Rivers and Natural Bridges of KY & OH

† Explanation of BAC Ride Fee – This fee is not included in the Estimated Cost and is non-refundable once submitted. The Ride Fee for US and Canada is $85 and $100 for all other countries, both are per participant.

Ride Description

OVERVIEW
The Rivers and Natural Bridges is a semi-fixed-base hike and bike ride that begins in Bellevue KY, a small river city just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati OH, and ends at Natural Bridge State Park in Slade KY, during October’s peak autumn colors. We will be following the Ohio River, Licking River and the Red River through urban, suburban and rural regions of Ohio and Kentucky, experiencing historic sights, pastoral river scenic byways, and thickly wooded areas of the Daniel Boone National Forest. There will be guided tours of Cincinnati’s Heritage Brewery District, a tour of the Blue Licks Battlefield by canoe, and a hike or bike day in Red River Gorge’s Natural Bridge State Park featuring a “natural bridge” sandstone arch. The arch is 78 feet long, 65 feet high, 12 feet thick and 20 feet wide, and some geologists believe it to be over a million years old.

There will be five required riding days, two optional riding days and one canoe/hiking day. The required days include a short 24 mile loop in the Cincinnati area, Bellevue to Augusta KY (home of Rosemary and George Clooney), Augusta to Blue Licks Battlefield (where Daniel Boone’s son was killed in a post-revolutionary battle), Blue Licks to Morehead, then Morehead to the Red River Gorge.

We will be staying in Blue Licks for two nights and will occupy ourselves with a canoe and walking tour of the “Last Battle of the Revolutionary War”. There are also 4 miles of hiking trails that you can do, or you can just rest in your room. In Natural Bridge you can hike or bike in Red River Gorge (and if you are feeling particularly vigorous you can do both!). There will be several trails or bicycle routes to choose from. One last optional day will be a short 12 mile ride through Eden, Sawyer Point, and Smale Riverfront Parks in Cincinnati. Transportation from Natural Bridge back to Northern KY will be provided.

Our final group meal will be at the famous Hofbräuhaus, first authentic Hofbräuhaus in America, modeled after the legendary 400+ year-old Hofbräuhaus in Munich, Germany!

For more information the resorts go to:
Blue Licks State Park http://parks.ky.gov/parks/resortparks/blue_licks/
Natural Bridge http://parks.ky.gov/parks/resortparks/natural-bridge/

RIDE RATING
This ride is a 2B! ride due to two days of 50+ mile distances and one day of 3800’ of elevation gain. Most of the days will be on rural roads that are well paved with only a few areas that are in spotty condition. There are a couple days where we need to take roads that are busy but have wide shoulders and traffic should not interfere with riding. There is also one day where we do ride a couple miles in downtown Cincinnati, but this will be during the weekend and drivers are used to cyclists due to an influx of urbanites that utilize our Red Bike bikeshare program. It should also be noted that we will be riding into the Red River Gorge, with emphasis on “Gorge” – there will steep hills (a couple short distance grades do reach 16-18%) and since it will be in October there will be leaves on the road obscuring hazards. This is not an optimal condition for racing, but with caution it is optimal for sightseeing and living up to its nickname “Red River Gorgeous”.

The following is the mileage and elevation for each day:

Leg                                                      Date        Miles                 Total Elevation Gain

Cincinatti                                           Oct 13      25.2                    1108'

Bellevue to Augusta                        Oct 14      43.1                     1391'

Augusta to Blue Licks                      Oct 15      47.4                    2592'

Blue Licks                                          Oct 16      Canoe & hike

Blue Licks to Morehead                  Oct 17      52.9                     2892'

Morehead to Red River Gorge       Oct 18      54.3                    3869'

Red River Gorge (ride or hike)       Oct 19      30.2                    2203'

Cincinatti (optional)                         Oct 20     12.3                     794'

All routes can be previewed on RideWithGPS https://ridewithgps.com/users/27438/routes use the filter RNB to see only routes for this ride.

WEATHER
Weather in Kentucky in mid-October can range from very warm in the mid-80’s in the day to very cool mid-50’s at night. The average day time temp is 69°. Average precipitation is generally very low (less than 0.1”) but that doesn’t mean there is no chance for rain. As the saying goes “if you bring your rain gear chances are you won’t need it”.

LODGING AND MEALS
We will be staying in a variety of hotels and inns including two state resorts (Blue Licks and Hemlock Lodge) one very large B&B (Parkview Inn), a Holiday Inn Express, and a Comfort Inn. Breakfast will be provided every morning in the hotels, there will be seven group dinners, two group lunches, and of course Happy Hours every day.

LOGISTICS
Participants can fly into Cincinnati Airport (CVG) and take an Uber, shuttle, or taxi to the Holiday Inn Express, address below. Storage for the bike boxes will be provided. Those that choose to drive can go directly to the hotel and you will be allowed to leave your vehicle there for the week at no charge.

The first happy hour will be held at 5pm on Friday the 12th, location is still TBD but will be within walking distance of hotel.

The Ride Leader will provide transportation of your luggage from hotel to hotel and participants will be required to load their luggage into the cargo trailer or van no later than 8am on riding days.

On the 20th a charter bus will be picking everyone up at Hemlock Lodge at 9am and will bring us back to the Comfort Inn in Newport. Lunch will be provided on the bus, and we should arrive approximately 12pm (which should give you enough time to get that last optional 12 mile ride in!). 

Everyone will depart on the morning of the 21st.

The other Hotels are listed in a document in the Ride Leader Docs for this ride.

BIKE RENTAL
For those that wish to rent a bicycle instead of bringing your own, you should contact Trek Bicycles 1999 Dixie Hwy Fort Wright, KY 41011 the phone number is (859) 331-2482 and their website is www.trekstorecincinnati.com. You will want to reserve a bike at least one month ahead of the ride to make sure you get one that fits you.  Note that any rental agreement for a bicycle is between the rider and Trek Bicycles, but with enough advance notice the ride leader can assist in getting you to the bike shop.

COST & ADMINISTRATION
The cost of the ride is $1600 and includes all hotel fees, breakfast every morning, seven group meals, and two lunches. Lunch on riding days will not be provided but there are places along the route to pick up something to eat. The cost also includes the Heritage Brewery and Blue Licks Battlefield tours. There is a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 27 participants.

Once accepted on the ride by the Ride Leader the participant will be required to pay a deposit of $800. The final payment of $800 is due on March 1, 2018.

SINGLES POLICY
Single who wish to pay the single supplement cost of $525 will be placed on the ride immediately. If you pay the single supplement you can continue to seek a roommate, but must plan to participate without a roommate if one cannot be found.  The single supplement is payable by check directly to the Ride Leader and is refundable if the single finds a roommate.

Singles who want a roommate are encouraged to find one on their own.  If you do not already have a roommate lined up you can still request to join the ride and the Ride Leader will assist in matching you up with another participant. Please let me know the preferred gender for a roommate, or indicate that there is no preference, to help accommodate you.

CANCELLATION POLICY
The BAC ride registration fee and processing fee are not refundable unless the entire tour is cancelled. Refunds of tour payments will depend upon whether a replacement rider signs up, and on costs that can be recouped. The amount refunded will be based on the principle that the tour’s remaining participants will not incur any additional cost as a result of cancellations. If the canceling participant is replaced, a refund will be made at that time. If the canceling participant can't be replaced, any refund will be determined after the ride and final expense report are completed. If a single participant cancels and another roommate cannot be found, in addition to other costs that cannot be recouped the cancelling roommate may also be liable for the single supplement fee of the roommate remaining on the tour. BAC encourages members to purchase trip cancellation insurance.

PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITY
Please remember that BAC Ride Leaders are volunteers, and that successful tours depend on participants providing much of their own support. Participants are expected to come to the ride well trained, in good health and ready to accomplish the required daily riding using well-maintained bicycles. All participants should accept responsibility for a safe and enjoyable tour. We encourage you to read the ride description carefully and respond to requests from Ride Leader. While on the ride, support your Ride Leader with offers to help with various tasks such as happy hour preparation and clean-up. Please do not interfere with the ride by inviting non-participants onto any portion of the ride or tour. Please keep the Ride Leader informed of any special request you may have and respect the Ride Leader’s decisions.

SIGNUP
To submit a request to join this ride click on one of the “I request…” buttons displayed above this Ride Description. The Ride Leader will contact you and if accepted you will be placed in the Pending List. You will receive an email notification to login to the BAC website to sign the release of liability form, pay the non-refundable BAC ride registration and the deposit. Once that is completed you will be placed in the Participation List.