4th Street LIVE!

After our initial ride on the IMLOU course, I knew I wanted to get back to Louisville. The first ride was on an excruciatingly hot day with air temps at 103 and pavement at 111. I suffered greatly throughout the day, but I learned a lot about hydration and nutrition on the bike as well as learning the course and how to handle the non-stop rolling hills. I wanted to get back to Louisville and implement the things I learned on the first trip.

Earlier this week I thought there was no way I was getting back down there. My hives were really irritating me Monday and Tuesday and I was almost to the point of saying screw it. I'll just show up at IMLOU on race day and wing it on the bike. I was scheduled to see my doctor on Thursday to get a steroid shot which was supposed to help; however, miraculously, Wednesday and Thursday my hives seemed to get much better. Suddenly, I was optimistic. Awesome Cheryl was coming up to Peoria on Friday to get her bike seat adjusted and we decided we needed to go to L'ville. So after the bike fit, we hit the road and made our way down to Louisville for another ride on the bike course.

4th Street Live - The place to be in Louisville, KY

After checking in to our hotel, we decided to walk down to 4th Street Live and find the finish line and hopefully something yummy to eat for dinner. We found a gold mine! 4th Street Live is such an amazing place. So much fun and energy. Plus according to our research, 4th Street Live has a plaque for the official finish line of Ironman Kentucky, but all be damned we couldn't find it. So we gave up and decided to eat.

Kilcooly Sandwich at Ri Ra'

The restaurants and bars along the Ironman finish line have a wide variety of offerings. We had a hard time deciding, but we settled on Ri Ra', a typical Irish restaurant with dark interiors and good Irish music. Awesome Cheryl and I both had the Kilcooly sandwich: turkey, bacon, cheddar cheese & a slice of Granny Smith apple on sourdough bread. Cheryl decided to try the sweet potato tater tots while I had the hand cut fries with malt vinegar mayo with a Harp to wash it all down. The sandwich and fries were absolutely delicious. I could just imagine Jeff sitting in the bar waiting for me to cross the finish line.

As we walked out of Ri Ra', guess what we found?? The sign for Ironman Kentucky was right across the street. Don't ask me how me how we missed it, but  of course, we had to have our picture taken in front of it. So hard to believe Ironman is only 5 weeks away!

Don't we look like we just finished IMLOU? 

Of course as we were walking out of 4th Street Live, we found another sign. So which is the official finish? I guess we'll have to find out on August 26th. Walking back to our hotel, I found a new lawn ornament for our house. Do you think Jeff will let me bring it home?

Street Art on Market Street

Maybe my girls can make me a 3 foot replica? Something bright and cheery. Well, let's wait until August 27th to see if I really want to remember Louisville, KY.