Hank – We got on the road a little after 6:00 am. The forecast called for high winds and thunderstorms by 11:00. We were hoping to get to Hanover, Indiana by then.

We crossed the Big Four Railroad Bridge over the Ohio River and entered Indiana, state #47. There was no official sign welcoming us so we’ll have to do the photo of on the way out of the state.

We did run into Austin and Tara Tender who live on this side of the river. They had their bikes loaded with lightweight gear. They’re prepping for the Great Divide Route from Banff to Helena in July. We chatted for a bit. Austin has done a lot of touring, especially overseas. They also organize supported rides in the local area, their main one being The Bourbon Country Burn. Ride bikes, drink bourbon. But they do it separately. The bourbon tastings are after the bike rides. They look like they could both easily handle the Great Divide. We wished them well and pressed on.

A little before 9:00 we we’re past Charlestown and the storm arrived early. We sat it our at a gas station/convenience store. Lots of thunder, lightning, and rain. We had an hour long break in the weather, which gave us time to move another eight miles up the road to New Washington. The rain was light but steady so we still got wet. Then we had to sit through 2-1/2 hours of hard rain at another gas station/convenience store. Such is our life on the road. Andrina, who works there, offered to get her dad’s truck and drive is to the hotel in Madison. We appreciated the offer but we decided to wait out the storm and finish the ride.

We took off a couple hours later. The clouds grumbled low booms behind us as they complained we were no longer in their path. Their weaker brethren squeezed out their remaining moisture on us as we headed towards Madison. We stopped at a grocery store in Hanover where we met Julie, who as a newlywed back in the late 70s, hitchhiked across the country with her husband. She thought our adventure sounded pretty cool. We paid for our groceries and finished up the last couple of miles to the hotel.

After checking in and getting cleaned up, I boiled water and made spaghetti for dinner. We cracked open a bottle of cabernet to go with it.

Kathy – I wrote a long post tonight but the internet here is slow and it didn’t save…so I’m gonna keep it short as I do this again.

We rode 47 miles in wet rainy weather. We rolled up and down most of the day and temps were in the 70’s but it felt much cooler with all the rain. We had a nice shoulder for our first 15 miles or so, then we had limited shoulder of only one foot (white line, rumble strip then only one foot to ride on) the remainder of the ride. As the cars and trucks passed so closely to us they sprayed the road water all over us. You just squinted to keep it out of your eyes. We really had to focus today with the cars so close, rain, standing still water in the road ways, limited shoulder area littered with debris, dead animals and the road breaking apart at times, all made it a challenging ride.

It was really cold during each of our downtimes as we waited for the thunderstorms to pass by. The convenience stores had air conditioning…it was cold outside but colder inside, so I stayed outside. Haven’t gotten the puffy coat out in awhile, so today was the day. It really helped to warm me, felt good. We were pretty wet upon arriving at our destination in Madison, Indiana. Thankful for the hotel, warm shower and yummy pasta dinner. Life is good. 😊

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