9/25/09 Day 2

Pine Ridge Ky.

I wake early, shower and get a cup of coffee. The weather does not look good, cloudy and grey and the roads are still wet. At 8:50 we load up and turn right on route 715, stopping for fuel in Slade Ky. From there its back on route 11 south, two miles down the road and we arrive at the first stop for the day, Natural Bridge state park. We arrive at 9:30, the skylift opens at 10:00,we purchase tickets and wait. The skylift takes you on a 1/2 mile ride to the top, once there you can go to lookout point for a great view and hike over and onto Natural Bridge. Getting on to the skylift I remember I have a fear of heights ,,,Oh well it does not look so bad. 30 maybe 40 feet off the ground then we come to the cliff,,,straight up,,don't look down, don't look down I keep telling myself,,,ok at the top . Now we hike over to Natural Bridge, a 30 foot wide walkway formed by nature from over 900 tons of sandstone. We spend some time hiking and taking pictures . It was a good way to start the day, but now its time to ride the skylift back down,,,did I mention my fear of heights,,,ok thought so. Remember the cliff,,as the lift leaves the platform you get a much better view of how high you are,,,I think this would be a great picture,,I decide to reach for my camera and take some pics,,,but my hand will not release the death grip it has on the safety bar,,I bet my fingerprints are still on the bar!!!! I am dangling there, my chair stopped while they load the chair behind me...Back at the bottom I am ready to roll.

Turning on route 11 we head for Boonville, 30 miles south. There we pick up route 30 west to London. It is a 50 mile stretch of two lane that winds through rural Ky. ,,A lot of great curves ,,some of the best riding Ky has to offer. We pull up to the one stop sign I remember on this road, I turn to ask Steve what he thinks of Route 30,,,,the mile wide grin on his face answers the question before I can even ask it. Pulling into London we break for lunch at The Cracker Barrel .

After lunch we head for our second stop of the day, Cumberland Falls state park. We ride about 10 miles when we have to stop, pull out the rain gear and suit up. We talk to a local at this stop and he informs us we are about to run into severe weather. Storms are coming our way, thunder,lightning, and driving rain up to two inches an hour moving from west to east. We decide to leave Cumberland falls for another trip, jump on the Hal Rogers parkway east bound to route 11 and head north for home. The ride north on 11 was a fun ride, we make it to Mount Sterling and call it a night at the Budget inn, just your typical little cheap dump.

9/26/09 wet ride home

We wake this morning to a hard rain , it is still dark when we roll out of the parking lot at 7:30, north bound on curvy route 11 . Even though it is dark, and raining hard the ride is still fun, we stop at Bob Evans in Maysville for breakfast, the hostess was not happy to see us come in. After riding an hour in a driving rain we were soaked, and dripping so much water on the floor she had to mop it behind us,,,oops,,sorry.

After breakfast we cross the Ohio River back into Aberdeen and follow route 41 north. We do change the route back to Chillicothe by taking route 32 east to route 23 north because that is four lane and with this rain will be an easier trip back. Home just after 11:30, time to unload the bike , clean and dry the gear ,,it was a short, and wet trip, but still a lot of fun. Time to start planning next years rides,,hope there are more than this year...

9/24/09 short fall ride

Well its September, I should be on week long ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway,,but not this year. It has been a rough summer, off work for 5 weeks due to an injury . That has left the bank account to low for that trip. so,,plan B.

9/24/09, Thursday morning I meet Steve for breakfast at Carl's townhouse, we are leaving for a 3 day trip through Kentucky. I check the forecast that morning, yep,,we will be getting wet. I don't care, been wet before and it will be good to get back on the road. I have not been on a trip in 3 months, have had a few day rides and a couple of poker runs,, but no trips.

We leave town west bound on route 50, 20 miles to Bainbridge where we turn south on route 41. to Aberdeen Ohio, cross the Ohio River and we are in Maysville Ky. The sun is out, well sort of..but at least we have not hit rain yet. In Maysville we pick up route 11 south,, I have not traveled this section of 11 and am glad to get the chance to. Route 11 is a two lane road that weaves through rural Ky. passing farmland and rolling hills with a few good curves to keep you on your toes. Mid day we roll into Mount Sterling , breakfast is wearing thin so we stop at Jerry's restaurant for lunch. Back on the road, a few miles south of town the sky lets loose and the rain pours. We pull off the road, dig out the rain gear and suit up. We pull into Clay city KY., I have a stop to make. Carmichael's Leather and bike accessories , a store we found on last years Ky. ride. Last year Wook and I stopped there to escape the hot August sun, today Steve and I stop in to escape a downpour. We go inside, look around and talk to the owners for about a half hour or so. With the rain letting up, we say our goodbyes and promise to stop in next year.

We continue south on route 11 through Stanton and on to route 77 ( Nada tunnel road) We stop for pictures at the tunnel, then continue on to route 715, we stop at Gladie house, a restored log cabin that was built in the 1800s. We continue on through the red river gorge area and end up in Pine Ridge KY. Here we stop at the True North Inn for directions and a meal. We pull in thinking it was just a restaurant.

This turned out to be a great find, we were greeted by the proprietor, Jeff Colombo. Jeff moved to the area from Michigan after his job was moved overseas. He is an avid rock climber, and one hell of a cook. He runs the inn with his fiancee, Gloria. We did not have the pleasure of meeting her as she was out of town on business. The True North Inn offers lodging, dining, and adventure outings . While not a traditional biker hangout, it is biker friendly, if you find yourself in the area do yourself a favor and stop in. They are located at 20 sky bridge road Pine Ridge Ky. We are already planning a trip back to the Inn next year.