Cycling Across Ohio
For the 2024 edition of the Cook Men Trip, we chose our most ambitious cycle tour yet: 326 miles over 5 days along the Ohio-to-Erie Trail, starting in Cincinnati and ending in Cleveland, Ohio. Helpfully, Dad took care of planning the route, accommodations, and other logistics.
Day 0
I flew into Cincinnati after a day of work, and was picked up promptly by my folks, then whisked to our Airbnb. There, aunts A & B had helped put together a delicious meal, which we ate with gusto. We also availed ourselves of the hot tub for a nice soak, and got to bed on the early side to rest up for the day ahead.
Day 1
We started with a solid breakfast at the Airbnb, packed up our gear, and all of us headed down to Cincinnati's waterfront. One more check of our bikes, a few quick pictures dipping our back tires into the Ohio River, and we were off.
As usual, the first few miles leaving the city were some of the most interesting. We followed tree-lined commuter paths around bustling pickleball courts and abandoned fairgrounds. Beyond the city limits, we began to see more industrial lots, golf courses, and small airports.
The first day in the saddle is always a rude awakening, but despite the late start, we made good progress. The path was paved and smooth, with just a smattering of early autumn leaves, and the mild, cloudy weather was perfect for a long cycle. We made a coffee stop in Loveland, an attractive and happening town with several enticing restaurants, bars, and book shops along the bike path. It would have been a great place to post up for the night, had we not 50 miles left to go that day.
For lunch, we stopped at the lovely little Sun Sprouts Cafe right on the trail in Waynesville. Recognizing that this would likely be our best chance at fresh greens for a while, we took full advantage of grain bowls loaded with vegetables and topped ourselves off with smoothies.
Reaching Xenia at 68 miles, we joined the Prairie Grass Trail, and followed it to Cedarville where we completed our first day (and my longest ever one-day ride) of 76 miles.
Our stop for the first night was the Hearthstone Inn, a quaint, small hotel with Civil War bric-a-brac displayed throughout the lobby. We showered off and searched in vain for a place in Cedarville that served beer or wine. Ended up at a serviceable Mexican restaurant across the street from inn, we at heartily. A short walk toward "downtown" helped us score some brownies for dessert and scout out a breakfast spot that opened at 6am the next day. With strong winds and rain from Hurricane Helene forecasted for the next day, we wanted an early start.
Day 2
Waking at 6am to rain pelting the windows, we packed up, checked out, and rode in the dark to the cafe we'd found the night before. After a quick breakfast, we started out into steady rain and a strong headwind, riding single file and rotating the lead every two miles.
In this manner, we covered a good amount of ground and pulled up at the London Coffee Peddler feeling good about our progress. In addition to the hot drinks, we got some good intel about flooding further up the trail. A good stop, despite the questionable choice of Algerian for their signage.
Back out in the rain, we cycled past miles of agriculture and (judging by the yard signs) deep red small towns. Our approach to Columbus was marked by highway underpasses and hard-up suburban subdivisions. Before long, we were dumped into a fairly nice city park trail system and then onto the city streets of downtown Columbus. We navigated across the city, then picked up the Interstate 670 Bikeway. It was here, 50 miles into the ride and with only about 13 left, that we discovered Aaron had a flat tire.
We pulled over and got out our spare tubes and tools. Despite trying two separate tubes, we couldn't get them to stay inflated. Fortunately, we were able to call our backup crew: Mom and her sisters. They weren't far, and reached us within about 15 minutes. We loaded the bikes onto the cars and went back into downtown Columbus to the Paradise Garage. They were able to fix the flats and supply us with extra tubes while we enjoyed snacks courtesy of our support team. Within an hour and a half, we were back on the trail and ready to resume where we had stopped.
Despite the quick turnaround, the weather had deteriorated dramatically. Our last hour's ride into Westerville took us along the Alum Creek Trail, where gusting winds littered the path with downed branches and lashing rains soaked us to our skin. We raced and dodged to beat even worse weather, finally pulling into our cute little Airbnb thoroughly drenched.
We were ready for a cold drink and a hot meal. Fortunately for us, we were treated to both, first with cousins Chris & Julie, and then with Sarah and Bruno. It was the perfect end to a challenging day.
Day 3
We decided to get a few miles under our belts before breaking our fast the next morning, and rolled into Galena after about 45 minutes. The Coffee Vault turned out to be our best coffee and breakfast stop: a well-made brew and tasty egg-and-cheese sandwiches set us up for a good day.
The rain had stopped, and we had a more enjoyable ride than the previous day. In Centerburg, we reached the halfway point of the Ohio to Erie Trail and celebrated with a photo op.
Aaron had lost a screw from his shoe, so we made a brief stop in Mt Vernon, home of Wesleyan University, to get a replacement. For lunch, we stopped at Jackie's Sandwich Shop in Danville, where we saw our first Amish. We had many questions and few answers about their beliefs and strictures. This made for a lot of conversation, particularly when we passed a young man in a horse-drawn buggy smoking a cigarette, and a few Amish families on electric bicycles coming the other way.
The rest of our ride was largely on wide gravel paths dotted with horse manure, which included the covered "Bridge of Dreams". We made a steady climb over a few miles, enjoying a long, fast coast down the other side of the hill. From Glenmont, our route took us onto rolling, rural highways before putting us back onto gravel at Killbuck. From there, it was just a few miles to our Comfort Inn in Millersburg. Our support team (Mom, Annie, and Dan) ferried us to dinner at a brewery, the beer and pub food more than adequate to replace the calories burned during our hilly, 75-mile ride.
Day 4
We had a quick breakfast at the Comfort Inn, then a longer stop at what turned out to be a combination coffee shop/church in Millersburg. Not far out of town, we realized that Aaron had another flat tire. This time, we managed to successfully change the tube and get on our way again.
Before long, we found ourselves riding through the farmlands of Holmes County, the second largest Amish settlement after Lancaster, PA. We saw several horse-drawn buggies, generations of Amish men in traditional garb, large subsistence garden plots, and power lines running straight past most of the houses.
Some nice up-and-down riding brought us to the more modern environs of Dalton, where we celebrated with a 10:30am ice cream stop at the Dalton Dari-ette ($2.65 for a small cone).
From Dalton we picked up the Sippo Valley Trail, a gravel path along a creek. That's where calamity struck.
As we approached a wooden bridge, two pedestrians several yards ahead started walking across. Instead of both moving to one side to let us pass, they each went to separate sides, leaving a relatively tight squeeze between them and the bollards standing in the middle of each end of the bridge. Aaron, in front, touched his brakes to slow down. Immediately, his tires lost purchase on the wet, mossy planks and he wiped out spectacularly. Ten or twenty feet back, I saw it happen and tried to slow myself, only succeeding in sending my bike and myself spinning to the ground. Behind me, I heard Dad go down in a shower of epithets.
We picked ourselves up and walked our bikes off the bridge, which felt as slippery as ice. Our generous spacing and good luck meant that we hadn't collided with each other. Aaron and I had only a few scrapes and bruises, but Dad's shoulder was hurting. We spent a few minutes assessing and discussing the situation. Dad declared himself able to continue, so we remounted and gingerly rode the last few miles to Massillon. Over a surprisingly tasty lunch at the Top of the Viaduct, we decided we could complete the last 25 miles of the day's ride.
Mom and Aunt Annie joined us around Barberton, their old stomping ground, as we took the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath up to Portage Lakes.
We were put up by y cousins, Claire & Brian, who also fed us a delicious meal, plied us with cold beverages, provided entertainment via their children, and treated us to a soak in their hot tub. It was a great end to a long day.
Day 5
With a relatively short day ahead, we were able to have a more leisurely breakfast before heading out. We rejoined the towpath and made our way through Akron and the now-familiar pattern of rougher sections south of the city, railroad tracks, city parks, and a gentrifying downtown.
North of Akron, we were joined by my Uncle Larry and his friend for the remainder of the ride. We made good time over gravel paths that wound through the wooded Cuyahoga Valley National Park, passing picturesque little towns and a series of canal locks.
The outskirts of Cleveland were heavily industrial, with sheet metal, chemical, and other manufacturing plants dominating the landscape.
When we got into downtown Cleveland, the route became slightly harder to navigate, with bike lanes and signed paths going off in many directions. We took our time and found our way up the Cuyahoga River among the old stone buildings and metal bridges.
And then we could see Lake Erie. One more overpass took us to its banks, and we rode west for a couple of miles, finally stopping at the beach of Lakefront Reservation. We dipped our front tires in the lake and that was that.
We were met by Mom and Aunt Annie, changed into clean clothes, had a celebratory lunch out, and made our various ways home.
Each of these Cook Men trips are different; this one included lots of family time, which was helpful practically and enjoyable socially. It was also the most physically demanding of our trips, and while we were never near the point of exhaustion or even serious discomfort, we were all sore for at least a few days.
As always, I'm grateful to the other Cook men for making time to be together. It's a precious gift.