Day 2 of 2020 GCC Bike Trip - Ohio to Erie Trail

  I hung around the the hotel room until 9:00 or so when it stopped raining.  There was a lot of moisture in the air.  My laundry from yesterday was still wet in spite of being draped over the air conditioner last night.  I packed them anyway. I picked up my bagged breakfast at the front desk. Because of Covid -19, the hotel was not allowed to serve their usual buffet.  I stashed the apple, granola bar, and little Debbie donut in my panniers, and pedaled across the way to MacDonalds for a number 1 breakfast. 

 I went back to the trail by a different way, avoiding the steep twisty hill and the scary bridge.  Instead I took another downhill road to an intersecting bike trail which had a dedicated bridge over the river.

  It soon met up with the OTET and I headed off.

  The weather was very muggy.  I appreciated the shade of the trees along the trail.  Sometimes the mugginess turned to light sprinkling of rain.  I rode through the town of Morrow on a street parallel with the main street.  Everything seemed to be asleep.

There was a Pennsylvania Rail Road car and an old train station on the south side of town.  

I captured some scenic views of the muddy green Little Miami River.

I marvelled at the underside of the Jeremiah Morrow bridge where I-71 crosses the Little Miami River. What an amazing feat of engineering!  A little garter snake slithered out of the underbrush when I stopped my bike, but I didn't get his picture.

I stopped for lunch in Corwin.  I chatted with an older man (he said he was in his 80's) who had come from the opposite direction, from a town call SpringValley, which I later rode through. 

He told me he was in Army intelligence in Germany when he was much younger.  He used to ride centuries (100 miles on a bike in a day) but now he mostly sticks to 20- mile rides or less.  He also mentioned that there was a section of the trail between Cedarville and South Charleston that is nothing but wildflowers and butterflies, and no shade.  Did I mention how much I appreciated the shade today?  I think I am going that way tomorrow. He lived in Spring Valley.

I passed a section of trail that had a lot of different trailside wildflowers, there was a sign labelling it Travertine Fen. This is evidently a nature park. 

I saw many, many Pokeweed plants along the side of the trail, offering their fruit like amethyst necklaces to the passer-by.  This plant is edible only in the springtime and many people boil the leaves before eating.  Everyone remembers the song "Poke-Salat Annie".  But the fruit yields a glowing red dye especially when mordanted with vinegar. 

 I also passed a cedar wax wing in an elderberry bush who complained to me with a squawk that the elderberries were all gone. 

 I also passed many farm fields north of Corwin.  The corn has tasselled and is golden-brown.  Some of the beans are still green but some have turned to a bright golden hue. Then the trail once again was bordered by a tunnel of greenery, as tall trees interlaced their upper branches above me.  I pedaled through Spring Valley without stopping.

The last few miles to Xenia seemed never-ending. Mostly uphill, although a slight grade.   I could not wait to get there.  The last mile or so finally leveled out.  Unfortunately I pedaled past my B&B on the way to Xenia Station and had to turn around and retrace my path after checking my itinerary.   

I got settled then headed out via Uber to Nick's sports bar where I ordered fish tacos and pickled eggs. 

  I was too hungry so I ate one taco before remembering a picture. 

 And it was good.  So was the glass of Pinot Grigio.  Now I will head back to the B&B and check the weather report for tomorrow.  And check to see whether MapMyRide automatically updated my GCC web site or not.  And then I will do an update for my WW photo of the day group, check that I have uploaded an Instagram photo, etc.  It's almost like having a job!

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2020 Great Cycle Challenge Bike Trip

 My bike trip began yesterday at Carol Ann's Carousel in Smale Riverfront Park.   Ed dropped me off a

block away where he could find a spot to park the car.  There was a Queen City sign which I thought I took a photo of, but alas! No photo. 

I asked directions to get down a level to the bike trail from a woman who was sitting on a bench in the park.  She gave me information and asked about my jersey, which had the logo of the Great Cycle Challenge. I gave her a card with my info and she promised to share it on social media.  I walked my bike down a set of stairs to get to the trail.  The park designers had thoughtfully provided a bike channel to smoothly roll a bike down the steps.  The bike was heavier than normal since I am packing panniers to carry my necessesities for the next few days, so it was a little unwieldly to maneuver it down the stairs. The trail through the park was very pleasant and offered views of the Ohio River. I scared up a little flock of goldfinches, my spirit animal.   I thought, "This is a sign that the universe is blessing my trip".  Then I literally reached the end of the rail-trail conversion and found myself staring at a railroad with freight cars!  

However when I looked around and at the map I realized a had missed a turn, but the next trail was on the other side of a parking lot.  This led to the International Peace Park, whose double-helix paths were inspired by a child's friendship bracelet.  In this area the bike path ran parallel to the park.  A stretch on the road was next with a marked bike lane.   Before long I was at the airport where the path was wide and smooth surface.   Then through a park, then cross the road to turn onto a street. The surface of the street was rough and there was no marked bike lane.  I heard a pop and then realized my back wheel had gone flat.  

 I googled for a bike shop near me, and found there was one two-and-a-half miles away. I called and they said they could fix my flat today, but they could not come and get me.  I installed installed Uber onto my phone and experimented with first-time use.   I could not tell from the descriptions whether any of the rides could fit my bike, and they would not arrive for 45 minutes.  I decided to walk my bike instead.  It was hot and dusty and a lot of traffic.   Each vehicle that passed me left me jealously watching its taillights as it zoomed by.   I walked, pushing my bike, for 45 minutes, and I still had over a mile to go.  So I tried Uber again.  They had reduced the price!  Because I was closer, I guess.  I messaged the driver that I had a bike, and he told me to cancel.  Evidently he didn't wait for me to figure out how to cancel, because I got a prompt to message another driver. I sent a message that I had a bike with a flat tire, and Uber responded that he would be there in 15 minutes.  In fact, he arrived in about 7 minutes.  Very nice man, he helped me disassemble the bike and fit it in.  Then he carried it into the bike shop for me when we arrived.  He didn't get my message until we arrived at the bike shop. Smitty's found at least three holes in my tube, so I bought a new tube.  He fixed my flat with amazing speed and I was on my way again. 

 Thought the village of Mariemont and onto another bike trail.   This ran through Little Miami state park, and the path surface was smooth and shady.  I caught glimpses of the river through the trees, but didn't stop to take photos in order to make up for lost time, except for a quick stop at Milford.  

Milford gets its name from the early grain mill that customers had to ford the river to reach.  It is now a hub for several bike trails. I  stopped to eat an apple and a date bar for my lunch. 

  Then back in the saddle and continued to the bike-friendly town of Loveland.  

Stopped to have dinner at Ramsey's and was delighted to find a Thai-zucchini noodle bowl.  Only another ten miles to my hotel in Kings Mills.  The large "P" on the smokestack of an abandoned factory announced that I was almost there, I learned from the historical marker that it was a munitions factory. My grandkids will tell you that I am a fan of architecture.  I could not believe the design that went into the decoration of this factory's facade.  I wish our current buildings were not all so sleek and plain, a little decoration really adds interest.

 Getting off the trail to cross the river was a little scary, the bridge across the river had only a low guardrail. I stopped to snap a photo of a graffiti flower on the bridge support. 

Traffic was heavy, this was the only place nearby to cross the river. Once across the river, the road began climbing out of the river valley.  I ended up, once again walking my bike, but this time it was uphill. When I got to the center of Kings Mills, it leveled out and I turned left down Church St.  I had to double around to take picture of some flowers in a garden. I posted a picture in the plant identification group (people helping people) and learned it was amaranth.  I had to turn off comments on my posts, because my phone was blowing up.

   I stopped at the Powder Keg Harley Davidson store, and the girls there were awed about my planned ride.  They offered me bottles of water!  Hotel was just across the parking lot.  It felt good to get a shower and relax in the room.  Checked the weather forecast.  Today it is supposed to rain until about 10 am.  The hotel offers a bagged breakfast on checkout, so I am wasting time until it stops raining and I can check out.  Today I am biking to Xenia. 

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