A bicycler who happened to be staying at the hotel in Williamstown assured
me that, as the next 25 m. of pike southward would be found very rough and
hilly, I had best go by rail to
Sadieville,
and resume my tour at that point. On Friday forenoon, therefore, after
riding 1 ½ m. about the streets, for the entertainment of the
admiring populace, I took train for the station named, and, mounting there
at 11 o’clock, went up and then down a long hill, 2 m., mostly afoot,
until I reached a toll-gate, 6 ½ m. beyond, I rode nearly all the
way and made very few stops. I was now fairly in the Blue-Grass Region; the
pike became exceedingly smooth, and in a little less than 1 h. I rolled
over another section of it as long as that last-named, and found myself at
the court-house in
Georgetown.
The postmaster, the local editor, and “other prominent
citizens” paid their respects to me as I partook of a lunch, and
wished me good luck when I mounted, at a quarter of 3 o’clock, for a
ride to the court-house in Lexington, which I reached in 1 h. 40 min. This
stretch was the best I had yet encountered, — all of it being smooth
and ridable, though continuously hilly, — and I made no stops, except
for the sake of horses. At the end of every m. were guide-posts, showing
the distances to both Georgetown and Lexington. The similitude of all this
fine rolling country to a vast park, whereof I made mention at the outset,
was perhaps nowhere more impressive than in this particular section of it.
I delayed a little while in
Lexington,
to refresh myself with ices and fruit, and to talk with the president of
the local bicycle club; so that the clock indicated a quarter past 5 when I
resumed my saddle, with the intention of seeking a bed at the Shaker
Settlement on
Pleasant Hill,
25 m. beyond. Thus far, since leaving Cincinnati, I had been traveling
almost due s., but for the next 44 m., ending at
Perryville,
my course lay in a s. w. direction. All the mile-posts on this pike were
neatly lettered tablets of iron, surmounted by the national eagle. The
distances to Lexington, Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg, and Perryville, were
indicated on each post, if I rightly remember; and I could thus estimate
the rapidity of my progress without stopping to consult the cyclometer. My
watch showed me that 10 min. was the average time spent between mile-posts.
After progressing for a while at this rate, I turned l. at a fork in the
roads, some little distance beyond a toll-gate, in order to reach the
bridge over the Kentucky river (the r.-hand road would have led to a point
where passage has to be made by ferry-boat); but, before I reached it, the
approach of darkness caused me to stop riding. The road would be a pretty
one by daylight, with overhanging rocks on one side and the river on the
other; and there was an abundance of little springs and rivulets of clear
water where the traveler might quench his thirst. Finally, after I had
plodded along on foot for several miles, the moon came out and I resumed my
riding.