Day One: Morehead to Owingsville to Flemingsburg (Rowan, Bath, and Fleming Counties)

October 31, 2025

Joy was finishing the last section of her hike of the 340+ mile Sheltowee Trace this weekend, so I rode along with her to Morehead, the start of the last trail segment.

She dropped me off at the Rowan County Court House.

It was cloudy, windy, and much chillier than I'd anticipated. Despite my late start (11:30), it hadn't warmed up much.

I rode a few blocks on city streets out of Morehead, then got onto US-60, the only way out of town. As I'd anticipated, it was trafficky, and not very pleasant. I'd done it many times in the past when I lived in adjacent Fleming County, but my tolerance for traffic has diminished over the years, so I was glad when this five-ish mile segment ended, and I was able to get on very pleasant, lightly traveled country roads.

One of the nice roads after the US-60 segment.

The sun came out intermittently, which was nice. I was heading to Owingsville, the Bath county seat, and for a while I was riding on roads I didn't remember biking on when I lived in the area. It's always fun to see new things on bike rides.

My handlebar bag was heavier than usual because I was carrying most of a big, heavy loaf of banana bread we'd made the other night. It had started off as my project, but then I'd gotten confused while measuring the flour, and Joy had to intervene to save it. Periodically I'd stop and bite off a hunk of the loaf. One of the reasons I like bike touring: I can an entire loaf of high calorie banana bread by myself in a day without guilt.

I entered Fleming County on the way to Owingsville. County #2! Two down, 118 to go!

I entered the tiny community of Colfax, where I was surprised to see an old country store that was still open. Somehow when I lived in Fleming County I never visited this store on bike rides. I don't remember it, anyway.

I took a customer phone call outside the store, then went inside, where I purchased an Ale-8-One (a favorite local Kentucky soft drink) and talked the store's owner for a while.

The owner filled me in on some of the drama in the local Amish community. Apparently the community got a new "Rabbi, or Deacon, or whatever you call him", and instituted stricter rules, causing an exodus of some of the community members.

As we talked, I looked around the store. What a jumble!

Back on the road. I had a head wind much of the time, and I was getting more tired than I expected, perhaps because of the chillier-than-expected temperatures. I was starting to regret wearing shorts today.

I received a text from my friend Peter. He and his sister Morri were in Owingsville. Yesterday we'd talked about the possibility of them riding from Owingsville to Flemingsburg with me, and Peter was confirming that was still on.

This motivated me to pick up the pace a little, since I didn't want to keep them waiting. I entered Bath County on the long, flat stretch of low traffic highway that I was very familiar with from riding in the area years ago.

The long flat stretch ended, and then I had the biggest climb of the day to get to Owingsville. I definitely remembered that climb from years ago. When I first started riding in 2005, I could barely get up it on the bike.

I arrived in Owingsville and took a picture of the bike in front of the old court house instead of the less attractive, new "Judicial Center."

Peter and Morri rode out of town with me, after a brief stop at the gravesite of A.D. Ruff, a prominent Kentucky bicyclist from the 19th century whose gravestone is topped by a bicycle wheel. Peter and I visited the gravesite twenty years ago on a ride. It's nice to see that the gravestone is still in good condition.

Here Peter and I are at the gravesite in 2006 (also pictured is Peter's son Pruitt):

Pruitt, Peter, and me: May 21st, 2006. About a week before I started on my first bike tour, the TransAmerica Trail.

We had four or five miles leaving town on KY-36, which normally is fine, but at this time of day (3:15 or so) was much busier than I like because of the after school traffic.

After we turned onto a country road, it was much, much nicer. The sun came out for the last 20 miles, and we were able to ride side by side at times and talk. Very nice.

It's always a minor adventure riding with Peter. Here he's seen attempting to take an "artistic" photo of his sister for some reason. This apparently required him to lie down in this intersection, while I nervously watched for traffic:

Despite the increasing chilliness in the late afternoon and early evening, this was a great ride.

We arrived at my mom's house in Flemingsburg. Her house is at the top of a hill, and my two riding companions issued some mild complaints about ending a ride like this, but I just laughed - I'm the one riding the heavy touring bike!

I took my mom's car and drove Peter and Morri back to Peter's car in Owingsville, then drove back home and ate a large quantity of soup beans and cornbread, my favorite childhood meal, that my mom had made for me earlier.

It was great to ride with Morri and Peter the last 25 or so miles today.

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Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 59 miles (95 km)

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Suzanne Gibson"Here Peter and I are at the gravesite in 2005 (also pictured is Peter's son Pruitt):"
Did you intend to include a picture?
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2 months ago

Morri NashIt’s always a pleasure seeing you Jeff and a treat riding with you on this first leg of your current cycling quest.
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2 months ago

Jeff LeeTo Suzanne GibsonI just added it. I must have forgotten to to save it before. Thanks for noticing.
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2 months ago