August 31, 2016 – Sunny, 90 degrees

Miles Today: 72

Miles to Date: 15,459

States to Date: 43

My host, Bruce Day, woke early to feed me well and then ride me out of town. Actually, Bruce rode me clear out of state. It’s great to follow a knowledgeable local on a bike ride. We took one road not taken after another; beautiful scenery and scant traffic,

Bruce turned around once we reached the Kentucky border. While he retraced the hills and forests of Tennessee, I entered the more expansive world of Kentucky. I have been to Eastern Kentucky, dense and hilly Appalachia. The route to Bowling Green could be anywhere in the Mid-west: broad fields of corn and soy beans with occasional fields of tobacco. The roads are very fine and the rural drivers courteous.

I toured historic downtown Franklin. I am fond of towns that have a courthouse square with commercial blocks on four sides rather than a linear Main Street. A courthouse square organizes the town’s quadrants and celebrates our foundation as a nation of laws over individuals or commerce. We may not be maintaining that ideal as we ought, but I appreciate how courthouse squares celebrate that essential aspect of the United States.