Update #18 - Mar 31st, 2002
Millersburg, KY - 3,499 miles

The ride between London and Millersburg, KY went okay. Traffic for the mostly light since I've been paralleling the interstates. The hardest part for this section was the ride down into the Rough River Valley and then up to Winchester. The winding coast was about two miles long. Along the way, I rode passed Fort Boonesboro. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail through most of Kentucky called "Boone's Trace". Settlers using this pathway into Kentucky tripled the commonwealth's population by the time it became the fifteenth state. Once over the river bridge, there was a straight seven percent grade climb that was about a mile and a half long. Most of the way between London and Paris was over rolling hills amongst large horse farms with stone fences along the highway.

The weather has been a mixed bag as usual. Temperature ranged between forty and sixty. Yesterday, I had a good tailwind to push me along. Today, being an off day (my first full day off the bike since March 15th in Cordele, Georgia) and Easter, the temperature was in the forties and there was a light drizzle in the morning.

With regards to churches, I was connected with some good ones. I was hosted by the First Christian Church in London for two nights. The United Methodist Church in Berea was my host for one night. Last night and tonight, I am staying in the parsonage of the Presbyterian Church in Millersburg. I got into Paris, KY about 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon after riding 54 miles from Berea. I went to the police station to see if I could get some help connecting with a local miniter. One of the officers contacted Rev. Bill Deutsch who is the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Millersburg seventeen miles away but still in the county. Rev. Deutsch is also the chaplain for the Bourbon County Fire Department. He came over to the police station in Paris and drove me to Millersburg. What is so neat about Rev. Deutsch is that he is also a fireman in Millersburg and an Emergency Medical Technician with the Millersburg Fire and Rescue and the Paris/Bourbon County EMS. Along with all of this, he raises bees. This has been an interesting home visit with his wife and their big friendly dog Jackson.

Tomorrow, April 1st, I have about a forty-two mile ride to the Ohio River along U.S. 68. I'm looking forward to possibly another long coast down into the Ohio River Valley and Maysville. I might be either in Aberdeen or Ripley, Ohio tomorrow night. From the Ohio, I will be riding northward, possibly around Columbus, to Mt. Gilead near Marion. Plans are being made for the ride onward to Northern New York along the shoreline of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and possibly then on to Maine.