2004 WKBT Photo Gallery

From a humble start of four riders two years ago, the third edition of the Western Kentucky Bike Tour has grown to 10 riders for the circular tour of the Jackson Purchase area of western Kentucky. We even have to enlist the service of a second SAG vehicle
The tour still visits the tried-and-true overnight stops of Aurora (Marshall County), Columbus-Belmont State Park on the bank of the Mississippi River (Hickman County), and Paducah (McCracken County). New for this year is Kuttawa (Lyon County) instead of camping at Hillman Ferry Campground on the Land Between the Lakes.
The cast of characters of this third edition of the WKBT includes: Steve Agent, Dan Clark, Earl Crowe, Duc Do, Jeff Durall, Rick Holeman, Donnie Mayton, Rick Skelton, Tom Snell, and Dickie Swift. Again, we have a 50-50 split: half are on recumbents, the other prefer to go faster on their upright bikes.
Additional photos:
View Dan Clark's WKBT photo collection
View Rick Holeman's WKBT photo collection

 
  Tom Snell and Earl Crowe carbo-load at the cabin in Aurora the first night out while Steve Agent (left) and Rick Holeman (right) abstain. Early on the second morning, the group shares the road with the early morning traffic on US 68 in a light fog for a short ride into Aurora for breakfast. Dickie Swift tries hard to hide his astonishment at the size of Dan Clark's pancake, while Dan is obviously pleased and proud of the size. Stephanie, the friendly waitress at Kay-Lee's Restaurant, gives high-maintenance Dan extra attention at breakfast. A trio of recumbents and a lone upright ridden by Dickie head out for the second day's ride from Aurora to Columbus-Belmont State Park in Hickman County.  
 

 
  Earl Crowe is ready to ride after finishing his SAG-driving duty and dropping off the SAG vehicle at Temple Hill Church near Almo in Calloway County. Dickie Swift, Steve Agent and Jeff Durall on Red Bud Road in Calloway County on the way to Almo on the second day of the WKBT. Tom Snell and Dan Clark cruise along on their recumbents on Red Bud Road in Calloway County on the second morning out of Aurora. Donnie Mayton, Rick Holeman and Earl Crowe on Red Bud Road. Typical of the rural roads we ride on the WKBT, Red Bud Road in northeastern Calloway County is a traffic-free cycling paradise this beautiful Thursday morning. The ride is slowly ratcheted up to a minor race to the next SAG stop. Dickie Swift and Steve Agent look intense on a small rise on KY 464 on the way to Kirksey, a small crossroads in northwest Calloway County.  
 

 
  Steve Agent and Dickie Swift relax at the SAG stop in front of Mt. Hebron Church hard by the Calloway-Graves county line in northwestern Calloway County. From left, Earl Crowe, Rick Skelton and Tom Snell enjoy a conversation at the SAG stop, while Dan Clark, mindful of his SAG-driver's responsibility, keeps an eye out for the late arrival of Donnie Mayton and Rick Holeman. Donnie Mayton and Rick Holeman arrive at the SAG stop at Mt. Hebron Church in Backusburg in Calloway County. The recumbent riders just take their sweet time to enjoy the beautiful road and scenery on this beautiful morning. A WKBT rider is caught, er, red-handed while watering the corn alongside the road. We have taken steps to protect the identity of the guilty party. Rick Holeman enjoys lunch in the busy Dutch Kitchen Restaurant in Wingo. His is the only lunch served up within an hour of ordering. The rest of us have to wait out the deplorable discriminatory practice of serving the local lunch crowd first by the kitchen staff. Some of us take umbrage to the unacceptable 75-minute wait for a simple lunch and leave without paying for the drink (food has not been served).  
 

 
  Duc Do stretches out on the picnic table at Columbus-Belmont State Park at the end of a 100-plus-mile day across Calloway, Graves, Fulton and Hickman counties to get to this beautiful spot on the bank of the Mississippi River in far western Hickman County. Tom Snell and Dan Clark relax with a cold one at the end of a long day at Columbus-Belmont State Park. After another satisfying and filling meal at Grogan's Bar-B-Q in Clinton, the WKBT crew milling around the parking lot to enjoy the evening. Grogan's is a must-stop destination on the WKBT, with its hickory-smoked barbecue at a very reasonable price. In the half-light of early morning, the group gets ready to leave Columbus-Belmont State Park for Arlington for breakfast, and ultimately to Paducah as the day's destination. The old clock tower in the little crossroads of Columbus is slowly taken over by the climbing vines and the toll of time.  
 

 
  Most of the group hangs together for the short ride to Arlington first thing in the morning. This has developed into a Rick Holeman and Steve Agent hang back a bit behind the main group on the ride into Arlington on the third morning. The essence of cycling in the Jackson Purchase: quiet, low-traffic roads among the corn and soybean fields. But sometimes you just don't know what to expect over the next rise, or across the next low ridge. On the way to Arlington: Rick Skelton, confident enough of his strong skull to go helmetless, and Dickie Swift who, no doubt, is trying to sell Rick an insurance policy or two. The recumbent riders line up and are ready to leave Paducah in the beautiful sunshine of a late summer morning on this penultimate day of the WKBT.  
 

 
  Mindful of the storms we've weathered every time we've stayed in Paducah on the WKBT, we take the advice of 2003 WKBT rider Danny Trunnell and get indoor lodging at the Apple Tree Inn in suburban Paducah. Dickie Swift is gearing down to go slow with the recumbents on this day out of Paducah to Kuttawa, just on the other side of the Land Between the Lakes. Despite his declaration to go slow today, Dickie is leading the charge on the way out of town. Thr route has us taking a wide loop around Paducah on the way to Graves County. Tom Snell cruises along on his recumbent just south of Paducah on the way to Kuttawa, the destination for today. St. Jerome Catholic Church dominates the center of Fancy Farm, a little crossroad in western Graves County that's known across Kentucky for the political importance of its annual Fancy Farm picnic. My wandering of the Graves countryside brings me to Fancy Farm on this thunderstorm-threatened day.  
 

 
  Earl Crowe, Tom Snell and Dan Clark ride along on a little country road in Crittenden County on the way to Fredonia on the last morning of the WKBT. Rick Skelton, Steve Agent and Dickie Swift on the way to Fredonia on the last day of the WKBT. A bike tour wouldn't be completed without Dickie Swift leaving his calling card. Here's Dickie being caught in the act in downtown Fredonia early on Sunday morning. Steve Agent and Jeff Durall take a breather at the SAG truck driven by Earl Crowe. The hilly KY 902 out of Fredonia provides a heart-thumping ride on this last morning of the tour. Dickie Swift resorts to physical means to slow down Duc Do after the spirited ride the length of the hilly KY 902 in Caldwell County.  
 

 
  Steve Agent comes into the last SAG stop, only a dozen or so miles from the end of the tour. Rick Holeman on his Rans recumbent, cruising into the last SAG stop in western Hopkins County. The last SAG stop of the 2004 WBKT, a mere dozen or so miles from Madisonville and the end of the ride. Dickie Swift manages to salvage the perfectly good inner tube that the pranksters have him convinced that is full of holes, what with his tire keep losing pressure, even as he watched after pumping it up the morning in Paducah. The 2004 Western Kentucky Bike Tour participants at the end of the tour: in front, Steve Agent and Duc Do; back row: Rick Holeman (with Nicky), Jeff Durall, Tom Snell, Rick Skelton, Dickie Swift, Donnie  
 

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