yo buddy. we were just there on vaca. there one place that is a MUST ride in l-ville:

http://www.64mm.com/vert/loukypipe.jpg

this place is the shit, and that is no lie. if you meant any other sort of riding....:).... i suggest a mt bike. there are some ok parks in town that have good trails you could easily access from downtown, and if you nab a rental car there is killer sick single track 25 min out from town in otter creek park near ft knox. REALLY nice mt biking there. i am a country boy, so the urban thing anyplace looks like crap to me for road biking, but along the river would perhaps be ok, and it is all accessable and park-like - maybe a fixer would be cool for that in a courier fashion. the country roads just outside town in the hills would be crazy fun but for the fact that the roads are scarsely two lanes wide with no shoulder and nutcase hicks driving beatup pickup trucks and zero visibility over the rolly hills. no way. just east.southeast of downtown is the bardsville road area, a hip kinda microbrew/hemp store/music/patchouli/grateful dead smelling cuisine type neighborhood. cool.

but seriously, even if you do not skateboard at all you should stroll down to the skatepark late at nite. the sessions go all nite, and i guarantee you will be dazzeled far beyond what you might imagine at the burly speed, precision, courage, and balance of the skaters there in that giant park. GO, already. :)

I guess I should have clarified, I'm more interested in road biking, even if mountain biking is, uh, the shit...as you say.

So I can ride along the river on my road bike? How many miles? But it sounds like the roads may be out? Is that the general consensus?

Thanks again for your help.

Jeff

no no, vita. the mt biking is "sick". it is the skatepark which is "the shit".

anyway, here ya go:

http://www.louisvillebicycleclub.org/links.htm

scroll to the maps section. there are many. i was either in the skatepark with the deviants, or the woods on my mt bike, but between the two i did observe some roadies, and even a tri-head or two along the river. i reckon you could go a goodly ways back and forth - as a bonus you would not get lost. the views appeared to vary from the new waterfront, to a few brief sections of "bad leroy brown" type hangouts ( ride fast thru here - there could be skateboarders about !!!) and swank upscale neighborhoods with cool southern style homes. it would be OK, i am sure. have nice trip !! don't forget to ride down to the skatepark later some eve now - you have never seen anything like it, and will be impressed.

I live about 1.5 hours from Louisville and I went to some of the local bike shops in Louisville for the same information that you are looking for. You can ride from Downtown(Galt House) out River Road. (east I think) Also there are two parks that are connected that people ride in.(Seneca/Cherokee I think,) The parks are off Cannons off I-64 east or Grinstead/Lexington exit. You could actually ride from Downtown on River Road and follow it up and back. It is a beautiful ride! I would meet you but I have church Sunday morning. Louisville is the best town in Kentucky, even better than Lexington. Good bike shops Bicycle Sport on Breckinridge
Luck,
Kevin

I live in Louisville, we have plenty of places to ride, and very active cycling and TRI community. Hosting Masters USCF Nationals in August, stop on Tri-America circuit, many smaller Tri's and Duo's in the region.

Best ride from downtown is east out river road. River road is directly below the Gault House, just follow it out until it ends at US HWY 42 in Prospect. This is part of the Tri-America course, and a common route used by cyclist in the city, St. Matthews and Highland areas, to access the more rural riding area of Oldham Co. From Gault House to US 42 should be about eight miles. Could do this several times to add miles, with little chance of getting lost.

This is a question for SBinszer. Is there a place that I could get more information on the riding course in the Prospect Area. I am thinking about competing in the Big Triathlon in August.

KJ

Course last year:

Starts at Waterfront park - goes up into town, across river on 2nd St. Brigde.

Small loop in Indiana and back across bridge.

Down to river road

Left on Blankenbaker road - climb long hill out of river valley

Left on Brownsboro Road/HWY 42

In Prospect - left on new road in Front of Kroger ( don't no name)

Left onto River Road - follow this home to t2 at waterfront park.

If you plan to ride this course, use caution on 2nd street bridge expansion joints - covered during the race - the fingers run the same direction as traffic and are just a bit bigger than a bike tire.

I would only ride this course early am on a weekend morning, traffic can be heavy on 42 and travels at 55 +++ mph. During race traffic was well controlled.

I may have original course map at home. Will scan it in if I do.

I'd recommend riding out River Road to US 42 (Prospect) from the Galt House that's about 11 miles. If you want to go further, turn left on 42 for about a mile, there will be a right hander, initally steep -- be ready, called Covered Bridge. Stay on Covered Bridge for as long as you like -- there's net elevation gain over the next 6 miles-- ride back will be quick! You will no doubt run into some other riders, a popular route.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help on this subject. Again you guys/gals have helped me out.

I took Chappy's route and got in an awesome 60 mile ride. I totally blew off the first half of the day on Sunday (when I should have been at the trade show) and had the ride of my life.

Jeff

Glad you liked your ride. If your ever out this way again there are some out-backs off of Covered Bridge that you might like as well, horse farms, some mile long hills. 39/23 - 25 hills for most. We're not much for shoulders on the road, but we get a good vareity of terrain and the scenery is nice.