I'm on a week of vacation and took 3 days with a friend to visit
my sister and discover Kentucky. This is a brief review of what
we rode and saw.

Starting in Milwaukee, WI we drove through Chicago:



Stopping in Indiana on the way to Bloomington, this is Brown County State Park.
Highest point in southern Indiana. This shows that not all of Indiana is flat!





Stopping in Bloomington, IN ( is was the weekend of the Little 500 afterall! )
we cruised by the football stadium. I wasn't sure if we should go in, but my friend
said "well, the gate's open ain't it?





From there we spent a half hour looking for the other stadium where the
Little 500 bike race is held. Finally we found it!



Again, the gate was open, so .....
(just look like you know what you're doing and that you're supposed to be going in there )



This was Friday afternoon, so preparations for the weekend were still being made. We
could have ridden right onto the track if there weren't so many folks around.





Continued ...

ah memories... brown county park is ftw & so is bill armstrong stadium. jealousy.

From there we drove south to Bowling Green, KY. My sister lives nearby. Early the
next morning I went out for a pre-breakfast ride and found the Corvette factory.
I rode around the plant:





Driving east we made a short visit with my sister and her many cats and dogs.





This is the road she lives on



As you enter Tennessee, there aren't any signs, but suddenly a
stripe appears down the center of the road!



The roads in Tennessee were great!



But we were chased by a lot of dogs. My friend had 6 (SIX!) chasing
him at one time!!

Driving farther east, we went past this road leading up to a radio tower.
I have no idea how you get up THIS one!!



Ultimately, we rode around in Harlen County - coal country. The roads
were excellent!





Continued ...

More from Harlen County:









I will be putting together a page with many more pics - I shot over
450 of them! Plus I have stories to tell about how we got lost on the
way up to Black Mountain - the highest point in Kentucky. I was scared,
it had "Deliverance" written all over it. I'll put the link in my sig. file.

We drove 1600 miles in 3 days and was still able to ride 2-3 hours a day.
It was a blast. Hope 'yall enjoyed the pics.

jw

THE END

I lived in Elizabethown, KY for five years. Wonderful place for road and mountain biking. Tons of smooth roads with nice scenery and little traffic. Flat and hilly options available. The hills were almost as good as up here, likewise the scenery. And the traffic was much, much better!

I'm from Lexington, and my mom was born and raised in Harlen. I knew the exact roads and curves you were on. Memories! Aren't the roads there just wonderful? Smooth as glass.

Thats a beautiful Pyr your sister has.

All my old stomping grounds!!! Can't beat watching the Little 5 and IU Soccer at Bill Armstrong....tear


Sorry..I just had a moment, guess I'll have to go back for the Hilly Hundred this year and check everything out!

Thank you for sharing those pics...Oh how I hate Burlington County NJ .

Looks like beautiful riding.

My mother-in-law is an IU grad and she was involved with the first Little 500 ride sewing up "kit" for a team.

I don't know... The county roads there aren't bad (compared to Philly, that is ). There's some pretty good riding in the Wharton Tract.

I miss B-ton.

You didn't ride around the track?

I want to climb that radio tower hill.

ahhhhh...Kentucky!

I think you need a winch or something, incredibly steep!

That would have been fun, eh? Too many serious looking folk about. Don't they have a celebrity race or something on friday? (that's when we were there).
The parties were just cranking up and the town was really hopping.

Hey? They have 3 dogs and 2 cats. It seems that dogs are very popular around
there ... we met quite a few out on the road. All friendly though.

The roads were perfectly smooth, but the climbs were STEEP!
I'd bring a triple chainring for sure. I'll have to keep my eye out for any organized
rides around there (Bloomington, IN or anywhere in KY). That will give me something
to train for!

A few more pics from around Harlen, KY:











We drove up Black Mountain (highest point in KY) just after sunset ...
That climb has got to rival anything in Europe. Steep? Oh yeah.
We were half way up wondering why there weren't any guard
rails next to the road where you might get killed if you went off.
Higher up, there were guard rails, where you would get
killed if you went off. After descending you'd need to replace your
brake shoes, there weren't any long straightaways, just LEFT! RIGHT!
LEFT! RIGHT! ... whew! ....

jw

they were testing the new 2008 vette with the LS3 engine that is being announced this weekend. woooooooo hooooooooo!

Great Pics with some awesome roads!!!

guard rails are for wimps and yankees. Kentucky folk don't need 'em!

Ahh Bloomington IN and little 5. I miss it, being a race alumni...racing it in 98 and 99! Great Times. Too bad you couldnt take a spin around the cinder track, its a cool thing to do and any cyclist should make an attempt to see the race in person. Its for sure a great event. Oh and the CUTTERS won this year in a 5 team sprint.

that's just beautiful, thanks for sharing!

Hilly Hundred. 2 (official) days of riding in and through Brown County. Beautiful ride. Haven't doen it since 1993, but always put it on the calendar just in case. HUGE ride.

https://www.hillyhundred.org/

I guess you take what you can get, considering your budget.

Nothing, of course, like a vacation with a planned cycle itinerary in France, Spain, Italy or Monte Carlo
for example, through the routes that professional tours use for competitions.

Tour de Kentuckey??? I went there in rural Louisville and the roads were awesome and it was incredibly hilly. I just wish that I was more fit back then (November '06). I was only able to do a 40 mile ride. Who needs family anyways?

Nice at first I didn't think you were driving a motor lol then I put two and two together.
That is awesome. thanks for the pics