We reluctantly left our Louisville host’s house, but not before getting one last game of fetch in with the dog, and one last swing on the giant tree swing. I was excited to bike this morning, because the weather forecast was quite favorable–it wasn’t going to break 80 degrees all day!
Tatum!
Sophia and I spotted a farm produce stand. On a whim, we decided to stop. We both bought a peach, and Timothy bought a tomato. The peach was the best I’d had in a long time–perhaps the flavor was enhanced by having just biked for an hour.
The farm stand dog
Then, Lucinda, who was working the stand, offered us a quarter of a watermelon. She took us back into the kitchen, offered us a bathroom, and sat us down at a picnic table outside to feast on the watermelon.
Lucinda and an amazing watermelon
As we were finishing up the watermelon, Lucinda brought out some cantaloupe that she’d salted, saying, “it was going bad soon anyways.”
Full of melon, we thought we were done. Regardless, Lucinda brought out three small cups with spoons, “we’re finishing with banana pepper spread.” The spread was amazing.
Lucinda then approached with three more small cups, this time with local blackberry jelly. I thought this was the end, so I utilized the bathroom before we headed out. When I came back outside, I was offered salsa! This multi-course farm stand meal was then concluded with a tour of their greenhouse.
We biked away, laden down by two cucumbers, four jalapeno peppers, one tomato, four small things of fudge, one jar of salsa and one jar of banana pepper spread (only three of those items we actually had to pay for). We rode together smiling and shaking our heads in disbelief at what just happened. What started as a quick stop to maybe eat some fresh fruit turned into meeting the locals of Owensboro, sampling seemingly everything at the stand, and experiencing the generosity that seems to be much more common the further we get from the interstate.
If you ever find yourself in Owensboro, Kentucky, visit MK Farms, and say hi to Lucinda for us!
We powered through the remaining legs, motivated to arrive at our destination before sunset. We kept our breaks short, and made good time; we routinely shave off time from the Google Maps estimated time, which didn’t happen at the start of this trip.
When we began our last leg, we knew that we would arrive in time. This is one of my favorite feelings of the trip: a relaxed final leg, as the sun sets, and the temperature cools down. We biked up and down the countryside hills, and approached more and more urban landscapes. The sun set off to the left.
Another moment of contentment
I struggle to describe this feeling. It feels like the world is simultaneously pausing, and revolving around me for a split second. I feel completely in the moment, that there’s no place I’d rather be. This feeling doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it makes any hardship on this trip feel completely worth it.
To answer a few questions from the q&a form Parth shared a few days ago:
Where did Joel get his biking outfit(s)?
My favorite (and most frequently worn) jersey is from a family friend in Green Bay, who is an avid cyclist, and happens to be my size. There’s a lot of meaning to this jersey design which I don’t fully understand–I believe it’s a custom design for his cycling group. The right sleeve has “Thursday” on it (no clue why), the collar says “Rule #5” (which I’ve gathered is a rule about not complaining), and the back says “The Red-Eyed Wheelmen” (which I think is a reference to how early they bike). Things of note besides my protective sun gear are my Stanford Tree-athlon socks given to me by a friend, and my headbands, which I’m a big fan of.
I’ve heard whispers that some blog readers think I only have one cycling outfit. I simply have one cycling outfit I wear much more frequently, enabled by daily laundry. My backup jersey is one I bought off of Facebook Marketplace.
How wildly bad are Joel's tan lines with those leg and arm things, really?
Actually not bad at all! I probably have some of the most tame tan lines of anyone on the team. The sun sleeves let a bit of sun through, but I don’t (usually) get sharp lines. A notable exception includes a time in Tahoe where, unbeknownst to me, my jersey sleeve rolled up past my sun sleeve. I still have a line on my arm from that sun burn, almost two month later. I also sometimes get awkward tan lines between my sleeves and my gloves, but I’ve learned to sunscreen that area.
Onward,
Joel