Every summer I typically take a long ride up to my parents house on Lake Erie. The most direct routes are about 120 miles. I had blogged earlier about the love for my new Fargo, so I thought this would be a good trip for the bike. I had looked at options of following the Ohio to Erie Trail across NE Ohio. The whole trip to Sandusky was about 240 miles and I thought about doing it in two days. But the time didn't materialize so the best I could do was a single day effort. I thought I could make it to Cleveland in one day -- some 180 miles.
The route would take back roads and dirt roads to Mount Vernon. Then jump on the Kokosing Gap Trail up to Danville. Then it joins the Mohican Valley Trail and follows roads for parts that are missing. This takes me to Killbuck. At Killbuck I pick up the Holmes County trail through to Fredricksburg. Then it is roads for a while through Amish and farm country. I can pick up trails in Dalton that takes me to Massilon. From there I go North on the Tow Path trail and its associated parts. That long stretch ends in South Cleveland, in the "Flats" warehouse/industrial district.
I set off on the Friday morning of Memorial Day weekend, leaving the house at 4am sharp in the dark. We had just experienced a warm wave of hot humid temps. But the wind shifted abruptly and I woke to chilly winds from the north. The air temp was about 45 and with windchill it was near freezing. A stiff 15 to 20 mph wind would be pushing against me from the north for the entire day. I wasn't dressed super for the cold -- a light jacket, leg warmers and light full finger gloves.
The first part up to Mt Vernon was misery. I was frozen solid and it took me way longer than I thought -- partly from the dark but mostly from the super hard wind. I had to jump off the trail and go in to a truck stop diner to get warmed up. I walked in to a full crowd at about 6am. The place was packed with tough truckers and other blue collar workers. I stood out terribly in my skimpy lycra outfit. But I was desperately cold so I went in anyway. I just kept my head down and tried not to provoke me getting beat up. I burned almost a full hour here getting a big breakfast and hot chocolate. I was way behind schedule. I almost turned back home at this point, but decided to persevere.
The next segment of the trail was pretty uneventful. I made good time up to Fredricksburg, at about mile 75 for the trip. I stopped here at the pizza place for lunch. Another touring cyclist was here as well. He was camped up in the restaurant with a book and didn't look like he was eager to move any time soon. Too cold and too windy he said. I agreed but I didn't have the luxury to sit a while and wait for things to improve. I had to fill in the gap with roads at this point. What I didn't realize is how darn hilly they were. I went through Kidron along a busy stretch of road. Again, big winds in my face all the time. My toes and fingers were just above numb but the rest of me was comfortable.
It was super sweet to stop briefly and look at the canal history. There were several parts of the canal still in working condition, some with boats even. There were a few working locks and some restored lock houses. I would love to go back to this area with the family and do some more riding and history gazing.
I needed to keep making progress north. The plan was for my dad to park up in Cleveland and ride south at some point to meet up with me. I was worried about his ability to push in to the wind so I wanted to get as far north as possible for the meeting point. Along this stretch the wheels came off ... almost literally. I had read several online postings about this particular set of wheels on the Fargo having spoke tensioning problems. Apparently my pair was no exception. I felt a wobbly waffly type of sponginess coming from the rear and sure enough, about half the spokes had completely released. My tiny multitool had a spoke wrench so I was able to do some trailside surgery for about 30 minutes to get the wheel round enough to ride. I went another 10 miles to find the first bike shop I could get to. The nice owner put my bike up on a stand and tightened the rear wheel some more. It wasn't perfect, but it would probably hold up for the last 40 miles of the trip.
I grabbed a quick Micky Ds bit of food and then got back on the trail. I really put the hammer down now as I was close enough to the end to not worry about burning out. And I really needed to make up time. I felt great as I pushed along the trail at 17-21 mph even in to the headwind.
I caught up with my Dad about 30 miles from the end point. He turned around and rode back with me to the car. I think he underestimated the strength of the wind (all tailwind for him at this point). But we made solid progress, enjoying each other's company for a relaxed spin to finish things off. I ended up with about 171 miles, at about 14 mph. But I felt very good ... maybe I have the legs for a longer gravel race? This was my longest ride ever!
