Cycling the Underground Railroad--Part 1

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DAY 26:  HENDERSON TO OWENSBORO, KY

Partly cloudy, but not threatening, clouds early this morning.

Pedaled over more relatively flat Kentucky farmland today.  Morning sky was overcast,  but broke out into full sun by noon.  Temperatures in the mid- to upper 70s.  Very pleasant riding.

Bridge over Green River, a tributary to the Ohio,

The flatlands were broken up about halfway by the Green River.  Named after Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Greene, it reaches 384 miles from Bowling Green to the Ohio River just north of Henderson.

Memorial to Teddy Joe Williams (?).

Roadside memorials such as this one are not uncommon across the country to mark out victims of traffic fatalities.   This one was particularly colorful.  I thought it must be very recent. But Teddy Joe Williams met his end here in 2019 at age 55. Given the contents of the site, my guess was that Teddy Joe was a very colorful and well loved person. 

But the memorial caused me to wonder--How many men, women and children attempting to escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad perished without anyone knowing or recognizing their passing?  Estimates range from 40,000 to 100,000 who did make it to freedom on the Railroad , but that was only about 2-3% of all slaves.

Entrance to the Addkisson Greenbelt bike trail.

I was greeted on the outskirts of Owensboro by some giant bats (the baseball, not the flying kind). This was at the beginning of a series of bike paths that led me to my downtown destination. 

Enjoyed a few traffic-free miles on Owensboro's bike paths.

Today's Mileage: 46.6

Total Distance to date:  944.7 miles

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