Our accommodations in Falmouth were fun and comfortable. The Airbnb is located above an old bank in downtown. I woke up around 5:30, a bit ahead of my alarm. I did my morning prayer, packed up my stuff, ate some breakfast, and slathered on a generous layer of sunblock to start the day.
The overall plan for the day was to get from the Licking Valley up and over to the Ohio Valley, then follow the Ohio River up to Newport, Kentucky. Once in Newport, we would cross into Cincinnati, and follow a series of bike lanes and bike paths to arrive at the Little Miami Trail, taking the LMT to Milford – our destination for today. Simple enough. One challenge is that there isn’t really much of anything between Falmouth and Newport. We had to carry enough water and food for this part of the trip.
Our first stop was to get to Our Lady’s Farm, about 7 miles north of Falmouth. Nearly all of our climbing today was done in these first 7 miles. The route had 2 moderate climbs with steep and/or long sections and one easy climb to start the route. Overall, not bad. I liked this route a little better than my last time through and would do it again. We were treated to some beautiful views and farmland along the way.
Our Lady’s Farm is at the top of the ridge between the the Licking Valley and the Ohio Valley. The farm is the sight of a Marian apparition. It is a beautiful place. We spent a few minutes there before resuming our journey.
A few more miles along the top of the ridge before descending all the way back down to the Ohio River. We picked up the Mary Ingalls highway for about 27 miles. We saw very few cars for the first 20 miles – I think I counted fewer than 10 cars. However, when we reached the town of Silver Grove, there was a lot of traffic. Too many cars to count. The speeds were slow, but no shoulder made it a little less pleasant than the previous part of our journey.
Several miles of the Mary Ingalls Highway are closed to traffic. The road is impassible for cars: the pavement has heaved beyond repair in many places. We only had one place where we had to walk our bikes over a barrier, but otherwise, it was kind of like having a private road all to ourselves.
Along the way, we did take a nice break. Yesterday, knowing we would need some decent portable food, Joe purchased a 4-pack of Uncrustable PB&Js (grape jelly, of course). We each scarfed down two of them to fuel us along and tide us over for the last few miles in Kentucky. When we reached Newport, we grabbed second lunch, took a break, and prepared for the rest of today’s journey on the Ohio side of the river.
Crossing into Ohio is easy, taking the “Purple People Bridge”, then joining up with some bike paths and bike lanes.
Reaching Lunken Field, we then joined up with the Ohio River Trail, taking us to the Little Miami Trail. This is very familiar territory – I ride the LMT frequently with friends. One nice milestone – nearly the rest of my entire journey to the Josephinum will be on bike paths, with just a couple miles of roads in small towns linking various bike trails together. I’m (mostly) done sharing the road with cars.
We arrived in Milford and worked our way up to the Airbnb on Main Street. It is located above the Harvest Market. This is a very nice little apartment and super comfortable. The hosts are wonderful and I highly recommend this place!
Dinner at a local Italian place filled me up and now we’re having a quiet evening and hopefully a restful night. Joe’s legs were pretty tired today, so hoping that a good night’s rest will prep him for tomorrow. We have a long day ahead of us.
Until tomorrow, may the Lord provide you the grace to face all of your challenges with hope and joy.
Peace,
Dcn. Matt
Deacon Matt's Blog 
[…] 0 – PrologueDay 1 – Lexington, KY to Paris, KYDay 2 – Paris, KY to Falmouth, KYDay 3 – Falmouth, KY to Milford, OHDay 4 – Milford, OH to Cedarville, OHDay 5 – Cedarville, OH to Columbus, OH […]