My Area 106

Destination: Loudonville, Ohio for the Mohican 100

 

Riders are beginning to make the trek to Loudonville, Ohio for Saturdays Mohican NUE event which will begin with a mass start promptly at 7am in downtown Loudonville. The population of Loudonville is heighten during this time of the year as it tends to be a weekend vacation getaway for many as the nearby Mohican River helps lure in campers, hikers, horseback riders and plenty of paddlers (river canoe rentals are huge here) from in state and out of state.

Hello... West Branch

Wow! Leave it up to the CAMBA team of trail builders to improve upon an already fun section of trails in NE Ohio. A big segment of the West Branch State Park (Ravenna, Ohio) mountain bike trails run along side the adjacent lake, as each year some of the trail keeps disappearing into the lake, thus requiring trail reworks and such.

I've been able to ride the trail both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Saturday the trail was so dry and fast, and I noticed immediately all the changes the trail incurred over the winter. I still can't ride the rockier southern portion of the trails very well, but still working on it. In reading a recent post on the blog of the "Akron Cyclist" I have shared many of Andrew's thoughts of this West Branch trail. It's a trail that I tend to have several mishaps with, and really try to stay away from it when following a recent rain.

PRO DEAL

 

Had to bring this to your attention. What a great time to pull the trigger on a new ride for this summer and beyond. Trek is offering some direct $$$ savings to you on some of our most popular models (Madone road bikes and the Fuel EX full suspension mountain bikes).

Follow the link here to read a bit more about it. Make sure that you contact your local Trek retailer to see if their participating. Make sure to tell them you want the "Pro Deal".

Also, make sure to ask your Pro Deal Trek Retailer about the Trek 12 months no interest/no payment financing option (for well qualified riders).

C'mon, you know you want one.

Bob

When you don't have to worry about your hair, your mind is free to wander...

As I was listening to XM radio today on my way home from sales calls in Cleveland, Ohio, the radio host stated, "when you don't have to worry about your hair, your mind is free to wander". Wow, this message was really deep.

You know, I tried it. Once I arrived home, I loaded up the Element and headed off for Quail Hollow. The weather has been really pleasant the past few days, so I figured the trail would be really dry and probably pretty crowded since it was just past dinner time for most. I was surprised to see just a few cars in the parking lot as I prepped for the ride.

You know, I got all set, fastened the chin buckle to my helmet, and checked my look in the car mirror (why, I don't know) but immediately stopped worrying about my hair and my mind began to wander. It was really remarkable. Just like the guy on the radio said it would and the rider in the yellow jersey pictured above.

The Potawatomi Trail

 

The other week I ventured to NW Ohio and the Toledo area for some retailer visits. The days prior had been dry, but the weather outlook for this day was 80% chance of rain so I thought I would be relegated to my hotel room and paperwork rather than an evening trail ride. As I finished up my last sales visit, I noticed the sun was trying to break through the clouds as I looked north toward that state up north (Michigan, for those of you that don't live in Ohio).

I decided to drive north to a former favorite trail of mine while chancing a major downpour, ending up just 20 miles NW of Ann Arbor, the Potawatomi Trail. In the mid '90's, I would do this trip to the Pot-to each month during the summer months. At this time, my home state of Ohio had terrible trail access and if you wanted any good trails to ride you headed north to (the state just north of Toledo), Pennsylvania, or West Virginia.

Actually, the Potawatomi Trail was ranked at one point the 3rd best trail in the United States by Bicycling Magazine (I believe it was Bicycling). It featured a 17 mile loop with plenty of roots, sand and twisty singletrack. It was a multi use trail as well, so this teamed with the magazine pub, Ohio traffic along with all the locals made the Pot-to a top destination.

As I drove north and past Ann Arbor the trip all was coming back to me like a scene from "Groundhog Day". It had been since 1996 that I last rode the Pot-to, and the excited of riding this ole trail was building up inside me. Still, no rain and now more blue sky was present that gray clouds. Awesome!! I pulled into the parking lot and stopped at the Ranger Station and paid my $8 for a single day out of state riding pass. It was now about 5pm and the parking lot had about 8 cars (most belonging to fellow riders) as I quickly changed into my riding clothes and prepped my Fuel EX 9.8.