Glad to read your article and glad you took the time and energy to ride this way. Just surprised to read all the negative comments about the article....one small quote about drugs and welfare sets some people off. However there is a lot of truth to it in some areas of our region...but that's far from all there is here. I've been doing service work in homes and business for 21 years in E. KY and 99% of the people are nothing but nice...a little common sense and you'll be just fine passing through our area. As far as Dawkins Line goes...it is mostly gravel and some rough area's but definitely rideable on most bikes ......just takes some effort.
I'm not usually one to post my opinions online, but as a cyclist myself, blogger, and a travel enthusiast, I love this article. This kind of adventure (on bike, nonetheless) is right up my alley. Kentucky is one of my favorite destinations to travel, camp, hike, and bike. Thanks for sharing!!
Here is my blog: allisonmathews.weebly.com
Here is my blog: allisonmathews.weebly.com
To follow up on the mini comment war about a single woman or person of color making the same trip...it's an interesting question, and I think should be actualised.
New York Times, can you please hire a diverse group--such as a single woman, a person of colour, a young person, a Republican, an illegal immigrant, a gay person, etc.-- to each make the same journey individually? I'd be interested in the different experiences given the same basic parameters -- inexpensive bike trip through Eastern Kentucky -- but empowering the various travellers' choice in where to stay, what to eat, etc.
I, for one, would be fascinated in reading about different choices and experiences. Instead of arguing about what those experiences might be, let's learn what they actually are. NY Times, please accept this challenge you to replicate this particular column with a diverse array of frugal travellers.
New York Times, can you please hire a diverse group--such as a single woman, a person of colour, a young person, a Republican, an illegal immigrant, a gay person, etc.-- to each make the same journey individually? I'd be interested in the different experiences given the same basic parameters -- inexpensive bike trip through Eastern Kentucky -- but empowering the various travellers' choice in where to stay, what to eat, etc.
I, for one, would be fascinated in reading about different choices and experiences. Instead of arguing about what those experiences might be, let's learn what they actually are. NY Times, please accept this challenge you to replicate this particular column with a diverse array of frugal travellers.
1
What woman, especially a young woman, would bike alone on a trip like this? I'm from Eastern Kentucky and I wouldn't do it. There are wonderful people and there's gorgeous scenery but there is grinding poverty that far too many people try to relieve with drugs and booze which leads to impulsive behavior and crime.
2
Thanks for the article. After reading it and the balance of comments I think I will take my bike and ride it. With wide road tires and good lights.
1
Other than an overblown slant on Joe's relevance in local cycling the article is great. Some of the comments bother me though. I grew up in the area and currently live in Stanton. I ride through the RRG frequently. I've ridden east to Prestonsburg on some of the same roads as the author and I have ridden my road bike on the Dawkins Line. So most of the misconceptions about cycling in EKY I can easily dispel.
I am a regional transportation planner for this area. I have lived and cycled in three major cities as well as spending a good part of my life running around on a bike on rural roads in EKY. Hands down I would rather ride on the rural roads described in this article than on the busy roads most cyclists put up with. I've been hit twice by cars: once in Nashville and once in Denver.
Locals in my area slow down to pass. They give me plenty of room. They wave. I never get that in cities. I get yelled at, honked at, almost ran over by city buses, "buzzed" frequently, and completely disregarded as a legitimate road user on a bike.
Fear breeds the misinformation that the naysayers on here are spreading. Eastern Kentucky is one of the best places in the country to ride a bike. And it's getting better. There is a growing mountain biking community. More and more locals are taking up two wheels over motorized recreation. Don't spread stereotypes and fear. If you don't have anything constructive to say about Eastern Kentucky then keep your mouths shut.
I am a regional transportation planner for this area. I have lived and cycled in three major cities as well as spending a good part of my life running around on a bike on rural roads in EKY. Hands down I would rather ride on the rural roads described in this article than on the busy roads most cyclists put up with. I've been hit twice by cars: once in Nashville and once in Denver.
Locals in my area slow down to pass. They give me plenty of room. They wave. I never get that in cities. I get yelled at, honked at, almost ran over by city buses, "buzzed" frequently, and completely disregarded as a legitimate road user on a bike.
Fear breeds the misinformation that the naysayers on here are spreading. Eastern Kentucky is one of the best places in the country to ride a bike. And it's getting better. There is a growing mountain biking community. More and more locals are taking up two wheels over motorized recreation. Don't spread stereotypes and fear. If you don't have anything constructive to say about Eastern Kentucky then keep your mouths shut.
7
gee you do allot to make me feel encouraged to visit, NOT!
I biked through eastern Kentucky last summer, on the way from Chattanooga to Huntington, WV, and I vehemently disagree with Mr. Hurst below. It's ridiculous to generalize about an area as large as eastern Kentucky. There are crazy people everywhere; I got nothing but hospitality in there. A fellow in Corbin opened up his bike shop on a Sunday to help me refit. A guy with a bike pump in his trunk stopped to help me when I had a flat near Hazard. And when I broke a derailleur near Paintsville, a guy with a truck drove me 13 miles into town. Most amazing of all: in the middle of absolutely nowhere on a gravel road, I ran across a guy living in an abandoned school bus with a bunch of dogs for company. He gave me directions and a swig off his whiskey bottle.
6
I lived and worked in the areas mentioned years ago (from McKee to Pikeville to the Gorge), and have biked all over the West, but I wouldn't do this ride through Eastern Kentucky for all the money in Trump's bank account. You can do it once or twice and then naively talk about "how friendly" these people are, but you are testing the ice. One of my worst, true stories from that area involved a traveler who hit a dog, stopped, and went to the porch of the nearest house where a man sat in the swing. "Mister, I just killed someone's dog. If that was yours, I'm really sorry, and I'm willing to pay." The man on the porch didn't say anything, went inside, and came out with a shotgun and killed the traveler. You never know just how crazy someone in eastern Kentucky is, so you have to proceed with a degree of caution that you would think belonged only in the slums of the big city. So, you idealists can repeat that trip, but this experienced biker knows how dangerous it is and would never even consider it. And for all those who want to defend eastern Kentucky, I did live and work there and taught and owned two businesses, so don't tell me I am just kicking the hillbillies because I can get away with it.
2
Yeah, why don't you perpetuate some Appalachian stereotypes? There are crazy people everywhere. Why portray the entire region as being nothing but a bunch of murderous hillbillies? That's simply not the case.
3
I don't believe for a moment that anything like this ever happened. Murders get investigated even in Eastern Kentucky. This is the inverse of an urban legend.
1
Hey, you did it!
Got through a travel article without deeming the place "the new Hamptons" or "the new Brooklyn", that is.
That said, GREAT article...and let's see more of the country that exists outside fussy overpriced 1%er playgrounds.
Got through a travel article without deeming the place "the new Hamptons" or "the new Brooklyn", that is.
That said, GREAT article...and let's see more of the country that exists outside fussy overpriced 1%er playgrounds.
7
I wish the Times would reconsider their lack of nuance in covering Appalachia. There is so much more to us hillbillies than dilapidated houses, guns, drugs and poverty. I'm from Eastern KY, and the stereotypes are as tiresome as they are consistent.
4
My wife and I "discovered" the Red River Gorge several years ago on a trip from SC to OH ... and happily spent several nights at Joe Bowen's B & B ... what an absolute treat. The man is indeed a consummate story teller, cook, local guide and historian. He led us to find a half-dozen natural arches that were spectacular, and opened our eyes to the social and political nature of Eastern Kentucky ... memorable stay, memorable man!
5
excellent post !
Thank you for all the informations!
Thank you for all the informations!
1
Frugal Traveler?
funny that you chose a $2200 Trek "race bred" bike to do the "backroads" tour. You could have opted for a much cheaper and much more suitable cross bike that culd handle dirt, gravel, or mud. Or a Touring bike that could take racks and painers so you could carry your packs.
2015 Trek CrossRip Comp
If you're searching for one bike to do it all, look no further than than Trek's CrossRip Comp. This machine is ready for the road, gravel, commutes, and even some cyclocross racing. I
And since you have rack and fender mounts as well, you have some gear-hauling and foul-weather capacity. The tires are Bontrager Hard-Cases, so flats are pretty much a thing of the past as well.
2014 Trek Domane 4.3
Trek's Domane 4.3 delivers unmatched ride quality, comfort and quickness. This full carbon road machine is graced with race-winning Trek technology like IsoSpeed and a comfortable endurance geometry to make it a true ride-all-day rocket. The 4.3 rolls on quality Bontrager components including aluminum wheels, bar and stem, a carbon seatpost and a supportive seat. Uncompromisingly fast, confidently stable, sublimely comfortable, the Domane has it all!
funny that you chose a $2200 Trek "race bred" bike to do the "backroads" tour. You could have opted for a much cheaper and much more suitable cross bike that culd handle dirt, gravel, or mud. Or a Touring bike that could take racks and painers so you could carry your packs.
2015 Trek CrossRip Comp
If you're searching for one bike to do it all, look no further than than Trek's CrossRip Comp. This machine is ready for the road, gravel, commutes, and even some cyclocross racing. I
And since you have rack and fender mounts as well, you have some gear-hauling and foul-weather capacity. The tires are Bontrager Hard-Cases, so flats are pretty much a thing of the past as well.
2014 Trek Domane 4.3
Trek's Domane 4.3 delivers unmatched ride quality, comfort and quickness. This full carbon road machine is graced with race-winning Trek technology like IsoSpeed and a comfortable endurance geometry to make it a true ride-all-day rocket. The 4.3 rolls on quality Bontrager components including aluminum wheels, bar and stem, a carbon seatpost and a supportive seat. Uncompromisingly fast, confidently stable, sublimely comfortable, the Domane has it all!
1
yes Trek is the company that rode the gravy train of the cheat and fraud Lance Armstrong. They knew it but wanted his money. They did not eve have the guts to apologize. Don't buy a Trek IMHO
Nice to see that the Times has acknowledged real America and real people. There's so much more to life and the US than liberal politics.
5
Of all of your trips, this is the only one that I certainly won't be taking.
7
As a northern transplant to Kentucky over 20 years ago I can attest that this is one of the friendliest places in the country. People are very warm and accepting. Kentucky is also a world-class cycling venue from the unequalled splendor of the Bluegrass rolling hills and thoroughbred farms to the rural roads connecting Americana-reflective communities from Paducah on the Mississippi to Pikeville in the Appalachians. The cycling culture here is developing very well as it is across the country. Along with the very active cycling culture in Lexington and Louisville, many smaller communities even sponsor centuries, family community rides and mountain biking events. Frankly, Kentucky is a well-kept secret and regardless of clichés and stereotypes, to know this place is to love the place.
7
Good thing the author was traveling the back roads, especially the one lane dirt roads by bike.
Such a one lane dirt road beckoned in eastern Kentucky when we were traveling in a van. On the road we met a truck pulling canoes, going in the opposite direction!
This led to one of our camping rules: Never take a one lane dirt road through a forest!
Such a one lane dirt road beckoned in eastern Kentucky when we were traveling in a van. On the road we met a truck pulling canoes, going in the opposite direction!
This led to one of our camping rules: Never take a one lane dirt road through a forest!
2
I thought all double-barreled shotguns had two triggers. No more intriguing than a bicycle with two pedals. But then, Seth comes from NYC, where civilians don't go armed or keep a shotgun behind the front door. It would be nice if, someday, someone could look at a gun and ask "What's that thing?"
3
I know. He wore a seat belt in the four wheeler. But then my brother in law had a little chain on his wallet when he visited NYC. When in Rome.....
1
I used to ride a bike back and forth in the summer on backroads between Corbin and London. That's in the 80s before the roads got too busy.
Not all the roads are busy :) There are still plenty of quiet roads to ride.
1
If you're looking for an off-the-beaten-path place (not that any of this would be mistaken for the beaten path), there is some beautiful scenery around the two tiny and vanishing towns my family came from, Fonde and Pruden (the latter being just over the border in TN). There is very little left of them apart from a few houses, a church, and a lot of ground and trees where buildings used to be, but the surrounding area is lovely. The nearest city (if it can be called that) is Middlesboro, which is reached by a winding and very scenic road. You can find Fonde on Google maps. From there more scenic roads lead north through much the same kind of eastern Kentucky country described in this article.
2
Interesting that White and Latino pipeline workers get along so well when the country is, supposedly, so suffused with white privilege and racism. How to explain a country where racism is so deeply imbedded, according to the lefty narrative, that white privilege is rampant and the poor "person of color" has no chance while in practice the actual working people of the country get along just fine?? It is a mystery is it not?
The only explanation I can see is, if "white privilege and racism" is actually rampant then it must all reside in the hearts and minds of the upper class educated elites who control the hiring of these simple working folks. That would explain how the common people can mingle, intermarry, work alongside and brag about their (darker) fellows salsa without issue while still, supposedly, experiencing the horrific racism the intellectual class see all around.
I have been a working man my whole life. . I have only very rarely observed any sign of racism or "white privilege" in these folks and even if there was these people don't control hiring anyway. The working men and women of this country generally have no problem with latinos, blacks, chinese, muslims or any ethnic or religious minority and work, party and even marry their fellows without regard to race or ethnicity.
Sorry to tell you NY Times readers but if there is a "white privilege" problem in this country it resides in you!
The only explanation I can see is, if "white privilege and racism" is actually rampant then it must all reside in the hearts and minds of the upper class educated elites who control the hiring of these simple working folks. That would explain how the common people can mingle, intermarry, work alongside and brag about their (darker) fellows salsa without issue while still, supposedly, experiencing the horrific racism the intellectual class see all around.
I have been a working man my whole life. . I have only very rarely observed any sign of racism or "white privilege" in these folks and even if there was these people don't control hiring anyway. The working men and women of this country generally have no problem with latinos, blacks, chinese, muslims or any ethnic or religious minority and work, party and even marry their fellows without regard to race or ethnicity.
Sorry to tell you NY Times readers but if there is a "white privilege" problem in this country it resides in you!
5
Right, because two individuals getting along proves that systemic racism doesn't exist.
14
Be good to hear your impressions of Lexington KY too.
2
As a cyclist and a proud East Kentuckian I really enjoyed reading this article. I would like to make one correction however. Bea's Beehive is located in Campton, not Hazel Green as the article states. Both towns are in Wolfe County. I live about one mile from Bea's.
4
A note on the Dawkins Trail Line mentioned here. It is a classic example of all that is wrong with Appalachia, and what will never be corrected. I lived in Paintsville working for the SSA for 5 years. I'm an avid biker and served on a well-intentioned but poorly managed committee formed by the KY Dept of Tourism and the Paintsville CoC. We met twice and the group was never called back into action. Despite my (and a few other) protest this trail on an abandoned RR track was made of packed gravel, rather than asphalted as the quality Rails-for-Trails are. Within 2 months of opening it was rutted by horse hoofs and 4-wheelers and is literally un-bikeable. It is infested with drug dealers and wild dogs. This was an opportunity loss. The deal was that someone's cousins brother was the contractor and did the expected lousy job of construction. Everything in EKY is either politically or financially motivated at the expense of common sense and good judgement. The author paints a quaint profile of Appalachia, but it is not at all what it seems as portrayed by outsiders. Some speak of the "beauty" of the area, but in fact most people live and work in the flat areas of the hollers, and unless you live on top of a big mound of dirt that people call mountains, you will never see a sunrise or a sunset. They had the opportunity to develop a reasonable, flat 30 mile bike path in an area where health scores are among the lowest in the nation, but succumbed to business as usual.
23
Gravel rail trails make for wonderful cycling if you don't use a skinny tired road bike.
1
A first-rate piece. The only thing missing is a map insert showing your route.
8
Try doing this trip as a solo woman traveller or a person of color and see what happens...
20
As a woman who grew up in Paintsville (like another family mentioned in this story, mine has been in Eastern Kentucky since it was still Virginia), I'll answer your question. You would have pretty much the same experience as the writer. We're hardly the backward hilljacks people like to think we are. In addition, I'm fairly well-traveled, and Kentucky hospitality shines in comparison to many parts of the country.
22
Give me a break. I've travelled all over the US as a single woman and have never had a problem, particularly in midwestern rural areas. Heading to Kentucky to do the Bourbon Trail this summer--from my Massachusetts home--and anticipate some nice folks, good bourbon and good food. Beats the Cape or the Vineyard crowds.
19
Oh, you will love the Bourbon Trail. Absolutely beautiful. Don't miss the Four Roses or Woodford Reserve distilleries.
12
You missed Miguel's Pizza? Ouch. We go to Slade just for their chorizo pizza.
10
I lived in Lexington for 5 years. It has some of the most beautiful non-mountainous scenery I've ever seen, and the roads are generally excellently maintained (thanks to the numerous horse farms scattered around the area.) I wasn't expecting biking to be so popular in the area, but the Bluegrass Cycling Club took me in like a long-lost relative. Great group.
11
Sounds pretty accurate except for the unattributed, gratuitous slur about welfare and drugs and your "urban" traveler's sneering tone. This area -- bypassed by the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway since the early '60s -- is probably the most rural and least populated in Eastern Kentucky, but the route recommended by Lexington merchants, while making for comparatively safe bike travel, usually doesn't attract enough traffic to make either restaurants or motels or car rentals feasible. The Lexington bike shop could have given your correspondent better directions.
6
Why "gratuitous slur"? It was a direct quote from a person Seth was talking to, who was clearly indifferent to offending anyone's PC sensibilities.
15
read the article please. The "welfare and drugs" was a direct quote from a local. Gotta love illiterate commenters......
9
A nice glimpse of a world I see in the country here, too, far from metro areas.
1
Lots of history to ponder, and vernacular architecture that deserves more attention. We have ancestors from Paintsvile--this was feuding country. Thank you for the images, the encounters, and the reminders.
9
A great read about the good things that make up the South.
11
Kentucky is not the south. It's Kentucky. There is nothing else like it.
22
Riding a bike across the country on back roads is the best way to learn about your fellow Americans.
19
Thank you for doing this and writing about it. It is great to read about real people.
23