Day 1 in Louisville

Jeff and I slept in, but awoke hungry. We'd missed the hotel breakfast so we headed towards downtown only about 4 miles away. We spotted a diner, but it was closed. Fortunately, there was a meter maid writing some poor sap a ticket and Jeff asked her for a recommendation. She gave us directions to "Toast". To my amazement she actually led us there and it was a genuine act of kindness - WELCOME TO LOUISVILLE! "Toast" was fabulous and highly recommended. After breakfast we were close to the IML run so we drove the course. It was going to be a beautiful course. Started out going over a bridge over the Ohio River and then back through downtown and then out into the surrounding neighborhoods, University of Louisville, and further out to more neighborhoods. Two things we noticed right away was it was pretty flat and it was mostly in the shade. In downtown, the tall buildings would provide the shade and in the neighborhoods trees grew over the streets. It had a very homey feel. We went back and got the bikes and drove the bike course. Um, there are a LOT of hills. I was prepared for the out/back section that has a huge ravine in the middle of it, but the back side of the loop is pretty much up hill with constant rollers with an overall net gain. There wasn't any shade on the back either. That was going to be tough. We found a spot to park and rode the out and back. This is Kentucky horse country and it was very quiet. I loved it. Down the ravine we went and I went 40+ riding my breaks, but what goes down must go up in the bike world! I didn't get much speed up and so I put it in granny gear and just went slow. This was going to be the plan for race day. Coming back you go down and back up the ravine, but this part of the back up is right at a mile long - straight climb. I must remember to take this easy as this is probably at about 40 mile mark. On the way back to the hotel we decided to eat and I had my first Tappas ever. Food was delicious, but not real high on the carbs. Have to better tomorrow.