Mayor's Healthy Hometown Hike & Bike

I spent part of Memorial Day cycling with over a thousand other people from downtown Louisville to several of the parks. The day was sunny and hot. The temperature may have gotten to 90. The ride route was excellent in that I ride a similar route a lot during cycling season. The hills in Cherokee park did not disappoint with a number of riders hauling up them. I did not maintain the pace with the group I climbed up wiht though if I would have left the seat to start pedaling I might have made it to the top of the hill with the fountain. Fun stuff!

A couple of things I need to remember for next year: 1) Put on sun block. My arms are reddish looking though they do not hurt. 2) Get a second water bottle for the bicycle. I had to stop and refill my bottle during the ride. 3) Fix my trip computer so I can tell my distance and speed. 4) Do not get their so early if they start the ride at 11 am or ride around some before starts.

When the Mayor Abramson open the event with some remarks, he said it is hard to please everyone. Last year people wanted a later start so they could get the kids ready to start and this year people are saying why are we not starting. I think a compromise would be to have a staggered start. Let the faster, more seasoned riders start first at an earlier time. Maybe 15-30 minutes later let a moderate paced group start. Last let a slower, more relaxed pace group start. This would let the police close the roads off at intervals so the traffic does not build on some roads for long periods of time.

I thought the traffic control people did an excellent job this year. Also the EMS and police were patrolling the route helping people who had wrecks or were suffering from heat issues. We did see something kind of interesting. A car stopped because a cyclist collided with it. Apparently, the driver stopped a stop sign and the cyclist behind him ram the car thinking he would go through the sign. Stop signs are the bane of cyclists since you lose that forward momentum.

All and all a nice day but being out in that sun was draining.