Leisure Kentucky Ride

Thursday morning found me in a solo position, all riding friends were tied up doing other things which in itself is a rarity.  Usually somebody is ready to ride at the drop of a hat, or these days, a cap.  So why waste a perfectly good day.  The sun was shining, the sky blue, the air temp at 8:30 a.m. was mid 60s and no rain predicted for the day.  It sounds way too good to stay at the house doing work.  Let's Ride.

At 8:30 a.m. I pushed Sweet Thang out of the garage and fired her 6 cylinders up.  Love to hear that girl crank up especially in the cool air of morning.  I'm okay with that sound in the hot air of the afternoon also.  Anyway, back to my story, I'm all donned out in my summer riding gear, GPS all loaded up for the route, so off I went.

I ran down Boyds Creek Hwy. to US 441 into Knoxville to catch I-275 over to I-75.  I wanted to take the fast way up to Kentucky so that I could take a leisure route back South. Hitting I-75 is a nice ride of long rolling hills and a few good sweeper curves along with a bunch of 18-wheelers and cages (regular cars).






This is the route I took for the trip.  So I just sat back in the seat and listened to Sweet Thang hum along heading for London, KY.  

I looked up and noticed a dark cloud in the sky all the while thinking that the weather people on TV (I checked all three local channels) said no rain.  But I was prepared if moisture did start falling from the Heavens.

Riding along many of the highways here in the mountains you can get a little education on geology, i.e., looking at the strata layers of rock forming the mountains, checking to see if it's solid rock or the shale type, and even to seeing some light coal seams running through the rock.  No gold yet, but when I do see some believe me, it will be kept verrrrry quiet.

Jellico, TN is the last town before crossing into KY.  I figured it was about time to grab some coffee and a biscuit and then gas up before crossing the state line.  I figured TN gas was going to be cheaper.  Wrong, right after I crossed over the gas was $0.24 a gallon cheaper.

Back onto the super-slab and into KY.  That old black cloud disappeared.

Some more geology studies.  This rock looked like stacked brick, big brick.

Traffic was very light this morning and the far off distances seemed to just come and go.  May need to rotate that right hand a bit counter-clockwise.

When I got to London, KY I turned right onto 451 heading to Manchester and on to Big Creek.  We now get to see some great farm country before hitting the mountains where the coal comes from.

Usually you see a lot of yard sales on Fridays and Saturdays but this is Thursday.  A lot of people are hurting in this area due to the lack of industry other than farming and coal mining.

Passing a field of tomatoes.  Some up and staked and some just up and some not planted yet.  White plastic is to keep the weeds out.  Just poke a hole in the plastic and stick a plant in it.  Like planting strawberries in Ponchatoula, LA.  For those of us that have lived near or been there.

Country churches.  Probably has a congregation of 25 or 30 but they have their outdoor gathering place, roof and all.  Good for those everybody bring something to eat days.  Or all day preaching and eating on the ground.  Only in the country and in the South.

I just have a thing for barns.  Some are really neat and some are just slapped together.  And a lot of them are Red.

At Big Creek I hit KY 66.  It will take me from Big Creek to Pikesville, KY.  It will have some rolling hills, some flip flops through the mountains and some sweepers.  It will run along the river in places so the afternoon air is cool, especially when riding in the shade.

Big barn and an old farmhouse.  Pretty serene if I do say so.

I've been in the coal country for a bit and as I rounded a bend in the road I could see this rather new building that looked as if it was built on piling.  And then it dawned on me, that little stream I had been running beside becomes a big big stream when it comes some of those frog chocking rains, thus this building was in a flood plane and it was built high off the ground.

This is Redbird Christian School in Clay County Kentucky and is on the banks of the Redbird River.  It is a United Methodist School, K-12.

Not too far past Redbird School I saw some coal mining equipment sticking up in the air.  It was not in use and had not been for some time.

And shortly after the mine sighting I ran up behind this truck following a highway painting crew.  They were putting the white stripe on the right side of the highway.  He was going about 5 mph which did not agree with my traveling schedule at all.  At the first opportunity I passed him.  It didn't last, there were two more in front, one painting and one sweeping debris off the edge of the road.

Love these nice sweeper curves.  Just have to keep in mind that some of them turn from sweepers to grippers.  That means the arc of the curve tightens up and can really throw your riding off, even off the road.

Kept seeing miles of train tracks but no trains.  I guess if the mines aren't working there's no need for a real train schedule.

Then some more mining equipment almost hidden from view by the trees.

A shot of a header house where the coal comes in on a conveyor and fills gondola cars beneath.

Ahead is a conveyor crossing the highway, they're everywhere, they're everywhere.

And then some loaded gondola cars.  Each car carries approx. 100+ tons of coal.  Each coal train is usually 100 to 110 cars pulled by multiple engines.

Yep, a coal train

is standing by

for the GO signal.

And then some more idle coal mining equipment.  One mine I passed had 5 shafts going into the mountain horizontally.

Maybe it will crank up soon and put a lot of people back to work.  In this region of KY there's not enough flat ground to plant a turnip patch.  Open the back door and it hits the mountain, open the front door and step off into the highway or fall into the river.

Yet another church.  Hard to miss this one.  It's the building with the red roof.

I was running low on gas so I decided to stop in at this little country place.  It was $2.59/gal. for regular.  So I asked a road crew that was finishing up their break how far to the next town.  The young lad told me it was about 15 miles.  I had enough to go that far so away I went.  Sure enough, pulled into the first gas/convenience store entering Pikesville and it was $2.03/gal.  Filled that girl up, grabbed some junk food for myself and off we went.

KY 66 must have crossed the same RR track a half dozen time and this was the only signal crossing.  Ever see a coal train at night?

Downtown Pikesville surrounded on several sides by levees and flood gates.  Thought I was back in Louisiana there for a while.  But then a tall hill let me know I wasn't there.

As the sky darkens once again, I was on the last leg of my journey.  I hit US 25E down to  Tazewell, TN, jumped on TN 33 down to US 441 on the North side of Knoxville and rode it to Seymour. 

I love the tunnel on US 25E which takes you beneath the mountain separating KY from TN.

No rain, just looked that way.  However, it did rain a teeny bit well after I got back to the house.  A great ride, great weather, a great time in a great country.  How much better can it get?  I don't know but I'll just keep trying until I find the max fund goal and then ride on some more.

It was 273 miles door to door today and worth every mile of it.  So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, stay safe.