Bell Ridge Road Loop
General. This is a loop ride which starts in Bedford, Kentucky, the county seat of Trimble County. Bedford is northeast of Louisville. Bedford is easy to get to, on US 42. You can also get there by taking the US 421 exit from interstate 71. I did this loop from my house near St. Matthews in three hours, with a couple of breaks, by travelling out US 42. It's a narrow, twisty, set of roads. The loop alone is about 35 miles.
You may wish to combine this loop with other loops, such as a trip to Westport, Kentucky, or Sulphur. The roads on this ride are principally shown on page 25 of the DeLorme Kentucky Atlas. To see a segment of the route, click here.
1. Start in Bedford, Kentucky on US 42, and head northeast on US 42 toward Carrolton, descending the nice sweepers out of Bedford to the valley of the Little Kentucky River.
2. A mile or so after descending, turn left on KY 3176, Bell's Ridge Road, a very steep ridge climb (I've ridden this on my bicycle, but just once -- it's brutal).
3. At the stop sign (Monitor, Kentucky), turn right and head northeast on a very twisty ridgetop road, KY 1226, eventually descending back down to US 42 just outside Carrolton. Turn left on 42, and take it briefly toward Carrollton.
4. Before crossing the Kentucky River, turn right on KY 55. (There's an Ashland station here).
5. Bear right onto KY 549 fairly quickly, and climb back up another ridge, heading south and running parallel to the Kentucky River valley. More twisting ridge riding.
6. At the intersection with KY 55, turn right and head south on 55. Nice new pavement, good lines of sight here.
7. At the intersection with KY 316, turn right and head west toward Bedford.
8. Follow 316 until it ends at US 421; turn right and take 421 north to Bedford. Take a break; you deserve it. I would estimate the whole loop is about 35 miles. This was perfect riding on the small F650's. (Now I want to do it on the R1150GS.)