New Haven, KY

Just a quick checkin from a conveniently located and air conditioned library in New Haven, KY. It's hot out, some guy at the park in Springfield, KY where I slept last night said it's supposed to get to 95 today so I started pretty early. Also rather windy, and the wind is out of the South or Southwest, incidentally the direction I'm headed most of the day. Not fun weather.

Was on the road by 7ish, picked up some groceries, breakfast, and visited an ATM before heading out of Springfield. The scenery has been nice and, although my legs are feeling something like jello, the hills haven't been too bad. Now it's 11am and I've only got another 15 or so miles to go today. Unfortunately, I'm coming up to a stretch where there aren't many camping options listed, so I'll have to quit fairly early today (although still covering 60-something miles of the route) to avoid having to do a super long day in the hot weather.

Took a 'shortcut' this morning - after Springfield, the official route makes a large semicircle to get over to Bardstown, I took state road 150, which is a much more direct line between the two. Heard it shaves off 8 miles or so, although I forgot to check that. First couple miles were very nice with wide shoulders and light traffic, then after that I started very much regretting that idea. Lots of truck traffic had me pulling off the road every few hundred yards, and as usual KY DOT has put those annoying grooves on the edge of the road that let you know when you're about to run off the road. Although I 'can' ride on those things, it's a last resort as they make it hard to control the bike, hard to see, very uncomfortable, and probably increase dental bills by a fair margin. Anyways, made it alive and the rest of the ride has been much more peaceful and quiet. Might get around to taking some pictures today as I only have another hour or so until getting to the destination for the night, we'll see!