Wistful
This is but one pic from Doug's pictorial review of the Hiawatha Cyclery League Tour, aka "Gentlemen's Tour". I'm just generally very, very jealous. While I know folks do some touring in KY, including some overnighters hosted by the LBC, these trips in WI and MN are assisted by the great facilities they seem to have there. During their trip they used part(s) of the Root River Trail (60m), Cannon Valley Trial (19m), and Great River State Trail (24m). KY doesn't have any amenities of such nature; the longest "trail" I know of in KY is actually the Riverwalk here in Louisville, and it doesn't lead to any camping facilities. In fishing around for more info on the KYRtT site, I did find some nice pics of members scouting abandoned railway access between Lexington and Ashland, the enigmatic 'Big Sandy project. My point, of course, is that it's a bit more feasible for the MN crew to put together these picturesque trips when they have trails and virgin gravel at their disposal. We don't. Whaa!
That said, it's more the effort and the mindset than the facilties. "Where there is a will, there is a way."
Comments
Contrary to popular belief, the drivers of pickup trucks and other vehicles on rural roads tend to be exceedingly polite. We had no unpleasant encounters with motorists during our 6 days of riding. I think there is a semi-universal appeal to riding loaded bikes on rural roads, and even non-cyclists can sort of relate to the adventure, and tend to be more than accommodating.
However, I'm going to have to call shenanigans here. You have posted photos and writeups of some very picturesque rides through KY and southern Indiana, many involving mixed terrain. I'm sure there are more.
And while I don't know about the KY side of things, I do know that in Southern Indiana, you've got Clark State Forest within reach, Jackson-Washington state forest not too far from there, vast swatches of Hoosier National Forest, and various other state parks and state forests. That area seems ripe for touring to me! Trails are nice, but really unnecessary when you have plenty of quiet country roads to ride on, many of them gravel.
So, I think you're making excuses. I do it too. In this area, my excuse is that I really can't imagine hauling a loaded bike through the mountains. But I'm sure that I *could* do a tour, if I did some more training and actually planned one.