LOL on the Louisville Loop
- a Smart-guided Bikeway Selfie Cycle Tour
Experience Louisville's unique riverside history by bike - you have options!
In Louisville, Kentucky there is a 100-mile bikeway underway - the Louisville Loop - that will circle the city when it is fully completed. The plan is for a contiguous trail linking new and existing parks, neighborhoods, points of interest, tourist/visitor/civic centers and attractions, and recreational opportunities. Currently, about fifty percent of it is ready for your next adventure. The bikeway diversity on this loop is amazing. From riverside to hillside, cityside to countryside, touristy to serene, the Louisville Loop packs it all in.
CycleNuts’ Louisville Loop Selfie Tour ties together each of the finished sections of the Louisville Loop into a spectacular one-day near-century ride, a two-day contiguous cycling adventure, or a nice pair of there-and-back day tours, all with an optional overnight stay at one of Louisville’s fine hotels. Are you a camper and doing a nice pair of day tours? Swap the hotel stay for a nearby State Park Campground experience. Details are included with your ticket.
Do the Louisville Loop:
- As a 1-day near-century 98-mile contiguous loop
- As a 2-day pair of there-and-back day-tours adding up to 94 miles
- As a 2-day overnight stay contiguous loop that adds up to 97 miles
All three options come with your ticket
- do all three
- mix and match
- do all of one in one shot
- the tour routes have no expiration date
- do part of one now and another part whenever
This LOL Tour (Long One-way Loop) has all the bells and whistles you have come to expect with a CycleNuts Selfie Tour
- easy to navigate
- bikeway focused
- expertly designed route
- points of interest included along the way
- very sensible options for both long and short-distance riders.
The tour explores the five geographical areas of the Louisville Loop – Ohio River Valley, Floyd’s Fork, Limestone Belt, Shale Lowlands, and The Knobs. More than half of the Louisville Loop is already open with plans mostly completed for the segments that will be ready to roll on in the coming years. The topographical diversity takes you from riverside to mountainside and all areas in between.
Both of the day tours are 92% bikeway. The overnight and one-day contiguous tours are 53% bikeway. All of the routes come with CycleNuts' 50% downhill guarantee and are a mix of asphalt and crushed stone bikeways, bike lanes, sharrows, and roadways. The segments that are not bikeways are Google bicycle-approved roadways when possible. If you are more comfortable using sidewalks in these areas, then you will find some of the roadway segments have sidewalks along the way. "Sidewalk riding is generally permitted but bicyclists must slow down to walking speed when pedestrians are present or expected, yield to pedestrians on sidewalks and crosswalks." source: Kentucky bicycle laws
The routes follow the lay-of-the-land of Louisville, which is relatively level nestled between the Ohio River and the rolling foothills of the distant Appalachians. There are segments along the way where you may use your deepest bike gear, e-bike muscle, or be bike-hiking (no shame in that - it is a pro tactic often used to save the leg/energy reserves). Sweating is optional, but probably unavoidable - the Ohio River valley sets the humidity level in this region.
This is a perfect weekend destination adventure! If doing the tour as an overnight 2-day contiguous loop tour, see the instructions included in your ticket purchase for overnight parking suggestions for your vehicle at the starting spot. Also, the overnight stay hotel suggestion in the route directions is CycleNuts-approved based on zero-bedbug complaints. The cost of the overnight stay and parking is not included in the tour ticket.
Louisville – Kentucky’s largest city - has things to see!
Easily, with the Smart-guide, you can wander away from the planned route to explore areas and points of interest that you find along the way. The Smart-guide will get you back on the route when you are ready. Speaking of wandering away to see things along the way, check out the following impressive Points-of-Interest list:
- The Ohio River shoreline – just north of Louisville, the Ohio River is at its widest point of one mile.
- Belle of Louisville – all aboard for a 2-hour river cruise! The Belle, built in 1914, is the only remaining authentic steamboat from the great American packet boat era.
- Churchill Downs – famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. Come see a race or just tour the historical Grandstands.
- Kentucky Derby Museum – if you love American Thoroughbred horse racing then you do not want to miss this opportunity to tour this museum.
- Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory - home of the World's Biggest Baseball Bat. Tour the actual factory where world-famous Louisville Slugger bats are made.
- The Lewis and Clark Experience at the Frazier History Museum - Louisville played a key part as the starting point of the Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804. There are several artifacts from the period and detailed explanations of how and why they were used by the expedition.
- Muhammad Ali’s Childhood Home - “It's not just a house, it's an educational experience”.
- Muhammad Ali Cultural Center & Museum - three levels of award-winning exhibits and celebrating Muhammad Ali’s legendary life.
- Louisville Mega Cavern - former limestone quarry now housing a zip line & tram, ropes course, underground bike park & events.
- The Kentucky Bourbon Trail® - Kentucky's legendary distilleries have crafted the world's finest Bourbons for more than 200 years, and there is a trail of distilleries to explore. Louisville is the only city in the world with more than 10 distillery experiences.
- Big Four Bridge - built as a mile-long railroad bridge over the Ohio River in 1895, it was decommissioned in the '60s and reopened as a pedestrian bridge in 2013 as part of the Louisville Waterfront Park.
And more…!
Bikeways on tour:
- Louisville Loop
- Louisville Riverwalk
- Beargrass Creek Trail
- Butchertown Greenway
WHY CHOOSE a Smart-guided Selfie Cycle Tour?
You get all the benefits of a guided tour without the drawbacks of a tour guide, other tourists, time restrictions, and a rigid tour agenda. With this smart-guided tour, you can go when you want, at your speed, and hang out at a spot as long as you wish. You can even wander off the planned route and the smart guide will get you back on track when you are ready.
HERE'S THE PLAN: You bring a bike and a smartphone. CycleNuts provides the smart-tour guide links! You will receive an expertly designed tour route via email. Click the emailed link and follow the Selfie Tour route using your smartphone as your smart-tour guide for the Voice and Map guided turn-by-turn instructions.
SHORT INSTRUCTIONS: From your location, using your cell phone click on the starting spot link and follow the Google Maps directions. When you arrive, click the emailed tour navigation links to begin the tour. The navigation links will be either Google Maps, Ride With GPS (RWGPS), or both. For more complex tours, there may be several links to click with additional instructions. With Google Maps, the navigator will prompt you at each checkpoint to continue navigation.
BUY NOW AND RIDE WHENEVER AND FOREVER. The route links do not expire. Buy now and plan out your adventure - invite your favorite peeps or ride solo; make overnight accommodation reservations, if needed; reserve a sitter for your pooch, or bring along - many tours include dog-friendly tasty spots. The purchase is for the CycleNuts Selfie Smart-guided route links and instructions. Attractions, lodgings, food, bike rental, etc. are not included.
CycleNuts Selfie Tours tie together fun, interesting, scenic, historic, tasty, and refreshing points of interest along a bikeway-focused tour route where you ride at your pace and pleasure. You are the tour boss. You choose the date and time - the tour is good for any day or time.
With these Smart-guided Selfie Cycle Tours, you bring the bike, and the smartphone - CycleNuts provides the smart-guided links. The smart guide gives voice and visual turn-by-turn instructions along an expertly designed tour route.
Do the tour solo or bring along your crew. Easily stop anywhere along the way to visit attractions or refreshments and the smart guide will continue the route from wherever you are when you are ready to roll.
Got questions? - Get answers! – http://CycleNuts.link FAQS
