{"id":27447,"date":"2015-05-25T18:00:04","date_gmt":"2015-05-25T23:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=27447"},"modified":"2015-05-25T18:40:18","modified_gmt":"2015-05-25T23:40:18","slug":"riding-the-horsey-hundred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=27447","title":{"rendered":"Riding the Horsey Hundred"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello, friends.\u00a0 We hope you had a great week-end.\u00a0 Mr. Right and I spent Saturday and Sunday on our bicycles riding the Horsey Hundred.\u00a0\u00a0 The “Horsey” is a fund-raising bicycle ride that our bike club (the Bluegrass Cycling Club) has organized for the past 38 years.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

People from all over the country and even some foreign countries come to ride their bicycles here because it is such a first-class event.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

This year there were 2,500 of us.\u00a0 But don’t worry, we didn’t all ride together.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

We had the options of 102 miles, 82, 62, 42, and 25 miles the first day and similar options on day two.\u00a0 I followed the blue arrows.\u00a0 Mr. Right is training for a big long-term bicycle ride this summer (I’ll tell you more about it another day), and so, he rode 102 miles.\u00a0 Since I am not in training, I ended up riding just 47.\u00a0 (It was supposed to be 42, but I took a (ahem) scenic route for a few miles.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Since I rode alone and didn’t have to worry about keeping up with Mr. Right, I actually took my time and even stopped to take photos.\u00a0 We have ridden our bicycles all over the world\u00a0 – or almost.\u00a0 We still have to ride in South American and Australia (Antarctica doesn’t count for biking).\u00a0 That being said, bicycling in central Kentucky where we live is one of the most beautiful experiences in the world.\u00a0 This is a photo of my road bicycle.\u00a0 (I have two others – a townie for errands, and a touring bike for trips like Pittsburgh to DC<\/a>.)\u00a0 This bike is custom made by Independent Fabrication<\/a> and is titanium.\u00a0 It is a pure dream of a bike.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Cycling is especially wonderful on a beautiful spring day when the horses are out, the fields are mowed, and the sun is shining.\u00a0 I’ve ridden these roads in the rain, and let’s just say it’s better in the sun.\u00a0 The terrain offers lots of rolling hills and flats making it a perfect training ground to get stronger, better, faster.\u00a0 The bottom line is that it’s a bicyclist’s paradise.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Since this is an organized ride that we pay to do, there are rest stops serving food along the way.\u00a0 Cyclists need lots of fuel to keep our energy levels up. There are SAG trucks offering bike repairs, water, etc. along the route, there’s a meal waiting at the end of each day along with a disc jockey, massages, ice cream, and more.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

There were also plenty of historic sites to see…..<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

and plenty of beautiful horse farm mansions.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

There were also plenty of horse barns to see like this one.\u00a0 Wouldn’t you love to be a horse in central Kentucky, known as “The Horse Capital of the World”?<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

We also saw plenty of white fences and…..<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

…..plenty of black fences.\u00a0 They used to say that white fences meant old money and black fences meant new money.\u00a0 The bottom line is that the black fences are easier to keep up because the paint compound they use lasts longer.\u00a0 Do you see the ridges there on the fence?\u00a0 They are there because horses get bored and chew on the fences.\u00a0 It’s a bad habit that some of them develop.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

We saw more than just horses, though.\u00a0 There were also plenty of cows, chicks, goats, and even a few llamas.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

I totally fell in love with this new construction house – despite all of the vehicles in the driveway.\u00a0 It had a spectacular view and was just my kind of house.\u00a0 It would be great on a horse farm or on Nantucket.\u00a0 In my next life….<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Unfortunately,\u00a0 the ride was marred with tragedy this year.\u00a0 A drunk driver who is an illegal resident with no license or insurance hit a cyclist head-on with a pick-up truck and killed him.\u00a0 And it gets worse……the cyclist landed in the bed of the man’s truck, and the driver sped away with the man in it.\u00a0 The police had to chase him down.\u00a0 The cyclist was pronounced dead at the hospital.\u00a0 He was a 57-year-old attorney from Lexington on mile 99 of his 102 mile ride.\u00a0 People were horrified by the tragedy, and it definitely reminded us that this is not a safe sport.\u00a0 The cyclist was wearing a helmet, but the truck hit him head-on after swerving across the road.\u00a0 He was actually headed in the opposite direction of the cyclist.\u00a0 (This was the first tragedy in the Horsey’s 38 years.)<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Horsey<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

That being said, I ask that all of you always think safety first when riding alone, with someone, or with your kids.\u00a0 I wrote a whole blog post about bicycle safety, but it was so strongly worded that Jordan suggested that I not publish it, and I won’t.\u00a0 I am so passionate about bicycle safety, and the passion came across as preaching.\u00a0 Parents<\/span>,\u00a0 make sure you<\/span> wear a helmet when you are cycling with your kids who should also be wearing helmets.\u00a0 Make sure to buy them at a bicycle shop so you can be fitted properly.\u00a0 Also, ride a bicycle that fits you properly, too.\u00a0 Raise that seat to be more comfortable, and then you will enjoy it so much more.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Horsey<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Okay, let’s end on a happy note.\u00a0 Jordan and Yankee spent their week-end visiting friends at the beach in New Hampshire.\u00a0 I’m she’ll share her week-end with us, too.\u00a0\u00a0 We ended up our week-end with lunch out with our former neighbors and a movie.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Thank you so much for stopping in.\u00a0 Let’s go out and make it a great summer!!!<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Take care.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello, friends.\u00a0 We hope you had a great week-end.\u00a0 Mr. Right and I spent Saturday and Sunday on our bicycles riding the Horsey Hundred.\u00a0\u00a0 The “Horsey” is a fund-raising bicycle ride that our bike club (the Bluegrass Cycling Club) has organized for the past 38 years.   People from all over the country and even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27447"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27447"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27473,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27447\/revisions\/27473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}