Day 7

Today was challenging. We started off at Kentucky Dam Village. It is a really beautiful state resort park on Kentucky lake. We had a great view over the water and the harbor. I only wished we had more time to enjoy it. We were on the road by just after 8am. The terrain of western KY is a lot different from the mountains of eastern KY, but still present some challenges. I am just glad we start in eastern KY and end in western KY, because by the end of the trip you legs are just tired.

Steven has done really well. The ride can be very grueling at times. But he is such a trouper and just keeps pedaling. We faced some enormous challenges today. Just after lunch we crossed into Illinois and then into Missouri. We were only in Illinois for about 1/2 mile. The bridges approaches were quite a climb and we had to pedal fast to keep in the paceline and cross quickly. We did not want to spend too much time on the brides as they are narrow and we were holding up traffic. The rest of the team provided a great deal of encouragement for Steven and I and made sure we were protected in the middle. The winds where amazingly strong. It was really great of the team to adjust to help us over the bridges. On a tandem your speeds very as the bike is heavy and does not accelerate like a super-light single bike. We also tend to go down hills faster and don't slow as quickly. But the group adjusted for us, so that we would be safe.

The winds where about gusting from 15 to 35 miles an hour and fairly constant. Once you cross into Missouri you are in the river flood plains. The landscape is flat fields with few trees to block the wind. The wind was coming almost straight at us. And for Steven and I it would have been better for us if the wind was coming straight at us, because I would be blocking the wind for Steven. Unfortunately at a slight angle it hits both of us. We went for 17 miles fighting the wind. It was like going the entire way up hill.


We at the famous Lambert "Home of the Throwed Rolls" res truant. Voted the best place to pig out by the travel channel. The food and atmosphere were great. They literally throw the rolls across the place to you. Just hold up you hand and they toss away. Steven thought it was really cool.


We ended the day with Lee Anne Turner sharing her musical talents with us. It was a great way to wrap up the day.

Today sort of started the bittersweet end. Today was the last full day of riding. Tomorrow we start out with a quick 43 mile ride to Union City TN. Then we have lunch pack up and head for home. We should arrive back in Louisville around 8:00pm.

Thank you everyone for your encouragement and donations.

--Bill

Day 6

Today was about the best weather day we have had. Steven and I took it easy this morning and did not ride until lunch. This day was 128 miles of riding and that meant 8+ hours on the bike. I knew that it would be best for us to start a bit later so that we did not hold up the other cyclist. They need to keep things fast to finish at a reasonable time tonight as it was we did not arrive at Kentucky Dam Village until around 7:30. We tend to be a bit slower. It was much easier to keep up later in the day when they were tired and we were fresh.

Several times through this ride I have had some incredible food. Like today I had a really good banana shake at the Island Dairy Freeze. I wonder if maybe it all tastes so good because by the time I get there I am really hungry.

Steven and I had a really nice ride. Steven and my favorite part was was crossing the bridges and damn at Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake right as the sun was low in the sky. It would have made a great picture.

We had lunch at Wendy's today. That made Steven's day. Its his favorite fast food. We met our Face's of MS person, Debbie McCracken and her husband at lunch. She told us about her struggles. It is just heart wrenching to hear the difficulty's that people are facing with MS. Right now she is doing OK with MS but at times she can't even hold her grand-babies. I can't imagine not being able to hold or hug my kids.

The road is filled with obstacles for us from dogs to flat tires. Kent Lee struggled a bit yesterday with flats. He discovered he had a bur on his rim that caused him to have a few flat tires until he found it.

Day 5

Today started out great. Steven rejoined today, in great spirits and ready to roll. We rode nearly all morning without rain. The last few miles before lunch it started to rain. We made it across the Ohio River bridge into Brandenburg KY. Then we packed it up and rode in the van. It was just to cold for us to ride in the rain and just not safe enough. We also did not have appropriate rain gear.


We had lunch at the local Dairy Queen in Brandenburg. They provide a free lunch to all of us. Everyone who worked there and the manager were just awesome. If you are ever in Brandenburg made to visit the DQ.

If you go the to the Why I Ride website and look at the todays blog you can see some videos shot.
Why I Ride Day 6 Blog

Day 4

Day 4 started out at Blue Licks Battleground State Park. Where the last major battle of the Revolutionary took place. Interesting history of how the British persuaded the American Indians to help them drive out the white settlers that were invading their land.

Battle of Blue Licks

I started off the day in the SAG van helping with driving while Brian captured some video. I was just too tired to ride the entire distance to Louisville (106 miles). I knew I better save some energy if I was going to ride into town. So I waited until midway at lunch time.

Peggy drove out from Jeffersonville IN and joined me on the tandem since Steven could not be there. We had a lot of fun riding together. She and I had only been on the tandem one other time before and she did well, but I was not sure how she would do on a long hilly ride.

So thinking I was being smart, I decided we would take off early before the rest of the group and let them catch up with us. Well it turned out that we were extremely fast on the flats and down hills but slow on the uphills. This averaged out pretty well, but it meant that the group never caught us. We were navigating by a ride sheet (sheet of written directions with mileage). The other 2 groups had one person with a GPS. The ride sheet turned out to have a slight mistake. So Peggy and I got to have some bonus mileage, about 12 to 15 miles of very hilly terrain. So we did not get to make it to the Dairy Queen stop in time to get anything. The other riders where there and ready to roll on to Crestwood and get home.


We joined up with the group this time so we would not get any more bonus miles. Here is a picture of us riding in a Paceline. The person in front is working the hardest, blocking the wind for the rest of the people in the line. When the lead person gets tired they move out to the left and let the group pass and then join in on the rear. Each rider taking a turn up front. Here is a picture of us with Jan John expertly pulling off the front after her turn leading and dropping to the back of the pack. This is down very slowly so that you don't have to work to hard to get positioned back onto the end of the line.

It was a great relief to finally arrive in Crestwood and know that we got to go home and sleep in our own beds for the next 2 nights.

Day 3

My brain wanted to do it last night, but the rest of me said go to sleep and don't move until morning. Guess which one won! Well I am posting this a bit late.

Yesterday was another tough day, but not so much because of the terrain, but because I was just worn out from the start.

As usually the dogs were out in full force. Live dog count reached 108 dogs, with very few leashed. I nearly went over the handlebars when one got in front of my wheel. Phil Patterson re-iterated "Never let an animal get in front of you now matter what."

The morning went pretty well with some tough hills to start at least on some decent roads. On several hills I had to walk to last bits. I just did not have enough energy to make it all the way to the top. On one of the hills I by chance met 2 woman who where driving and talked to them about what we were doing. They donated $10 each and drove on the Vanceburg to talk to the newspaper and make sure they would come over to where we were having lunch and do an interview and pictures. We also made Maysville news paper.

The Ledger Independent - Maysville, Kentucky

On one of the legs just before Maysville, we hit a strong head wind. I am typically the last person as I am not the strongest rider. Todd Malone and David Graeser who are very good riders and are typically leading the pack saw that I was struggling. They waited for me. They then formed up a paceline to essentially block the wind allowing me to draft behind them and keep pace with out having to expend as much energy, which I was out of. When were just before the SAG stop they let me led them in. What great guys to ride with.

During that time when Todd and David were in front oh me I realized that I was part of a team and this was my team mates helping me. I am so lucky to be riding with such a great group of people. Everyone helps everyone, from the support people to the other riders.

It is all about people helping people. We the riders, the virtual riders, the fund raisers, and most importantly the persons making donations are all key members of the team fighting MS. We can all help those who are struggling against the strong head wind of MS.

Thank you everyone who is part of this team against MS. Your donations, time, and emails go a long way to help.

--Bill

Day 2

This day was much more challenging than yesterday. The other riders who did this last year said this was the most challenging day of all. It seemed like went up hill all day. I am not sure which is worse out running dogs or riding up hills. I just glad I didn't find any dogs while going up hill. Dave Kimura happened to catch this picture.



Steven went home tonight and will rejoin us on Thursday morning. This fortunately let us skip the last and most grueling climb of the ride. [begin sarcasm] I am so sad that I missed that part. [end sarcasm]

Todays Statistics:
Tour de Kentucky – Day 2
From: Jenny Wiley State Resort Park – Prestonburg Kentucky
To: Jenny Wiley State Resort Park – Olive Hill, Kentucky
Ride miles: 99.1
Climb Elevation: 13,358.2 feet!
Ride Hours: ????
Total miles completed: 165.8
Total Miles remaining: 574.2


Don't forget to visit : www.whyiride.com

--Bill

Tour De Kentucky Day 1

We started at The Breaks Interstate Park in Virgina and finished 67 miles later at Jenny Wiley State Park in Kentucky.

Todays start was pretty easy. The first 7 miles or so was down hill. I can't imagine riding that in the up hill direction. I would be dead by the time we got to the top.

Steven did great. We started out with a slight problem. I forgot to pack my bike shoes. I seemed to remember everything else but those. At our second SAG stop (after a quick detour to Walmart) tried to replace my pedals with regular ones, but the Walmart pair were not the right size. So we just moved the back saddle clips to the front since Steven does not lift in his peddle stroke, he only presses down. I found a set of Look clips in my support bag and put those in back with were big enough for Stevens foot. This helped a lot.

We made it to our lunch stop after cheating on a big hill. We rode in the SAG van up a very long steep hill.


After lunch everything was going well until a K-Mart bag blowing across the road got sucked into our rear derailler. We had to stop and and clear it out. "K-Mart Sucks" or at least their bags do when people don't dispose of them correctly.

We made it to Jenny Wiley! This is a very nice park and lodge.

Steven has seemed to enjoy the ride. He got tired a few times on some of the hills. This was a pretty challenging day, but not as bad as tomorrow will be.

Don't forget to visit the WhyIRide website.

For more pictures and information click on the "Follow My Ride" link on the right and check out each day.

-- Bill and Steven

At the TDK Start

Today Steven and I came to the Breaks State Park in Virgina, just across the Kentucky border. We were high in the mountains (Elevation 1480ft)with a beautiful view of the river canyon below. Steven and I are both looking forward to our start tomorrow. A nice downhill run for the first 7 miles or so. The river bed is at 920 ft. so a drop of nearly 500 feet in just an pretty short distance.

--Bill and Steven

The Adventure Begins

TDK (Tour De Kentucky Eight States in Eight Days 724 Miles on a Bicycle)

This is my first blog entry for this and it comes with some great news. First I thought I would give some background.

Last spring Steven my then 9 year old son decided he wanted to ride in the MS150 Bike the Bluegrass bike ride for Multiple Sclreosis with me. I originally thought he wasn't truely serious and did not understand what was required. Boy was I wrong. He was serious and completely up and capable of the challenge.

We first went on "The Mayors Hike and Bike" 24 mile bike ride on mostly flat ground. He did great as my Stoker. (On a tandem bike the person in front is the captain and the person in back is the stoker.) We then tackled the MS150. At the end of the first day I was afraid that Steven would change his mind about the second day. He didn't. He was more ready for it than me.

While staying at the hotel on the end of day 1, Steven met David Graeser at the hotel pool (yes Steven even wanted to go swiming after the ride). David told Steven about the TDK and from that point on Steven was determined to go. Later that night we also by chance met Bill Turner who organizes the TDK.

Steven became the youngest person to do the MS150 two day ride, that the MS Society was able to find. On the MS150 Steven earned his nick-name "Snack Boy" for his tendancy to load his jersey pockets with snacks to consume between SAG stops. I think he might be the only person to gain weight on these rides.

Steven kept bringing up TDK all summer and into the fall. I contacted Bill Turner (who organized the TDK) and asked him what he thought of Steven and I doing the ride. He was for it. So I started to find out if that would work with school. His teacher was not opposed to him missing a few days of school for this, as it was the second last week of school,after testing and no new material would be covered during that week.

I then talked with Steven's mother (she and I are no longer married). Here's where I made my big mistake. I should have talked with her first. She was not all that excited about it. She rightfully was concerned about Steven's well being on such a big endevor and him missing school.
Now for the great news! Last week Lynda Hines (Steven's mother) decided that she would allow Steven to participate 2 days during the week as well as give up some her time with, which included Mother's Day. This was really awesome of her to do. She has a good friend with MS and understands the good that these fund raisers due to help those with MS.

Now we need to put our training into high gear, as the ride is just a month and a half away. We also need to kick off our Fund Raising.

--Bill Piepmeyer