Coal Mine Ride-Overnight

Event date: 
Fri, 07/11/2025 - 8:00am to Sun, 07/13/2025 - 5:00pm


 

 

Ride:  Coal Mine Ride


Description: This will be a spirited ride that is both a destination ride along with very exciting riding through the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky.  The destination portion is a visit to the Portal 31 Coal Mine.  I have arranged for our group to get tours of the mine, including rides down into the old mineshaft.  They will be opening up early for our group on Saturday to accommodate our group size and get us out before they open to the general public.  
Regarding the ride itself, we will travel 320 miles on day 1 to get to our hotel.  Day 2 will consist of the mine tour in the morning followed by 144 miles of riding through the mountains.  This will include The Dragonslayer as part of the day.  The Dragonslayer starts immediately as we leave the mine tour, and there is a gift shop for anyone that wants memorabilia and pictures that is walking distance from the mine.  Day 3 will be our travel home day consisting of 273 miles.  
Please be aware that this will be an aggressive ride consisting of very tight turns, switchbacks, and steep up and downs as we transverse the mountains.  

Road Conditions: We will start out on day 1 traveling down some interstate highways to get into Kentucky.  Once into Kentucky we will start traveling small highways and backroads.  Most roads are in good shape but there are areas that have some breakup along the right shoulders.  The mountains and sharp turns will start on Day 1.  Day 2 will consist of all back roads, mountains, and a LOT of tight turns and switchbacks.  Day 3 will continue moving through the mountains in the morning section, followed by typical back highways and such as we work our way home in the afternoon.

Hotel: Benham School House Inn: 606-848-3000 call for reservations under Powder Keg. We will be staying at the Benham School House Inn.  It is the old Benham High School that was converted into a hotel.  Hotel Rooms are $119 per night.  We have 9 King rooms, and 9 Double Queen rooms reserved.  The room block will expire on June 15th!!!


Meals: Meals will consist of some sit-down restaurants in the evening and more fast-food choices for lunches.  We will have a total of 3 lunches and 2 dinners as we are out on this trip.

Fuel: Fuel will be dependent on your bike.  We will have several mandatory locations that we will ask everyone to fill up and fuel stations are not abundant in this area of Kentucky.

Mine Tour: For those choosing to take the full tour including the ride through the mine shaft that takes roughly 45 minutes the cost is roughly $25 per person.

Breaks: We will be taking breaks on average every hour.  At some points we will be looking at 1.5-hour intervals due to not having anywhere to stop in the areas we are riding.  

Links to related websites:

Mine Tour: portal31minetour.org

Benham School House Inn: benhaminn.com

Staging: Staging will be at the BP station at 7:30 am
777 Mason Morrow Millgrove Rd, Lebanon, OH 45036

Road Captains:

Lead Group 1:  Kevin Morris- please call for any questions 937-626-2624. Sweep: Tammy Morris

Lead Group 2:  Mark Putnam  Sweep:  Ken Cornett

Group 3 as needed

 

Event location:
26 Church St.
Lynch KY 40855

Closed Event: Chapter activities are conducted primarily for the benefit of H.O.G. Chapter members. Closed Events are those events open to Chapter members and one guest per member.  All guests must sign an event release. Be aware, all rides and events are subject to change or cancellation due to weather or other circumstances beyond our control.

Event Coordinator: 
Kevin Morris
Road Captain