it was perhaps worth--the place where I stayed was behind a building that also housed a Denny’s. In any case, I had a spectacular hash, with eggs and coffee to boot.

I kept pedaling. I missed a turn that was evidently crucial to avoiding the ever-malevolent Route 60, so I wound up on 60, after asking directions to Louisville from people who had obviously never traveled any distance by bike in their lives. It turned out to be yet another time I had been the recipient of hospitality for which I hadn’t really asked.

Route 60 (Shelbyville Road) started out well enough: three or four lanes, often with a sidewalk. But, as with my previous 60 experience, it gradually narrowed until it was two lanes with neither shoulder nor sidewalk. It was slightly less busy than my initial 60 experience, but ultimately, I pulled off the road, then saw, not only a house, but a house with a pick-up truck in its driveway. I resolved to ask whoever lived there if I could hitch a ride from them. It turned out, though, that I didn’t have to go that far.

As I was walking my bike up the driveway to the house, a truck pulled up to the driveway, the passenger window rolled down. I walked over. The man driving asked if my bike had broken down; I said that it hadn’t, just that I was beat and the road was doing me no favors, and that I’d greatly appreciate a ride up until the road wasn’t so horrible. He said he was headed to a John Deere station a ways back, but afterward he was headed toward Louisvile. We loaded the bike into the truck bed and set off. He introduced himself as Trey.

On the road, we talked a bit. Trey was kind, and had been through some rough times. He urged me to go back to college eventually. I’m still not convinced. Maybe in Europe I’ll go to a college. Who knows.

Trey let me off in Midtown, close to the St. Matthew part of Louisville. I kept biking, asked for directions to the University of Louisville, got confused, then got lost in Seneca Park. That was my favorite part of the ride, even though my leg muscles would retaliate the following few days. And the icing on that cake: I came out of the park on a road that led directly to the University. Imagine that.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and sipping coffee. It was quite satisfying, after going roughly 100 miles over the last few days. Here’s to the next hundred.