Kentucky backroads

[ghostdncr]

I got out early this morning, hitting the road just before sunrise. Stopped for gas almost as soon as I started rolling and successfully resisted the urge to assemble breakfast out of a hodge-podge of gas station food. As luck would have it, breakfast would remain un-addressed this morning in spite of my half-hearted attempts at making it happen.

This morning's ride was a short one down to Jefferson Memorial Forest. I could've done a MUCH better job of researching the place before heading down there, but I decided on a quick ride at the last minute and JMF won out as the destination. It amounts to about 6000 acres of forest situated on the southwest side of Jefferson County and part of Bullitt County: http://www.louisvilleky.gov/metropar...emorialforest/

After successfully dodging the sixteen cars I was sharing the Watterson Expressway with at this early hour (only four of those drifted/lurched into my lane and only one of those was actively trying to hit me), I took to the secondary roads and swept along the backside of the airport. Louisville is a major UPS hub and FedEX has a significant facility here, as well. Most of the heavies you see parked in the following pics are either UPS or FedEX planes and were being loaded up as I passed. The distant high rises are in downtown Louisville:











Just southeast of the airport is the Ford Assembly Plant where all the Escapes are built:



As I got near the forest, these signs started showing up. It appears the pirates are having a ride to raise money for cancer, or at least that's what I gathered from it. I hope they do well and have a big time!



Betcha think I'm making this up:



Now we're getting into some of the roads I would say most closely resemble the norm around here, along with the standard Kentucky "look" of the surrounding area:





Why make it up? They write this stuff for me!



There are some hella curvy roads out this way, but I was apparently too busy laughing and working the bike to take any pics of them:















This is an LG&E (Louisville Gas & Electric) powerplant that sits on the Ohio River between Okolona (?) and West Point. It was belching so much crap into the atmosphere this morning that I couldn't pass up taking a pic:



I had to run by the little Mom and Pop hardware store to get a key made. As they sit just off the Watterson Expressway, they were there to see the Watterson built back in the fifties and sixties. They had this photo on the wall that was taken in 1964 I believe, the same year I was born:



While it wasn't a long ride, it was pleasant enough and got my Saturday off to a great start. Unfortunately, the rest of the day's to-do list is rather long and complicated. Not a lot of riding opportunities lie ahead today and tomorrow's not looking so hot, either.

[tiger seven]

I was at Jefferson Memorial Forest Saturday morning doing some trail running. It's a great place to visit, and it certainly was a beautiful morning! I've yet to find a really fun (meaning NO expressways) route out there that doesn't take forever but it's a blast to explore all those twisty roads and keep looking for one.

Derek

[bovine]

Glad you had fun Saturday, I was inside UPS working while you were out playing. Then you rode around in my back yard so to speak. There are lots of twisty roads out this way and several big hills too. Pendleton Hill and Barrelltown are pretty good hills but the tarmac isn't the best. Mitchell Hill is a good ride too except for one decreasing radius turn and a few bad patches of blacktop. Been on all those roads in your pictures many times.

[Sourjon]

Is that 42 in the bottom of the picture? Where 42 and 22 used to merge before the Watterson.

[ghostdncr]

Originally Posted by Sourjon

Is that 42 in the bottom of the picture? Where 42 and 22 used to merge before the Watterson.

Sounds completely plausible, but I've only lived out this way for a couple of years. The small shopping center shown at the lower right of the photo is where Brownsboro Hardware is located, which is where I was getting my key made. That's right at the current intersection of Brownsboro Road and the Watterson.

Are there campsites available in the Jefferson MF? Seems like I heard or read that somewhere. We should have a local ADV camp/cookout sometime as soon as the temperatures dip back solidly into the double digits.

[tiger seven]

Originally Posted by ghostdncr

Are there campsites available in the Jefferson MF? Seems like I heard or read that somewhere. We should have a local ADV camp/cookout sometime as soon as the temperatures dip back solidly into the double digits.

Yes, there are campsites available there. Don't know much about them because they're in the Horine Reservation, a part of the forest I'm not very familiar with. Next time I'm out there I'll check it out.

Derek

[Flashback]

I'm in Jeffersonville on the DR for a 5 week project. Decided to run a 600 mile route through western Appalachia this weekend.

Mix of 80+ mph superslab, side roads, back roads, forest roads, single track, and a bit of bush whacking. Gotta love the versatility of the DR.

Here's a few photos.