Kentucky - Ohio River Rendezvous - June 2010

The Ohio River Rendezvous is not a sponsored ride. This ride is put together by Jack and Pat Deacon in Kentucky every year. Jack helped us with some of our routes last year and invited us to join his ride. It represents a group of cyclists enjoying the Kentucky backroads and the camaraderie of great friendships. This year, there were more people from out of state than from within Kentucky itself.

We gathered in Lexington on Wednesday night to meet the whole group and have dinner at Transylvania University. What a group! There were a few participants that were unable to make the dinner but, still, there were about 40 of us there.

Thursday morning, there was a ride out of Versailles along backroads and large horse farms. Beautiful countryside!! Unfortunately, we had to miss this ride. We had truck problems as we arrived in Lexington so we spent the morning getting the truck towed to the shop and locating a rental car for the next few days. We did, however, manage to meet some of the riders at Wallace Station for lunch.

The real ride started Friday morning out of Paris, KY. We loaded our luggage in to the SAG vehicles, readied our bicycles, and we were off. The further north we rode toward Maysville,KY, the hillier it became. Kentuckians may have called these hills 'rollers' but for us Texans they were hills. We couldn't roll the hills and didn't have enough time between hills to recover before we were climbing the next one. We were left with very tired legs by the end of the ride.

Saturday, Day 2, took us from Maysville,KY, to Portsmouth,OH. The first five miles were hilly and then we hit a long downhill and followed along the river, more commonly known as the bottom lands. We heard thunderstorms were headed our way and we could see the black clouds in our mirrors; we got a few sprinkles but no rain. The last half of the route today had some long climbs and a few really bad hills. Sixty three miles later we reached the hotel and rested our legs before dinner.

Day 3 (Portsmouth,OH, to Morehead,KY) started out with a heavy fog which we figured was due to being along the Ohio River. This first section was relatively flat and fast. We rode more of the bottom lands and then had two really long, steep climbs. The first bad one was 2.4 miles long at a grade of 8-10% and the second one a little less than a mile but it reached a grade of 19% toward the top. Several people walked part of this hill. We stopped and visited with some people on the way up but we didn't walk any of it. Today we passed many photo opportunities of old barns and farm lands but didn't stop to take a single picture. Guess we were just concentrating on getting over the next hill. Going in to Morehead,KY, we stopped at Dairy Queen for fries and a blizzard before continuing to the hotel. Several other riders joined us there.

Our last day returned us to Paris,KY. Our legs were stressed and this was to be the hilliest day of the tour. We had a couple long climbs and a few hills starting out, turning in to rolling hills for the second section. We passed a lot of covered bridges today. Half way in to the ride, we rode more rolling hills and it was starting to get hot. The last leg was even more challenging...hills, hills, and more hills. We made it back to Paris, loaded our rental car, said our goodbyes, picked up the truck from the shop, returned the rental car, and headed back to Ohio.

We rode a total of 240 miles over 4 days and enjoyed every pedal stroke. This was a great way to tour a part of Kentucky we would not have otherwise seen. Jack and Pat put together a fantastic tour including great SAG support. This was a great bunch of cyclists and we look forward to cycling with them again.

Great Allegheny Passage and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath - May 2010

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail runs 132 miles through the heart of Pennsylvania, from McKeesport, just outside of Pittsburgh, to Cumberland, MD. The GAP trail connects to the 185 mile long Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath which runs along the Potomac River from Cumberland, MD, to Washington, DC. Together, the GAP and C&O Canal add up to over 300 miles of trails.

We were invited to join nine of the ROMEO’s (Retired Old Men Enjoying the Outdoors) to cycle the GAP and C&O Canal the end of April 2010. This was a ride for hybrids and mountain bikes; definitely not skinny tire road bikes. The trail surface was a mix of hard packed dirt, crushed limestone, rocks, gravel, and a few miles of paved path. At times, we found ourselves dodging potholes, tree limbs, and low hanging branches. We even had to maneuver over and around a few downed trees. Including the miles we cycled to and from our lodging each day, we rode a total of 342 miles over 5 days.

We awoke our first day to freezing temperatures so we held off our start until about 9:00am. Bundled up, we gathered ourselves in the van and headed to the McKeesport trailhead, 14 miles out of downtown Pittsburgh. The path was fairly smooth with a slight incline which followed alongside the Youghiogheny (Yock-uh-gay-nee) River. We stopped about every 15-20 miles with our first stop in West Newton, PA. As we cycled on, the temperature warmed and we found ourselves switching from our heavier jackets to light wind jackets. By the time we reached Ohiopyle, about 60 miles, the winds picked up and it got down right cold again. From here, we passed bridges, waterfalls, and timber footpaths on the way to Confluence and the Stepping Stone Farm B&B where we stayed the night.

Again, we awoke to freezing temperatures the next morning. Wearing our winter gear, we rode from the B&B to the trail and continued along the GAP trail. Other than freezing at the start, this was a fairly uneventful morning. We stopped in Meyersdale, PA, for lunch. Cycling the last 8 miles uphill to the high point in the trail brings us to the Eastern Continental Divide, which separates the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico watersheds. Ahhhh! Now it’s downhill the rest of the trip. The average grade of the trail never exceeds about 1% except for this next section down to Cumberland which is about 2%. As we started downhill, we passed through the Big Savage Tunnel, crossed the Mason-Dixon line from Pennsylvania into Maryland, then it was 20 miles straight in to Cumberland, MD, where we stopped for the night and the GAP trail ends.

Our third day starts directly outside our hotel on the C&O Canal Towpath. Temperatures were cool but warmed up quickly. The trail follows the Potomac River all the way to Washington, DC. The C&O trail was rougher than the GAP trail. In fact, full-suspension mountain bikes might have been better than our hybrid bikes. We started dodging potholes, tree roots, and large rocks on this section as we passed numerous aqueducts and locks. At times, the towpath surface devolved into a two-track with a grass strip lining its middle. Twenty eight miles later, we reached the famous Paw-Paw Tunnel, a 3,118 ft long canal tunnel which was built to bypass the paw-paw bends, a six mile stretch of the Potomac River. Construction on the tunnel began in 1836 and completed in 1850. Once in the tunnel, we could barely see the light at the other end so be sure to take a good headlight. With the canal wall on one side and a wooden rail on the other (with a big drop off to the canal), it was a little scary riding the bumpy trail in the dark. After clearing the tunnel, we stopped for lots of photos. Then, we cycled on to Bill’s Tavern in Little Orleans for lunch, then headed to our hotel in Hancock, MD, at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains.

Paul had a cut tire from the rocks on the trail so we started the next day at the C&O Bicycle Shop getting a new tire. We then headed out on a very smooth, paved path for the next 12 miles to Fort Frederick State Park where we regrouped and toured the fort and grounds. Fort Frederick was erected in 1756 during the French and Indian War. Back on the towpath we began dodging rocks, potholes and tree roots again, in fact, we wondered why anyone would take a nice packed dirt road and dump truck loads of rocks on it. But, we continued on. We passed more aqueducts and locks, saw families of geese, turtles, rabbits, and a variety of birds. The geese were very protective of their babies and hissed at us as we cycled by. This was our hottest day….temperatures reached a record setting 93 degrees. We finally made it to Harpers Ferry, WV, where Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia all come together. There was no place for the van to pick us up so we had to carry our bikes up a spiral staircase to cross the pedestrian/railroad bridge in to town and then it was uphill to the hotel.

Our last day of cycling took us from Harpers Ferry all the way to Alexandria, VA. Our first stop today was at White’s Ferry. The General Jubal A. Early Ferry transports eight cars at a time across the Potomac and is the only remaining ferry on the river. The next 20 mile section to Great Falls, VA, was the roughest and slowest section of the trail. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks on the trail. Great Falls had magnificent views of the Falls of the Potomac, Mather Gorge, and Patowmack Canal locks. After a BBQ sandwich lunch and viewing the falls, we continued to Georgetown, the end of the C&O Towpath. We climbed some more stairs carrying our bikes, crossed the Key bridge, and cycled the paved bicycle path about 8 miles to Alexandria where our van picked us up and took us to our hotel. This section of bike path was very picturesque with views of the Capitol, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial in the distance. We had a nice dinner at Gadsby’s Tavern in town and I think we all slept like babies that night.

We awoke to light rain the next morning so we cancelled our ride we had planned to Mount Vernon and, instead, took the metro to the mall area of D.C. where we visited a couple of the Smithsonian Museums and walked to all the monuments; Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Well, we didn’t cycle any miles on the bike this day but we covered miles and miles on our feet.

This was a great trip. We had a couple of extremely cold mornings, warm to hot afternoons, and no rain until the last day. Overall, we couldn't have asked for better weather for this trip. We cycled between 62 and 75 miles each day which took us anywhere from 5 ½ - 6 ½ hours pedaling time. Including our rest breaks and numerous stops to take photos, we had a full day of cycling every day. We burned a lot of calories and ate a lot of really good food.

Our Rhode Island Cycling Adventure

Think of quiet New England coastlines dotted with beaches, quaint villages, and picturesque countryside, Mystic Seaport, Block Island, and historic Newport and you have Fall cycling in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
We began our cycling tour on a Sunday in late September 2009 with a group called Bike and the Like. Our tour hosts, Suzie and Roger Knable, welcomed us along with about 30 other cyclists. We had rain showers all day on Sunday so everyone took the day off as this was more of a "meet and greet" day anyway. Weather the remainder of the week couldn't have been better. We had cool starts with it warming up every afternoon.

Our first day of riding took us into Connecticut. We followed along the beaches and waterfront of the Block Island sound, making a few sightseeing stops along the way. BF Clydes Cider Mill offers some of the best cider around... whether you like it hot, cold, or even spiked. From there we headed into Mystic and Mystic Seaport. Settled in the 1650's, Mystic is known for its maritime heritage and, of course, Mystic Pizza (famous from the Julia Roberts movie "Mystic Pizza"). Cyclists could spend the day sightseeing around Mystic or add a few extra miles and ride down to Noank and Groton Long Point. We opted for the extra miles.

On Tuesday, we caught the ferry to Block Island. Once there, we explored the island on bicycle riding along the coastline to the lighthouse on the south end of the island, the Mohegan Bluffs, a stop for lunch at the island airport, more cycling, a tour of the Block Island historical museum, and ice cream to finish off the afternoon.

Heading to Newport on Wednesday, we first take the ferry back to the mainland. We cycle along the ocean road, passing beautiful Narragansett and crossing over the bridge to the small island of Jamestown. Once in historic downtown Jamestown, we cycled to the south end of the island to Beavertail Lighthouse, the third oldest lighthouse in the U.S. We lunched at the Ferry Deli and took a bus over the toll bridge to Newport.

With Newport's miles of scenic coastlines, mansions, museums, walking history tours, local vineyards, quaint wharfs, and cobblestone streets, there is plenty to do and see. Of course, we chose to cycle. We cycled the Scenic Coast Road along the coastline making short stops at Fort Adams and the old Newport harbor, passing a few of the "summer cottages" (early 1900's mansions), the Cliffwalk, and numerous beaches along the way to the wildlife conservatory in Middletown.

Our last day of cycling was fairly uneventful as we headed back to where we started in Westerly, RI. We shuttled back across both the Newport and Jamestown bridges, then started cycling through rolling and wooded Rhode Island countryside back to Misquamicut Beach. Once back, we collected our luggage and headed toward Cincinnati to visit family.

This has been one of our favorite trips. We saw a few leaves changing color but we were probably just a couple weeks early for the real "fall foliage". The terrain was flat to gently rolling. We had a couple good hills but, otherwise, just some long gradual climbs. The wind blows in Rhode Island just as it does here in Texas. We highly recommend this trip to anyone wanting to ride about 40 miles a day and also take in some great sightseeing along the way.

Cycling the Kentucky Bluegrass

The Bluegrass Region ..... The heart of Kentucky.

The Kentucky Bluegrass region is a beautiful place with great country roads and low traffic to cycle. You can ride short or long distances, rolling terrain to challenging hills, horse farms and open farm land. It's all beautiful and just waiting to be enjoyed.

We think of large horse farms with miles of plank fencing when thinking of the Kentucky Bluegrass. The horse farms are magnificent but the bluegrass region is more than that. It's miles of country roads with smooth pavement, low traffic, and some of the best scenery in the country. Throw in a country market or deli here and there and it becomes a cyclists dream.

Our small group met in Lexington for lunch on Monday before taking a short ride around the horse farms surrounding Keeneland Race Track, including Calumet Farms which claims over 700 acres and more derby winners than any other farm.

We had planned to ride from Lexington to Berea but due to heavy rains and flooding the ferry was shutdown. We drove to Berea instead and did a nice valley ride which took us along the south side of the Bluegrass Army Depot and into Irvine where we lunched. The return ride meandered around Haystack Mountain and back to Berea.

The following day we rode along the Trans-America trail from Berea to Harrodsburg. As we started a long climb a couple miles out of town, we ran into some sprinkling of rain. The rain was forecasted for late afternoon. A couple miles further and couple more long climbs and the rain got heavier and heavier. We stopped at a small grocery about 20 miles out, soaked to the skin. The rain stopped after a short while and the afternoon turned out to be beautiful. There was a lot of open farmland on this route as well as tobacco barns. But don't let the open farmland fool you; this was a very hilly ride.

With 80% chance of rain predicted for the following day, we took the day off from cycling and did some sightseeing. First, we toured the Perryville Battlefield and later Shaker Village. Both sights were very interesting and we highly recommend anyone visiting the area to take advantage of the history.

Back on our bikes the next day, we rode from Harrodsburg to our B&B in Loretto, just south of Bardstown. This day took us through all three subregions of the bluegrass ... the smooth Inner Bluegrass, the Shale Belt region of ridges and v-shaped valleys, and the open farmlands of the Outer Bluegrass.

We experience the Bourbon Trail on Saturday, stopping at several distilleries, as we made our way back to Lexington. Gotta' have a taste of that real Kentucky Bourbon.

Our last ride was Sunday morning, the Jot 'em Down ride, named after the Grocery Store on the corner. We skirted some of the most famous horse farms in the Bluegrass and wandered along some of the most beautiful farmland in the country. We saw new foals on all the farms. I think this was my favorite ride because of the beauty of it.

We hope you'll take some time and experience Kentucky as we did. There's nothing better than cycling beautiful countryside with your friends. We promise you'll love it.

"Cyclists in Suits" Day at the Capital - Austin, TX

It's time once again to head to Austin, while the legislature is in session, to lobby our Representatives and Senators to pass the Safe Passing Law. Basically, the Safe Passing Bill will require motorists to allow at least 3-feet of distance before overtaking and passing a cyclist as well as other vulnerable road users, ie. wheelchairs, pedestrians, tractors, etc. Thirty one of us boarded the BikeDFW bus early Monday morning, April 20th, for the trip to the capital. We arrived in Austin about 8:00am and met with a delegation from BikeTexas as well as other cycling clubs in Texas.

First, we were welcomed and briefed by Robin Stallings, Exec Dir of BikeTexas. Next, a lobbyist discussed tips for visiting elected officials and their staff. We broke into our assigned groups, each which had a team leader that had participated in this event in previous years. Each was assigned particular representatives and senators to visit.

We headed to the capital and the House Chamber where they were meeting in session. Representative Linda Harper-Brown, co-author of the Safe Passing Bill, recognized our group and, boy, we were an impressive group. Next, we are off to the Senate Chamber where Senator Rodney Ellis, co-author of the Safe Passing Bill, recognized our group. Again, we were quite the impressive group of cyclists.

Most of the Representatives were in conference or on the House Floor but we did talk to two Representatives and many of their staffers. The staff are who review the legislation and make recommendations to their bosses on what to support. Everyone was extremely friendly and seemed to be receptive to the Safe Passing Bill. Some had little knowledge of the bill while others were very familiar with it due to the number of emails and phone calls they had received from cyclists.

After completing our lobby efforts, everyone met at the north entrance of the capital where BikeTexas had arranged for photographs of the group. Our day is now complete at the capital and we head to the BikeTexas offices. On the way, Robin Stallings announces that the bill will go to the Senate Floor for a vote tomorrow.

The event, once again, was very educational and we felt we did some good in making our position known on bicycle safety and the Safe Passing Law.

The RESULT is good news, bad news. The bill passed both the Senate and the House and was ready for approval by Governor Perry. Thinking that Gov. Perry was not signing the bill but going to let it pass without his signature, we were all very disappointed when, on the last day, our governor VETOED the bill. He vetoed 31 other bills that all passed both the House and Senate.

The cities of Austin and San Antonio have since implemented "the safe passing law" for their cities. We expect more Texas cities to do the same in the near future.

Natchez Trace from Natchez, MS, to Nashville, TN

Just imagine cycling for 445 miles with smooth roads and very low traffic but without a single stop sign, billboard, or trash on the side of the road. You will not have any loose dogs, stores, gas stations, or large trucks. This is the Natchez Trace Scenic Byway which travels from Natchez, MS, in the south and goes all the way north to Nashville, TN.

Along with 5 other couples from our cycling club and Black Bear Adventures, we cycled the Natchez Trace in May 2008. We started our journey from the Monmouth Plantation, took a quick tour of Natchez, and almost immediately we entered the Trace. This is the Deep South. As we cycle the Trace, we see Spanish moss hanging from the trees, pass historical sites of Emerald Mound and Mount Locust, the old Sunken Trace, and more. We stop in Port Gibson for a late lunch, take a side trip to the Windsor Ruins, reminisce over the day's events, and enjoy a delightful dinner at a local B&B.

Day 2 took us 69 miles to Jackson, MS. This day was very HOT and there were times when the miles and miles of trees and grass along this portion of the Trace could seem monotonous. But there is so much history and the road is so smooth that it makes for great cycling.

The next 3 days of cycling included 80-90 miles of riding each day. We cycled the shoreline along the Ross Barnett Reservoir and stayed in the rustic cabins at the French Camp B&B. The next morning we cycled to Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley, passing more historic Native American sites. This was our last night in Mississippi. As we began riding the next day, we experienced the rolling terrain of northwest Alabama, passing more Indian mounds and crossing the Tennessee River before reaching our home for the next 2 nights in Florence, AL. Here, we had a choice of cycling or spending the day sightseeing or pampering ourselves with a massage or just whatever we wanted to do. Paul and I elected to do a short 20 mile ride with a few others, then a massage in the afternoon, and relaxation the rest of the day.

Once on the road again, we are headed to Linden, TN, where we pick up our U-Haul for taking our bikes/luggage back to Texas. This was our last stop before reaching Nashville. This day was fairly uneventful but we did notice the terrain is starting to become a little hillier.

Our last day, we are headed to the Loveless Cafe at the northern terminus of the Trace in Nashville. We were all feeling good today and Paul was leading the pack. However, due to some unforeseen events, we had to miss the last 40 miles of the Trace, which is by far the hilliest portion.

We'll have to return one day just to do the last 40 miles and eat at the famous Loveless Cafe.

Bicycling Missouri's Katy Trail

In May 2008, we had the pleasure of cycling the Katy Trail in Missouri with 2 other couples. We began our travels in Clinton and headed east toward St. Charles.

Day 1 took us 65 miles along the trail to Pilot Grove. We read that Texas folks would consider this part of the trail as "hilly" whereas people in the Ozarks consider it "flat". This was definitely the hilliest part of the trail with the remainder being relatively flat. We started riding about 9:30am and about 6 miles out, it started raining. This caused parts of the trail to get soft which made it feel as if we were trying to ride through mashed potatoes at times.

Day 2 took us from Booneville to Jefferson City. This isn't the type ride you get on your bikes and see how fast you can finish but, rather, one in which we took our time to explore the trailheads, little towns and cafes, and historical sites such as Daniel Boone's gravesite and Judgement Tree. Just as we reached the Jefferson City trailhead, it started to rain again.

It continued to storm through the night but the weather had cleared before we started out on our bikes on Day 3. We woke up that morning to 45 degrees and a 30 mph north wind. The storm left downed trees across the path every few miles but we learned to maneuver over, through, and around the trees and debris on the trail. This really added to our trail experience. We rode 43 miles from Jefferson City to Hermann/McKittrick this day.

Day 4 was beautiful. The rains were gone and the further east we rode, the harder packed the trail became. We stopped at Weldon Springs so we would have time to visit with friends in the area. But we all agreed that riding to St. Charles, the end of the trail, would have been very easy that day.

In summary, we rode 204 miles in 4 days. Now that may not seem like a lot of miles to some but the fact that we were on our mountain bikes and the trail was soft made it much more difficult than had we been on pavement with our road bikes. We stayed in hotels the first and last nights and enjoyed 3 wonderful bed & breakfast inns in between. We all had a really great time.