More Kentucky hospitality

We slept in again, but made breakfast at the hotel. We went to packet pickup and met my Twitter friends Kristine and Trevor. Trevor was competing in IML, as well, and being introduced by David Crowder we'd carried on many conversations about the up coming event. Packet pickup definitely got the blood flowing - this thing was really going to happen! Kristine, Trevor, Jeff and I went for lunch and had some really good Japanese food. It was neat to visit and have the entire restaurant to ourselves. We were to ride a loop but it was longer than the 1.5 hour ride we had scheduled and traffic seemed to be pretty busy. That loop doesn't have shoulders on the roads so we decided to ride the out/back again and would head towards LaGrange. I REALLY like the out/back. Much of the ride is in the shade with the trees growing over the road and there aren't many houses there, though there is more traffic that I'd expect on that road. I flew down the slopes and went at a snail's pace up the inclines trying to keep my HR in check. One of the reasons I like riding up the ravine is because I can feel the strength in my legs. These are hills I would not have been able to ride a year ago. I knew this was going to be an exciting part of the course on race day as again there are no shoulders on the road and if we are bunched up going down those slopes it's going to be wicked. I hit 40+ not even pedaling and sitting up like a parachute trying to catch wind to slow down a little. On the way back out of the ravine (the 1 mile incline) I heard a car behind me. As I was in no hurry, I waved the car to pass me. I was as close to the edge as I could possibly be, yet the car didn't pass. I waved them on again, but this time I was a little startled to hear heavy breathing/grunting as a cyclist was passing me. The car I heard was following him and she soon passed as well. Still climbing, billy bob-over weight-wanna be cowboy pulled up next to me, rolled down his window, and proceed to scream at me, "Don't you know you're a hazard!". Excuse me?! I had on a neon bright yellow shirt, I had my flashing light on, I was on the edge of the road. I was a hazard to no one. I started to comment back, but he rolled his window up and gunned it. I gave him all the sign language I knew with a smile. I was hoping he had made a turn into one of the driveways ahead, but I never saw him again. Making it back to the main road I began to ride to LaGrange, but now I was a hazard and I was nervous. As you enter Oldham County they had huge signs directed at cyclists. It gave a list of items for cyclists to follow as to not upset the drivers. Are you kidding me?! This sign simply amazed me. There were lots of cars and again no shoulders. I found a driveway to turn in and rode back to the out/back. Unfortunately, a few miles from my truck I began to hear the unwanted sound of a tire problem. Sure enough, I had a tire falling apart. Extra tube I had, extra tire I did not. Luckily, I was able to make it back to the truck by riding very slowly. Dinner was sushi! I've really fallen for sushi this year. About the only thing I've not tried is eel and roe. However, this places rolls were pretty thin and left me yearning for a little more. Mike and Kristen were down at the Spaghetti Factory carbing up so Jeff and I walked down there and met up with them. It was good to see familiar faces and share our experiences in Louisville so far. Kristen and Mike ordered and so did I! Yep, dinner number 2. I had spaghetti with a mushroom marinara so pretty tame by my standards and Jeff ate my salad :)