Day 12
Henderson, KY to Lewisport, KY
I was a bit exhausted today. Started out a little slow. I’m not sure if I was staying in a different side of Henderson but it wasn’t my favorite town perhaps it was just the motel strip but felt a little sketch and I was happy to move on. Once outside Henderson it turned back into country and I was back at ease again. I stopped along the way to take some photos and videos. At one point I stopped to take off my leg warmers and then got distracted by something cool to take a picture of and didn’t realize I hadn’t put away my leg warmers. Doh! I rode for another 10 miles or so even passing the Kimberly Clark plant. Y’all know what that is? TP man! TP! Usually corporate TP and products. 

I arrived in Owensboro and went to a coffee shop to chill and decide how far to ride. It was this stop when I got off the bike and realized my stinkin leg warmer was sitting on the back of my rack. Singular. One. I was totally distracted by taking a picture and didn’t put them away. One was sitting on the side of the road somewhere and miraculously one had survived the last 10 miles sitting on my back rack. I called my Castro Valley bike shop, Endless Cycles who is awesome and offered to ship things to me along the way of needed but they didn’t stock that model, darn it! I looked up bike shops and the first one I called had moved but they referred me to Legends Bike Shop which was super close to where I was. I went in there to get a leg warmer. Holy cow they were so nice! They had actually already packed away all their winter gear but dug out the boxes and dug through them to get me some nice leg warmers and hooked up super special pricing. I chatted with two of the guys working there quite a bit, I think they were Gary and Ryan. Gary even offered to let me stay with he and his wife that night but I really wanted to keep going. I was so tired when I went into the bike shop but somehow they reenergized me to keep going and I got my second wind. 

Leaving town I rode past what I think was Nicky Hayden’s house! Someone in the bike shop had told me he lived out this way. 

I left following my cycling route and came across a bridge that was totally falling apart. It straight had holes in the bridge where you could see through to the stream below. It was technically closed off but dude, I could not pedal backwards and find another route. I very gingerly carried my bike over the gravel and blocked off bridge and across the bridge to the other side. I later emailed the cycling map company to post a detour notice on their website so others making the journey can find an alternate route before they have to backtrack. 

A while down the road I came to find a tractor driving on my road. I slowly caught up to him. I wasn’t going too much faster than him but fast enough that I really needed to pass. It took everything I had to go fast enough to safely pass. I mean…when you’re going 12 MPH and they are going 10…passing is slow. I powered by only to realize there was a hill in the distance. I had to pedal my booty off to get enough distance to hopefully stay in front even on the hill when he has a throttle and my throttle is out of order. I kept looking back over my shoulder to see how far back he was. He kept gaining and gaining on the hill. I begged for the hill to end but it seemed like it went on forever! I was cranking with all my might and losing ground. I could barely breathe. I felt like I was going up that 20%+ grade that I did a few days earlier. Success I was at the top! I looked back and he was not too far back. I kept hoping, praying he would turn! Where the heck was he going? Why was he going so far? Turn farmer man, turn! I was pedaling as fast as possible. This went on for miles. MILES. Every time I turned around, he was back there but I was gaining distance ever so slightly but only to lose it in the following incline. Finally I saw my turn off and thought, please, universe, do NOT let him turn with me!!! I turned the corner and turned back every two seconds to see if he too was turning. About 10 seconds later I saw him cross the intersection going straight and I just about passed out from exhaustion. Biggest adrenaline rush so far…being chased by a tractor for miles and miles! Maybe passing wasn’t worth it but it did get me to my destination an insane amount faster than my normal pace!! 

I stopped in a little town before heading out to the boonies and grabbed a subway sandwich. This is where I met Charlie. I think he called himself Lightening Charlie, it’s possible he was hit by lightening, slightly quirky, just sayin. He made sure to make me promise to tell my parents that lightening Charlie was praying for my safety. So…Dearest Parents, I know you’re reading this so FYI…Lightening Charlie is praying for my safety, there is nothing more to fear. 

Good night.