Trish & Phill's Tandem TransAmerican

Tour 2003 

May 27 Bardstown - White Mills 62 miles

Last night I went to bed wondering how I was going to manage today's ride because I was so tired. Mornings are routine now with me doing certain jobs and Trish doing others. I roll the mattresses, stuff the sleeping bags in the bags, pack away the tent. Trish gets breakfast and makes our lunches.

I ached as we started the ride and within 1.5 miles there was a huge hill, not fair ! As the day progressed I started to feel a lot better and was very aware to ensure eating and drinking at least within 90 minutes or so

When we had planned this trip we had said that no matter what we would get off the bike and push it for 5 minutes or so each hour. That would relieve the butt and also get us using different muscles. Well that theory is out the window, the hills have taken care of that. I thought the big hills had finished but here we are still pushing up the odd one.

The amount of Road Kill is increasing again, all sorts of animals on the road are to be found. It a shame but it is an indication of the amount of wildlife around. We cycled past a five foot snake lying on the road this morning (alive) up to now they have been dead ones but not this one boy were we glad we were cycling on the other side of the road.

A lot of the road in the afternoon changed to rolling hills. We are able to put the bike into top gear and speed up to about 40 miles an hour. The next hill slows us down and we nearly reach the top before we are struggling again. This is were Trish comes into action she can stand up and really power us up the last bit of the hill. This activity saw us average about 17 miles/hour for near two hours this afternoon.

Tonight we are at a Christian Camp site. Some kids are training on the oval practicing their Tee Ball skills. There are lots of kids but not many moms or dads - typical sports club scene I guess !

The camp site is reached by crossing over a single lane bridge over the river Nolin.

As we crossed I looked down into the water and saw a 3or 4 foot snake swimming in the water. Later in the evening I saw a family with young kids fishing off the bank of the river. Wonder if their mother would have them there if she had seen the snake? I'm told a lot (most) are non poisonous but I have a strong opinion about a good snake !

We passed by some Amish Folks today they are a religious group that do not have modern day conveniences by religious choice/beliefs, electricity, cars, synthetic fabrics, even zips are shunned. We saw them riding their horse and carts the men had hats and hair !

Page owned & maintained by Trish Collins email to  trishphill@aapt.net.au.  Last Updated 28/07/2003