KENTUCKY SPIRITS88 miles isn't much, and spread over two days, the pace could be downright leisurely. To be honest, I'd prefer Gina as company, but I have to consider someone else, as she hate bicycles (my fault).
Grab your road bike and head for the heartland, where the two things that make Kentucky great—bourbon and horses—are within weekend spinning distance of Lexington. After an inspirational stop at the Kentucky Horse Park (kyhorsepark.com), where more than 50 breeds graze near Man o' War's gravesite, it's 17 miles west to the historic Woodford Reserve Distillery (woodfordreserve.com), along Glen Creek. Sample a snort of small-batch bourbon and keep rolling past white-fenced thoroughbred farms to the Wild Turkey Distillery (wildturkeybourbon.com), in continuous operation since the late 1860s except for a blip during Prohibition. The oyster po'boys and Bridge Street Bourbon Balls at Rick's White Light Diner & Barbecue (502-330-4262), a vintage hideaway in downtown Frankfort, are worth pulling in for. After a night at the Meeting House (doubles from $100; themeetinghousebandb.com), an 1840s bed-and-breakfast, point your wheels north toward Franklin County and the Buffalo Trace Distillery (buffalotrace.com), whose 15-year-old George T. Stagg bourbon took home the gold in the 2006 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. From there, it's a straight shot back to Lexington, where you can recover (from the riding!) among mahogany furnish-ings and regional artwork at the Gratz Park Inn (doubles from $169; gratzpark-inn.com).
Route: Start the 88-mile loop at Lexington and ride north on Highway 922, west on 1973, then right on Iron Works Parkway. Head back to Lexington and go west on Highway 60/62 to Lawrenceburg. Take McCracken Pike, then Steele Road, then Highway 127 north to Frankfort. To return to Lexington, take Highway 421 via Midway.
—JULIAN SMITH, Outside Magazine
15 July 2009
looking for interested parties
gina doesn't like bicycles, though maybe for this, she might. i've had this article hanging on my magnetic chalkboard - which now says DON'T FORGET in large letters (you may recall that it used to say MOM AND DAD I USE DRUGS) - for many months. looking at the vacation time i have remaining, perhaps now (or soon) is the time.
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5 comments:
sounds pretty neat
It would be fun...talk gina into doing it
One thing I hate more than bicycles is Kentucky.
But I would do it anyway. Cause I'm a team player.
if gina doesn't want to go, i will. but my bike is heavier than yours, so i'll have to work harder. it also has air conditioning and says "mercury" it.
jim.
i forgot the word 'on' at the end there.
mercury makes some crap bikes.
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