Backroads of Northern Kentucky

When they pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at an "empty" spot in space, scientists were stunned to find that there were billions of galaxies in the images they captured.

Using Google Maps on the state of Kentucky is like that. Point Google at an "empty" place anywhere in Kentucky, zoom in, and you will find that it is not empty at all...it will be filled with tiny one-lane country roads. These roads run across and along ridges and dive down into muddy creek bottoms. They are seemingly endless.

I decided to pick a section of map, a box about 12 miles long by 12 miles wide, and make a GPS route to ride as many of the roads within that area as possible. I tried to minimize backtracking but freely let routes cross over one another.

What a hoot! It turned out to be 100 miles that took me about four hours to ride, including a lunch stop at Waffle House in Dry Ridge.

Weather was overcast and humid, temperatures around 46 deg F and occasionally gusty winds. Most of the time my speeds were around 35-45 mph and I spent a lot of time running along creeks, so the wind was only a factor when I popped up briefly onto the ridgetops.

The CBR250R is perfectly designed to ride roads like this. I installed a set of heated grips that Santa brought me, so between them and a heated jacket liner I was comfortable throughout the ride.

Just goes to show how much fun you can have right in your own back yard!