Cali ride
Date: September 20 Sat
Weather: 85F, breezy and sorta warm
Mileage: 37
September mileage: 227
Year to date: 1994
With 'L' at a futbol torneo in Winchester, KY, I did my best to make use of the time and fit in an excellent and adventurous bike ride in between the morning and afternoon sessions. Winchester is smack dab in the middle of the gorgeous Bluegrass region, a region I don't visit as much as I would like (well, on a bike), but one that just screams for bike riding. I've dubbed this ride the Cali ride in honor of the interesting blogs and reports that come out of the SF mixed . While they do epic rides in the hills around SF, I came up with a route that touched on two towns, Monterey and Escondida, that sound decidedly California and not Kentucky. Winchester is 15m east of Lexington but is still very much the Bluegrass region. That means lots of small farm roads, wooden or stone fences and low traffic. I was also taking in completely new roads, so I was very excited and the ride satisfied all my expectations and the some.
The first portion of the ride was classic Bluegrass riding. With a stiff breeze coming from the south I made steady but unaggressive riding. I found these following pics that nicely represented the area.
Van Meter Rd.
Kansas anyone?
Best jerky in KY
Concerning Mingua Bros. jerky, I've been eating the stuff for years. Every time I'm in Lexington I grab a bag, so I was quite pleased to run across their operation in Bourbon Co. At this point I was using the small roads to work north towards Monterey and Paris (pronounced with 1 syllable and almost sounding like the word "purse" with an elongated 'er' sound). In researching the route I found that Monterey is a pretty interesting place. It was the site of an early freed slave town just after the Civil War. Road-building projects unearthed some ruins and more digging has been done on site. As much as I wanted to make this the northern goal of my route, I missed a turn near Paris. I have a feeling that, as suburbs have encroached, "Farm Rd." was changed to another appellation. I rolled into Paris and stopped at a mini-mart, but made the decision to not head to Monterey; its location is nebulous and I would have to venture a busy 4-lane road to find its nebulosity, so I turned south and continued, finding more pleasant scenery.
Southerly Farm (or something like that). A half mile past there was a nursery of the same name.
The ever attractive Bleriot with a bottle of Tigerade upside down in the bottle cage. I only had 1 bottle. Oops.
Once I turned onto Iron Works/Escondida I was greeting my favorite road of the day. Many of these shots are similar: fences, rolling terrain, quiet country lanes
This is officially 'Escondida'. On the other side of this RR tunnel I found 5-6 houses or trailers grouped together. I would call it a small town indeed.
A sign to prove the road brethren town to Cali.
The KY countryside is full of these historical markers. Some folks make it a goal to find them all. I found this interesting site with digital version of the novel.
The bucolic ride turned into an adventure when I needed to turn south from 57 to Austerlitz Station Ln./Renick Rd. As I've found before, my Kentucky Co.s map and googlemaps sometimes have discrepancies. I find it difficult to decide whom to trust b/c the county maps are a good bit older, but they're generally more in tune with what locals know. My old map showed Renick Rd. as having a gap in it, but every other map showed it reaching 57. When I got to the intersection, I found no road, only what looked like a driveway. Just to the left I saw the makings of a "road" into the woods, which really was more a double-track path going up to the railroad track, obviously a service road. With no other options than to trace the long route west to get back to my start on Van Meter, I decided to have a little adventure and see if I could find my way.
The service road reaching the tracks.
Once up on the service road I found the track to be rideable. The rocks weren't too terribly large and if I avoided the rut near the tracks I found that I could find the line. At this point, the Bleriot was tracking really well and I even found it "comfortable", with the Grand Bois doing their job. I made steady progress with my map indicating that I was heading towards Renick and towards Van Meter.
Early track, not too rough
later track, very very rough
Concern, though, arose. The further I got from my entry road the rougher the path became. Instead of pea gravel and dirt I instead encountered rocks, real rocks, and I began to really worry about a flat. I had the necessary wares to fix it, but I was starting to run a bit closer on time and moreso I didn't know if I could escape this road. Much of the tracks was built up well above the terrain and climbing down would've been very challenging. And I really had no clue where I was save a general directional idea of "south". The map showed some type of junction at Renick, but did it exist? The original road didn't although the maps showed it was being there. I had to walk a while as well b/c the rocks, no, stones began beating the Bleriot like a baby seal. As an aside, the Bleriot was simply amazing. I was on a road bike, a dandy road bike, and I was pummeling the rocky service road like Merckx or DeVlaeminck. My mind was convinced on this day that I never, never ever, need a "road bike" to take me where I need to go; I only need a well-built "country bike". Grant has been right all along.
Soon after having to walk I found an escape. To me left I saw a farm fence, and in the distance a group of barns or something. I can honestly say that I've never wandered through the field of a random farmer before, but my in-laws are dairy farmers and I hoped my interactions with my fatherinlaw would help. I hopped the gate and started walking up the hill towards the barns.
Blue gate, escape clause
Barn in distance. The worrisome part? Dogs, bulls, really mean rednecks.
At the top of the hill I found a group of Latinos- Mexicans I presume- working around a tractor, and crossing a farm road a white pickup. I hoped for the best. I greeted the Mexicans in Spanish and found the white farmer guy to ask for directions. "Sir, I'm a bit lost. How might I get to Van Meter Rd.?" "Well, you go up the road here and take a right" "Thanks, I got lost up on the railroad service road and I'm sure glad for your help." "Well, at least you got some extra ridin' in." I was worried about whatever kind of interaction a solid 5m from anywhere to speak of, but everybody there was really nice and I found my way back.
farm road leading out and towards Renick Rd./Van Meter Rd.
The famed Renick, as situated on the map. It's an old-ass wooden trestle bridge over the tracks. If I had continued, I would've seen the bridge above me at a good 20ft+. I had exited at the right time.
The elusive Renick Rd. as heading towards 57.
I was running late but I sure wanted to explore that road. It continues down a bit; you can even see the pavement on a googlemap. After that, for some reason the road just ends even though a roadbed is obvious on googlemaps as well. On a different day it would definitely be worth some bushwacking. I had a soccer game to watch, though, and heading back down Renick to Van Meter and to the soccer complex.
The combo of perfect country roads and a "mixed" adventure made for a damn good cycling day, and one I won't forget soon. I hope everybody could be so lucky.
Weather: 85F, breezy and sorta warm
Mileage: 37
September mileage: 227
Year to date: 1994
With 'L' at a futbol torneo in Winchester, KY, I did my best to make use of the time and fit in an excellent and adventurous bike ride in between the morning and afternoon sessions. Winchester is smack dab in the middle of the gorgeous Bluegrass region, a region I don't visit as much as I would like (well, on a bike), but one that just screams for bike riding. I've dubbed this ride the Cali ride in honor of the interesting blogs and reports that come out of the SF mixed . While they do epic rides in the hills around SF, I came up with a route that touched on two towns, Monterey and Escondida, that sound decidedly California and not Kentucky. Winchester is 15m east of Lexington but is still very much the Bluegrass region. That means lots of small farm roads, wooden or stone fences and low traffic. I was also taking in completely new roads, so I was very excited and the ride satisfied all my expectations and the some.
The first portion of the ride was classic Bluegrass riding. With a stiff breeze coming from the south I made steady but unaggressive riding. I found these following pics that nicely represented the area.
Van Meter Rd.
Kansas anyone?
Best jerky in KYConcerning Mingua Bros. jerky, I've been eating the stuff for years. Every time I'm in Lexington I grab a bag, so I was quite pleased to run across their operation in Bourbon Co. At this point I was using the small roads to work north towards Monterey and Paris (pronounced with 1 syllable and almost sounding like the word "purse" with an elongated 'er' sound). In researching the route I found that Monterey is a pretty interesting place. It was the site of an early freed slave town just after the Civil War. Road-building projects unearthed some ruins and more digging has been done on site. As much as I wanted to make this the northern goal of my route, I missed a turn near Paris. I have a feeling that, as suburbs have encroached, "Farm Rd." was changed to another appellation. I rolled into Paris and stopped at a mini-mart, but made the decision to not head to Monterey; its location is nebulous and I would have to venture a busy 4-lane road to find its nebulosity, so I turned south and continued, finding more pleasant scenery.
Southerly Farm (or something like that). A half mile past there was a nursery of the same name.
The ever attractive Bleriot with a bottle of Tigerade upside down in the bottle cage. I only had 1 bottle. Oops.
Once I turned onto Iron Works/Escondida I was greeting my favorite road of the day. Many of these shots are similar: fences, rolling terrain, quiet country lanes
This is officially 'Escondida'. On the other side of this RR tunnel I found 5-6 houses or trailers grouped together. I would call it a small town indeed.
A sign to prove the road brethren town to Cali.
The KY countryside is full of these historical markers. Some folks make it a goal to find them all. I found this interesting site with digital version of the novel.The bucolic ride turned into an adventure when I needed to turn south from 57 to Austerlitz Station Ln./Renick Rd. As I've found before, my Kentucky Co.s map and googlemaps sometimes have discrepancies. I find it difficult to decide whom to trust b/c the county maps are a good bit older, but they're generally more in tune with what locals know. My old map showed Renick Rd. as having a gap in it, but every other map showed it reaching 57. When I got to the intersection, I found no road, only what looked like a driveway. Just to the left I saw the makings of a "road" into the woods, which really was more a double-track path going up to the railroad track, obviously a service road. With no other options than to trace the long route west to get back to my start on Van Meter, I decided to have a little adventure and see if I could find my way.
The service road reaching the tracks.
Early track, not too rough
later track, very very roughConcern, though, arose. The further I got from my entry road the rougher the path became. Instead of pea gravel and dirt I instead encountered rocks, real rocks, and I began to really worry about a flat. I had the necessary wares to fix it, but I was starting to run a bit closer on time and moreso I didn't know if I could escape this road. Much of the tracks was built up well above the terrain and climbing down would've been very challenging. And I really had no clue where I was save a general directional idea of "south". The map showed some type of junction at Renick, but did it exist? The original road didn't although the maps showed it was being there. I had to walk a while as well b/c the rocks, no, stones began beating the Bleriot like a baby seal. As an aside, the Bleriot was simply amazing. I was on a road bike, a dandy road bike, and I was pummeling the rocky service road like Merckx or DeVlaeminck. My mind was convinced on this day that I never, never ever, need a "road bike" to take me where I need to go; I only need a well-built "country bike". Grant has been right all along.
Soon after having to walk I found an escape. To me left I saw a farm fence, and in the distance a group of barns or something. I can honestly say that I've never wandered through the field of a random farmer before, but my in-laws are dairy farmers and I hoped my interactions with my fatherinlaw would help. I hopped the gate and started walking up the hill towards the barns.
Blue gate, escape clause
Barn in distance. The worrisome part? Dogs, bulls, really mean rednecks.At the top of the hill I found a group of Latinos- Mexicans I presume- working around a tractor, and crossing a farm road a white pickup. I hoped for the best. I greeted the Mexicans in Spanish and found the white farmer guy to ask for directions. "Sir, I'm a bit lost. How might I get to Van Meter Rd.?" "Well, you go up the road here and take a right" "Thanks, I got lost up on the railroad service road and I'm sure glad for your help." "Well, at least you got some extra ridin' in." I was worried about whatever kind of interaction a solid 5m from anywhere to speak of, but everybody there was really nice and I found my way back.
farm road leading out and towards Renick Rd./Van Meter Rd.
The famed Renick, as situated on the map. It's an old-ass wooden trestle bridge over the tracks. If I had continued, I would've seen the bridge above me at a good 20ft+. I had exited at the right time. 
The elusive Renick Rd. as heading towards 57. I was running late but I sure wanted to explore that road. It continues down a bit; you can even see the pavement on a googlemap. After that, for some reason the road just ends even though a roadbed is obvious on googlemaps as well. On a different day it would definitely be worth some bushwacking. I had a soccer game to watch, though, and heading back down Renick to Van Meter and to the soccer complex.
The combo of perfect country roads and a "mixed" adventure made for a damn good cycling day, and one I won't forget soon. I hope everybody could be so lucky.
Comments
I just did one over here on the Indiana side of the river.