163 Miles of Cycling

I'm hoping this summer to make my 3rd attempt the ride my bicycle from my home in Xenia to Nicholasville, Kentucky in one day. This is a 163 mile journey. I will post my planning progress here.

I'm thinking about changing my route a little bit for this attempt.  Google maps helped my find a route around Lexington, KY.  This way I can avoid all the traffic on Lexington and arguably one of the worse roads to cycle on: Nicholasville Road.

The new route around Lexington uses lower traveled side roads through the beautiful Blue Grass Region.  This should make for a more enjoyable and safer ride.  However, there are a few down sides  to the new route, less services available, more hills, more turns to navigate, and I will not be riding on the 8 mile Legacy Trail in northern Lexington. The


Original route via the Legacy Trail, Lexington, and the evil Nicholasville Road

The Blue Grass route around Lexington

According to Google it is only going to take 9 more minutes and a half mile longer to use the Blue Grass route.  What is 9 minutes when I am going to spend all day cycling?

There are two other minor changes to my route.  I'll be crossing the Ohio River using the John A Roebling Suspension Bridge simply because the bridge has a great history and I want to ride past the great American Ball Park. The Purple People Bridge was a great way to cross the river as well, but I want something different this time.

I will also be using Turkey Foot Road (KY - 1303). I love Kentucky Road names and numbers.  Turkey Foot Road has nice bike lanes and less stoplight. 

Create Maps or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

Here is a MapMyRide map on the whole route.
The elevation chart is in error, The Ohio part in flat, and the Kentucky part is constant hills.