Our 2022 OTET Ride

Our final bike ride to Cleveland was uneventful.  Only one picture today because we left the hotel when it was very dark.  Both of us wanted to get home.  After nearly 40 miles of cycling, we loaded Joe’s van and headed east.  With a few stops we arrived in Falls Church at 4 p.m. and then Joe decided he could not wait to see his lovely wife, drove to Pleasant Valley, arriving at 10:55 PM.   Picture Map Northbound Trip Map Some trip statistics: Name                               Miles     Elevation Gain (feet)   06-09 Cleveland to Akron           43.81     1,092   06-10 Akron to Millersburg         69.95     1,215   06-11 Millersburg to Mt Vernon     43.07       765   06-12 Mt Vernon to Columbus...

  We left very early today because of the planned 70 mile ride and projected rain.  However, Joe discovered a short cut that saved us 14 miles of trail cycling.  The trail made a big curve that we decided to cut straight across on a county road.  Unfortunately, the short cut had one very large and steep hill that we had to walk. So our 70 mile day became 54 miles (we don’t know what happened to the remaining miles). Not much rain but very cool temperatures. We got into Akron at noon , checked into our hotel, and had our lunch/dinner. Tomorrow will be a short day back to Cleveland where we will reload Joe’s van and head home.   Pictures Map Northbound Trip Map

  We had a short ride today so we lingered at our hotel breakfast in Mt Vernon, lingered on the trail, and lingered in Millersburg waiting for our room to be ready. We should have lingered longer before leaving Mt Vernon because it was cold this morning. Today started out at 47 degrees and our hottest day so far was 97 degrees.  Needless to say, we were bundled up this morning with extra clothes. Not much to see on the trail today except for a jogger, who in full stride, was juggling 3 balls as we past him. We were impressed that he could both run and toss balls in the air at the same time. Today was not a good day to stay in a small town.  They were still cleaning up after the tornado came through a few days ago.  The trail was still full of debris, and some of the restaurants did not expect to open for a few more days.  Also, today is Sunday and the ice cream shop, candy shop, and brewery were closed.  We are thankful that we have a place to stay. Tom...

  We arrived in Mt. Vernon only to find that George Washington was not here.  But we are sure you knew that.  We cycled 12 miles on the trail to reach our breakfast stop.  We knew that we picked a good place because it was packed with customers.  After a hardy breakfast we took an alternate route off the Ohio to Erie trail and went around Hoover Reservoir that is more than 10 miles long.  The nice thing about this route was that it was no longer than staying on the trail.  Mostly it was on urban trails and roads with little traffic. The only downside was that we were exposed to the gusty winds.  With 24 miles in, we were back on the trail and continuing to climb to its highest point, 1,285 feet.  While that may seem high, we reached this point over 3 days of cycling on 1 and 2 percent grades. We were easily able to cycle 12 mph most of the time.  After we crested the high point , our speed increased to 14-15 mph.  Near Mt. ...

  Nancy , Joe’s wife urged Joe to get out of the hotel and see Columbus , the capital of Ohio .  So after cycling nearly 60 miles we took a 5 mile walk. Our first destination was Columbus’ German Village.  We were hoping to find a German restaurant for our dinner but only found a German coffee shop.  Next we headed to the Ohio Statehouse that was begun in 1839 on a 10-acre plot of land. The Statehouse was built of limestone from the Marble Cliff Quarry Co.  After seeing the Statehouse we headed to the Flat Iron Grill for our dinner and beers, both of which were excellent – and fortunately, it is within 200 feet of the hotel.  We were glad that we got out but wished for more interesting sites on our walk. Pictures

There is not much to see when you leave the hotel at 5 a.m. and cycle on a tree covered trail.  But then we didn’t care.  Our focus was to get an early start on a 60 mile day before it got to hot. We continued cycling as daylight appeared.  We pushed for 30 miles to reach  London , OH where we stopped for breakfast. There we met another cyclist whose trail name is Speedy.  Speedy endorsed our choice for breakfast, ignoring the reality that the M&M Diner was the only place to eat. Speedy was on a new bike taking his initial shake-down cruise. Speedy told us that he got the bike yesterday and he cycles about 14,000 miles a year. With that kind of mileage, he deserves a new light-weight bike. Even though we cycled this section of the trail a few days earlier, we were surprised about seeing things we forgot and not finding things we were sure were on this section. However, it was mostly a day to cycle toward our next nights lodging,   Pictures Map ...

  We cycled into Zenia on a clean trail.  After the storm on the 14 th ,the trail was a mess for our ride to Cincinnati . The maintenance crew did a fantastic job.  We saw them this morning and told them how appreciative we were of their hard work.  When we planned our trip we saw that Zenia to Cincinnati was down hill so figuring that we would be climbing, we broke the return trip into 2 days.  What a mistake.  While we did gain elevation over the past 2 days, the cycling was easy and could have been completed in one day. Thus these 2 days were short and we ended up in locations with not much to see or do. Before we left, Jeff’s wife said that we should embrace our return ride because it will give us a different perspective.  We did see a few things that we missed on the way south so they are included in today’s photos.  When heading south we were worried about dodging all the trail debris and failed to notice that we were cycling along the Li...

Getting out of Cincinnati was not as difficult as yesterday’s arrival.  We were fresh, the temperature, while hot, was still much lower.  Once we got back on the rail-trail we saw lots of people out for their morning exercise.  A group of roadie cyclists pulled along side of us and inquired about our journey. One woman, a self confessed competitor, decided Jeff was going to slow so she moved up next to Joe. Joe is not one to skip a challenge and they were off to the races.  We all ended up in Loveland ,  OH , where they asked us to join them for coffee. Some of the group had already done the OTET and the GAP trail in Pennsylvania but were also talking about cycling the C&O trail in Maryland and the New River trail in Virginia . We shared our travel experiences on these trails before they headed back south and we continued north. After yesterday’s long 70 mile day we were thankful that we had planned to cut our trip back to Xenia into two segments of ...

With no breakfast we hit the trail at 5:30 this morning.  We had a long day ahead of us, so an early start was necessary.  What we failed to factor in was the impact of last night’s severe thunderstorm.  We had 20 miles of downed branches and trees. We cleared paths, cycled around the debris, or lugged our bikes over it. Our first hour on the trail was in the dark, making navigation a challenge and all our clean-up stops were met by hungry mosquitoes. We had one detour that required us to get off the trail and climb a “mountain” to get around the closed area.  We survived the climb and stopped at Starbucks for some cold water.  Burt, the barista, filled our bottles with ice and cold water. It was wonderful.  While Burt was filling our bottles a little boy, in line with his mother, kept asking questions about Jeff. He wanted to know what was on his arms (sun sleeves), on his hands (gloves), and on his head (helmet with sun shade). Mom kept trying to quiet...

Like prior mornings we put on our jackets before we left the hotel.   As soon as we stepped outside we immediately took them off.   It was already hot and going to get hotter. We left early to avoid the afternoon heat that was only going to get worse.   After about 7 miles we found a place for breakfast.   Actually, we had a “choice” of either McDonalds or Tim Hortens.   In honor of our Canadian brothers we chose Tim Hortens.   Today was a people day.   While we saw lots of people on the trail, two warrant specific mention. First we met William Galloway riding a Cattrike (a 3 wheel recumbent) pulling a trailer.   He was on his fourth trip across the United States in four years.   While he said that he was homeless he was very pleasant and neat looking. We chatted for about 10 minutes but William was in no hurry to move on.   The second person was Heidi who was setting up a lunch stop for 11 cyclists on a Wilderness Voyageurs tour. ...

We left early to beat the rain and were successful.  Ride was easy but temperature and humidity combined to create a steam bath.  The high points today were both somewhere between the 15 and 20 mile marks.  The first was a marker that indicated we were at the highest point on the Ohio to Erie Trail.  We concluded that the rest of our journey would be easy because it would only be down hill to the Ohio River.  The second marker indicated that we were at the halfway point to the Ohio River. Near the second marker we met Dan, a trail volunteer assessing the trails condition after last night’s storm.  He mentioned that 2 of the founders of Adventure Cycling, Greg and June Sipe, were from this part of Ohio, and he knows them. Columbus is the state capital and the most populous city in the state. Columbus originated as numerous Native American settlements on the banks of the Scioto River. The first European settlement was in 1797. The city was named for Italian e...

  After 20 years of cycling trips, today was the best day either of us could remember.  Of course we are old and our memories are disappearing. Regardless of its status, we had great weather and fantastic cycling. Our morning started with an early breakfast only 3 blocks from our hotel.  We were surprised to find anything, let alone a restaurant that opened at 6 a.m.   It was only a short ride (down hill) from our hotel to the trail. This trail is a continuation of the bike/buggy trail we came into town on the previous day.  Our ride west was flat, straight, and thus fast.  The trail only lasted 7 miles before it ended and we had to cycle on the road.  It could have been a continuation of the trail because we did not see any cars.  This section was about 7 miles long and had gentle rolling hills that allowed easy cycling.  Near the end of this segment, we heard the “clip clop” of horses gaining on us.  We were going 12 mph but 4 bugg...

  Overview of the day:   about 70 miles of cycling.   We left our hotel at first light with no breakfast.   The first 40 miles were on a trail that only had a slight incline.   At each road crossing we checked Google for nearby restaurants and asked other trail users if they knew of a place for breakfast.   At mile 25 we hit pay dirt. There we found Sisters Café and a great breakfast. The next 20 miles were on country roads with no traffic (except many Amish buggies) but lots of hills.   That was tough.   The last 10 were back on a flat trail that had the distinction of being a cycling and Amish buggy trail. When we got to the end of the trail we had to climb into the town.   We are 2 very tired cyclists but still look forward to exploring this neat little town.   Millersburg has a vibrant business district and we are staying in the Hotel Millersburg , listed on the National Register of Historic Places.   President Grover Clevel...

  Our ride began in the rain and the rain lasted for about an hour.   We cycled on marked cycle lanes on the road until we reached the trail that would lead us to Akron .   For several miles along the trail we got to see Cleveland ’s historical industrial area.   While that maybe a turnoff to some, we enjoyed the dilapidated sites and appreciated how the trail used many of the industrial “castoffs” as trail art.   For breakfast we stopped at the Rawley Inn, a Triple D featured restaurant.   Our food was very good although some of the menu items seem exotic to our simple upbringings.   Across the street from the Rawley Inn is the house used in the classic movie “Christmas Story.” The Ohio and Erie Canal , completed in 1832, connected Cleveland on Lake Erie and Portsmouth on the Ohio River , creating the state’s most important superhighway.   In the 1970s it became part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and eventually the trail evolved ...

  June 8— Cleveland , Ohio We arrived in Cleveland at 1 pm , after a 6 hour drive.   Other than about 2 hours of heavy traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the drive was easy. Cleveland was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River by General Moses Cleveland. It grew into a major manufacturing center due to its location on both the river and the lake shore, as well as numerous canals and railroad lines.   A port city, Cleveland is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway .   The Cuyahoga River Valley begins in Akron and ends in Cleveland .   After sitting in the car for 6 hours we decided on a walking tour of the city.  We saw an old steam ship, submarine, a statue honoring Jesse Owen, the Cleveland Brown’s football stadium, and a war memorial.  All this was interesting and photos of many of these can be seen in our photo section.  Most of the sites were found on our walk to the International Wom...