Category: Touring

June 17, 2025

10:36 AM 

Riding into Dayton, I’m on a bike route 50 which is right along the river. The river has flooded over the route, I slip in the mud as I push the bike through. My feet, bike, and panniers are all wet and muddy. I’m continuing on. The rain is finally clearing, I will stop to take off my rain jacket soon.

12:22 PM 

Now in Brookville, I stopped for iced tea and some ice cream. It’s around noon so this is my lunch, I’ll be heading off soon. Looks like it might rain this afternoon. Thunder showers are possible, I hope not.

As I come to Lewisburg it pours heavy rain, no lightning so far. I ride into the town park to wait out the rain in the Dixons Branch Bridge. The motel close by is closed, the next motel on my route is twelve miles away. I feel a bit dizzy, it is suggested that I contact the EMTs at the fire department to check my vitals. Everything checkout, all is in good ranges. My resting heart rate is a bit higher than normal but not high. The EMTs suggest that I need fluid, it’s 85°. As I age I cannot get by with the water level that has worked for thirty years of cycling. 

3:30 PM

This park closes at dusk, there is no place to sleep within twelve miles. I call the police department and explain my situation. Officer Campbell makes an exception and allows for me to sleep in the park.

It now looks like I will get to watch a Little League ball game.

June 16, 2025

9:34 AM

A great night’s sleep was interrupted with birds singing at 6:30AM. Time to get up and start the day. Oatmeal and coffee with the clean up and the gear is packed.  People are coming in to use the trail, I’m ready to join them.

11:40 AM

I had hoped the stop at the Bean and Cream for brunch but the electricity on Main Street was being shut off at noon to replace the electric line. So off to Xenia. Eight cyclists from the Dayton Cycle Club came up from behind so I rode with them to Beavercreek. I am now 4.5 miles from my Warmshowers host.

2:00 PM

I arrive at my host’s house and Tom is there to greet me, Katy will come home shortly.

Lots of conversation and good food with a nice IPA. I’m showered and the laundry is done. I will start tomorrow with clean clothes.

9:50 AM

Leaving Columbus.

12:06 PM 

I stopped in the town of Galloway to get something to eat and drink. I didn’t have breakfast this morning, I thought I’d stop on the way. This is my first opportunity. Just before I go into my lunch stop. I hear a little pssst from my front tire it is a puncture just a small one. I rolled the puncture to the bottom to press it against the road. This sealed it instantly and I’m good to go.

3:29 PM 

I am at the Prairie Grass Trail Head.

The Gibbons family ride into the trail head. A husband, wife and three young kids. They are riding 40 miles today. The oldest daughter’s bike was having trouble with the shifting. It was making noise so the bike is on the repair stand. I offered to help the derailleur is bent a little bit so we straighten it and then readjusted the cables. It shifting fine. We are now having a nice visit.

4:00 PM

Jim, who volunteers for the FMCPT, welcomes me and we visit. He is now following the blog.

I am now showered and finished dinner. There is a nice cool breeze. The tent is under the pavilion without the rain fly. The birds are singing. I should sleep well tonight.

June 14, 2925

8:45 AM

Blaine, made a nice scrambled egg breakfast. He will be riding into town for a group ride from the bike shop, he invites me to join them to where my route splits from theirs. OneLove Cafe and Bikes serves a great Turkish coffee.

12:01 PM 

I am now at the Hoover Dam in Columbus, Ohio, and I’m gonna take a few minutes here and just look around and then continue on.

2:00 PM

I’ve made my way to the northwestern end of Columbus. Now I’m riding the Olentangy Trail heading south along the River. I don’t have a Warmshowers here so I stop to find a hotel for the night, camping is not an option. This is where it gets interesting and why Nancy says that I am the luckiest person in the world. As I am studying Google to find an affordable hotel close to my route a runner, Matthew, comes up from behind. He stops and asks where I started and where I am headed. This starts a lengthy conversation. He is finishing up a marathon run and has run twenty-five miles so far and lives four miles away. I ask if he knows of a good place to stay the night. He calls his wife. He said, I wish you could camp out in our yard but his wife has made plans to celebrate Fathers Day. But, he then called his best friend who lives just two miles off my route and arranged for me to camp in his backyard. Yay!

2:30 PM

I am now at his friend’s house setting up my tent under the shade of his small trees. Matthew comes by to let me into the house before I walk the few blocks to visit the local bike shop. Then I stop at Ritz Burgers and bring back a burger, fries, and strawberry milkshake. They make their own ice cream. Score!

I’m waiting for Chris, Matthew’s friend, to finish up his day and come home. I will be resting until tomorrow morning, well, a bit more conversation might be involved also.

11:30 AM

We are packed and leaving Dillon, Nancy Is going to Mounds Historical Site Campground and I am riding to Granville for a night with a Warmshowers host. 

12:19 PM 

I stop to take a picture of the world’s largest basket building.

2:00 PM

I am in Granville at the home of my host Blaine. We visit as I settle in. Then we head to Three Tigers Brewery for dinner. Great beer and wonderful Vietnamese food.

Now back to Blaine’s  for more stories of life and bicycle touring.

June 11, 2025

8:30 AM

Last night’s sunset over the lake.

10:18 AM

I want to get going so I’m packing the tent and rain fly wet. It’s uphill out of the campground to the road. The road will be my first major climb of today. I have two miles to get back to my route.

12:37 PM 

Seventeen miles of brutal hill to Claysville. I’m at the Carriage Market sitting in the shade enjoying a pint of ice cream and ice tea.

4:29 PM 

I arrived in Zanesville a few minutes ago. I’m now in the Greenwood Cemetery hiding in the shade. The heat and hills killed me. I have about six miles to the campground and I’ve thrown in the towel. Nancy is on her way to bring me to Dillon Park Campground.

6:00 PM

We are now at the campsite in Dillon State Park. I’m exhausted and a bit dizzy, and may have gotten a little too close to heatstroke. I’ve now taken a cool shower and eaten a cheese  burger and salad. Still very little energy but still enough to visit Clint on the other side of the loop. The visit was a nice one.

10:18 PM

All my gear is stored undercover, it’s time to think about sleep. I’m too tired to check for errors in the blog.

June 10, 2025

1:40 PM 

I’ve been riding steep, short hills against a headwind. I’m currently in Quaker City, which has a population of 400, enjoying a cold Dr Pepper and a cherry pie. My campground is about twelve more miles away. Stores are scarce in this area.

4:00 PM

After leaving Salesville, I turned off Rt 265 onto Salem Road, a small hilly back road. This road ends at Route 313. My route heads west to Zanesville, I turn east toward my campground in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District.

I am now sitting in my campsite on Seneca Lake.

June 9, 2025

11:00 AM

We are packed and driving out of the campground heading for Bridgeport, Ohio. This is where I connect with my route to Zanesville. I load my gear onto my bike and start my Wahoo to guide me along the route. The screen pops out the unit. WTF! How many issues will we need to address on this tour? The Wahoo is only three years old. I dig into my supplies for the clear tape we were given to fix the taillight that had fallen off the camper. We tape the screen in place, I swear a bit more and start heading west. Nancy and Moe drive off to Dillion State Park in Zanesville.

I have a mountain, Dixon Hill, to get up and over. It’s a mile long climb and I push the bike with sixty pounds of gear to the summit.

11:45 PM

I stop at a store in the town of Neffs for a pint of ice cream and ice tea. I eat the Strawberry ice cream and drink one of the bottles of tea. I filled a water bottle with the other and continue riding toward my campground, Barkcamp State park. Along the way I pass through Loomis, Ohio.

3:10 PM

I ride into the campground and find my site. Thunder is in the distance, I set up my tent and cover the bike. I fill my bottles and three liter bladder. I start my stove and boil water for cooking my dehydrated meal. As I wait ten minutes for the meal prep, rain begins. Next to my site is a cabin with a porch, it’s vacant, I sit on the porch and eat dinner. I can finally relax.

June 6

We finally have the car and camper ready. Nancy had to get a new car, which was ready to go two days ago.Yesterday, we replaced the camper’s rear left taillight and installed a roof rack on the car to transport the kayak.

Today, we loaded all of our gear and supplies for three months of touring. We drive out of the driveway, exhausted, toward Nancy’s brother’s cottage in Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania. We arrive at midnight and go to bed quietly to avoid waking anyone.

June 7

Today we are relaxing to prepare for the drive to Pittsburgh before heading to Raccoon Creek State Park. After driving for five hours, we arrive at our campsite. It’s late, so we prepare for sleep. I gather some oak branches and build a fire. Nancy brings some PBJ sandwiches, which we devour while watching the flames glow in the night sky. We talk about the morning plans. It will rain throughout the day, with thunder showers in the afternoon. We decide that I will spend tomorrow here. I will now start riding in Wheeling, Ohio not from this campground.

June 8

I spend the day resting up while staying dry. It is raining, we watch from the windows.

May 4, 2024

Getting to this campground last night made a long day that was well worth the extra miles. We beat the rain and we were allowed to set the tents under a pavilion. It rained hard as we watched the lightning flash in the dark sky. Packing dry gear made a good start for the day.

10:28 AM

We ride into town for breakfast at the Bean in the Belfry, a cafe in an old church.

Once back on the Trail we come to the storm damage from last night. Multiple trees are down across the trail. Some, we get around by walking the bikes into the canal and back up to the trail beyond the tree. Others we pick the bikes up and over.

We think about our options for the night. Rain is on the way. Originally we planned to split the mile to the finish into two twenty mile days and camp at the campground six miles from our car in Williamsport. Then get an early start driving back home. The weather coming through would mean we would be wet.

As we ride closer and closer to Williamsport we choose to finish at the car dry with dry gear.

6:00 PM

Now at the car we clean the mud off the bikes and pack the car. We drive to the Red Roof Inn and get a room. We will have a good night’s sleep and head home tomorrow a day earlier than planned. This has been a wonderful tour.