Great Smoky Mountains Road Trip -- Day 2: Driving south through Kentucky, I am planning to ride a section of the 200 mile Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail, but when I check the weather forecast, everything south of me is going to get wet today. East of me is the Daniel Boone National Forest and the Red River Gorge which has a slightly better forecast. So I re-route off of I-75 and head east into the national forest.
Soon I am on winding along gravel roads looking for a place to start my ride. The national forest is networked with narrow roads connecting small farms and small towns. True Appalachia the area has some of the poorest counties in the country. I am a little concerned as where to park. I don't want to encourage any anti-yankee vandalism ("Damn Yankee" is one word around here). Nor provide an opportunity for petty theft.
"Bark! Bark! Bark!" A dog chases the car. A few minutes later, "Bark, Bark, Bark!" from a pair of dogs this time. No less than five dogs come out to hassle me. "I'm not getting out of this car," I think to myself. As much as I prefer riding unimproved roads to avoid traffic, the folks living along quiet country roads let their dogs run free -- and that's a problem for bikers.
When I get to a paved state road I decide to start my ride there, I will take my chances with the cars rather than the dogs. And as luck with have it, I notice a patch of gravel at an intersection where someone has dumped construction debris. This is the perfect parking spot -- if the locals are using this spot as a dump they won't mind if I park here and the intersection has enough traffic to discourage opportunists. |
| Parking reserved for construction debris and Yankees |
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| Small farm building in rural Kentucky |
Although a cloudy day, the beauty of the Red River Gorge area is apparent as I ride past small farm buildings and wooded hills. On the map it looks like I can connect up a loop that will take me to some of the gorge's natural arches.
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| Quiet country roads |
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| Choose your weapon! |
In case of dog attack, I have three weapons. Upon skirmish, I have imagined giving the dog a good squirt in the face with my water bottle might surprise and deter them. I also imagine this might be hard with a vicious canine chewing on my foot. So next, I might stab them the business end of my trekking pole. And if all else fails, I'll blast the bastard with pepper spray.
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| Say "cheese" |
Soon I am on the forest back roads which wander along the contours of gorge. I can only maintain a general sense of my location and I hope I can find my way back.
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| Gravel roads wandering through the forest |
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| With over 100 sandstone arches, the Red River Gorge has been described as "Arches National Park with trees." |
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| Apple with a view |
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| Burn from overheated disk brakes |
At one point the road descends steeply and I desperately ride the brakes the whole way down. At the bottom, I reach to tighten my disc brakes and feel something sting my finger. To my surprise, it's not a sting. I burned my finger on the overheated brake disc!
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| Six no trespassing signs -- OK, I think I get the picture! |
From the map I can see I must cross a river to reach the Red River Gorge's famous arches and after exploring and hitting various dead-ends I am getting discouraged. Finally, I am blocked by a simple clothesline armored by no less than six no trespassing signs. Time to turn around.
On the way back to the paved road the dogs are waiting. I hear the first start barking from a long way off. As I ride I can hear him getting closer and closer. I speed up to put a little distance between us and just get ahead of the dog as he emerges from the trees. He chases me down the road for a bit and stops just long enough for me to get a picture before trotting off.
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| This dog chased me from a quarter-mile away! |
Before I return to the car, I see another promising route, Forest Road 212. Again turning off the paved road, I ride down a jeep trail which soon begins to follow and then merge with a creek. As strange as it seems, this makes for some fun riding as I snake my way through the various water hazards.
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| Forest Road 212 begins with well-packed gravel |
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| And then FR 212 adds a little water |
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| This is still marked as a road of the map, but looks more like a creek to me. |
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| The perfect spot for lunch! |
After a really fun bit of riding on the forest road/creek, I'm back to the paved road and I come face to face with another loose dog. This time I'm already riding towards him when I first see him. I unintentionally win the bluff when the dog turns around and takes off in a hurry. I chase him down the road until he gets back home. When he turns to see where I am, I have already ridden by.
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| I chased this dog for a quarter mile |
Overall the day was a huge success, I missed the rain and the dogs. Next stop, Great Smoky Mountains!
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| Route: You can't get there from here |
| State: | Kentucky |
| Date: | 2013-10-28 |
| Route: | Daniel Boone National Forest |
| Distance: | 21 miles |
