Ralf's Rural Ride in Kentucky 2012 (RRRiK 2012)
Eleven riders joined me for an annual five day ride in interesting places. This year we biked through the hills of North Eastern Kentucky. Our journey started out South of Cincinnati where we parked at a local elementary school. Luckily, we had one person volunteer to drive a SAG and carry all of our personal items plus plenty of snacks and drinks.
The route followed mostly remote roads which put us on hills that at times exceeded the DOT gradient of 8% working the group pretty hard. The scenery, however, was fantastic.
Rural Kentucky with it’s own character of quilt patches on barns, tobacco planting, old farmsteads, and bible verses painted on barns kept the group entertained.
Road conditions for the most part were great. At times we would head deep into the back country such as Northwest of Grayson. Everman Road started out around 14’ wide but as the miles went on it narrowed to 8 - 10 wide and very twisty. The road then turned into “Iron Hill” road and got really narrow. The pavement did get to the point where we’d dodge a few potholes, however it continued on without gravel. It was actually a nice change for the ride.
Lodging in hotels and state parks made for a good nights sleep and the next days adventure. The lodging shows on the referenced routes below.
The trip was 346 miles in beautiful country with very few straight or flat roads. Challenging uphills, roads along rivers / streams, an occasional dog or two.
Several of the attendees who have biked in Colorado, Oregon, Utah, France, Italy and more really enjoyed the ride and felt challenged by the terrain. Some put it right up there with other exotic rides they had attended. My personal feeling is that they enjoyed it because it was different and maybe exotic in it’s own way. Anyway, that’s my opinion and as you see by reading my blog I’m kinda stuck on riding in the midwest.
So here are the five routes:
Day 1 Crittenden to Maysville
Day 5 Maysville to Crittenden
2 comments:
Beautiful roads...loved the small, windy, roads of Kentucky....the hills were a challenge. Some were the toughest many of the riders have been on BUT the views at the top were magnificent! Appreciated the Kentucky drivers---they were very patient, not assertive and waved, gave thumbs up, and smiled as they passed the riders. More friendly than have seen in other States. A great ride with challenging terrain to test any riders abilities.
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this ride, but know that is was challenging! The scenery however more than made up for the tough climbs. The views down in the heavily shaded rivver and creek valleys were awesome and those up on the ridges are breathtaking! We've ridden Charlie's routes for years and they've never been a disappointment.
As Phyllis mentioned, those Kentucky drivers were the most patient and courteous that we've ever run across in all of the states that we've peddled in. Not once did we get honked at or receive any swearing as cars found their way around us. Most waited patiently behind us as we worked ur way up the hills.
I highly recommend the trip if you're up for a challenge.
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