b'Day 58JULY 25Despite the fire chiefs intent, we wake together in the TV room of the PrincetonIt is past 10pm and after riding over 110 miles we are shaking from exhaustion. My firehouse to the smell of brewing coffee. In the kitchen, a fireman is busy whipping upparents house is still an hour away so we stop for the night at my sisters homejust pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fried potatoesa true firehouse breakfast.two miles from the bridge. After eating we pack up our bikes and I ask about the pole that runs between the topOf course Kathy and her husband, Finbar, have no idea we are coming. After shaking and bottom floors of the firehouse. Im invited to give it a try. After a couple of firemenoff the surprise of our arrival, Finbar, who happens to be a chef, makes us a late night show me the correct way to wrap around it, I put on a pair of long pants and slide downsandwich. the pole.When asked to recall that night he writes, I was pleased that I could offer you A pancake breakfast and a slide down a fire pole! This is shaping up to be a great day.hospitality and a little surprised that you were too tired to make it to your parents. We pose for a picture with the chief in front of the firehouse before heading east forHindsight and years of distance running later, I now completely understand that you had Louisville, Kentucky. Over mostly flat stretches, we travel the 35 miles to Huntingburg innothing left in your tanks after the Knobs of Southern Indiana. I was utterly amazed at less than three hours. Buoyed with the confidence of riding nearly a hundred miles thehow much equipment you two had strapped to your bloody bicycles.previous day, we are convinced we will reach Louisville today.We are home. As we approach Birdseye, Indiana with Louisville still 70 miles distant, we enter the Hoosier National Forest. The terrain changes from wide-open farmland to curving roadsBEGIN: Princeton, INcharacterized by narrower, less consistent shoulders and hill after hill.END: Louisville, KY From Birdseye through Marengo and eventually to Georgetown, Indiana, with theDISTANCE: 113.98 milescontinuous hills, we climb over 2,500 feet. (To put that in perspective, our climb to theTRIP TOTAL: 2,978.55 milesContinental Divide at Logan Pass was just over 3,000 feet.) I really had no idea it would be this hilly. As we pass through Georgetown, we begin to encounter a steady stream of commuters returning from Louisville. This makes it challenging for the cars and trucks behind usTo the left is a large metal beam and to safely pass since we are riding in the road much of the time. The shoulder is nearly non-existent and at times the white line marking the edge of the road drops directly intofour lanes of traffic. To the right, a rusty a steep ditch. After one final climb into Duncan, Indiana, and with the sky darkening, we enjoy aguardrail. Every 50 feet, the concretelong, twisting downhill into the Ohio River valley. In fewer than 20 minutes, we go from a dark country road in the Floyd Knobs to the well-lit streets of New Albany.is joined by a metal plate. It is pastFrom Jeffersonville, Indiana, a skinny paved walkway on the Second Street Bridge is our path from Indiana to Kentucky. There is barely enough room for our bikes and panniers to fit. To the left of us are large metal beams that support the bridge and10 pm and after riding 110 miles,separate us from four lanes of busy traffic. To the right is a rusty guardrail, the only thing keeping us from plummeting into the Ohio River.we are shaking from exhaustion.Every 50 feet, a large metal plate joins these gaps in the concrete of the cantilever bridge. In any other circumstance, crossing the bridge at night would seem dangerous and downright stupid. But after the ride we just had in Southern Indiana, it seems pretty tame. 50'