My Area 106

Heard about Raystown Lake?

I thought with this post I would share a recent email I received from Trek Ohio Valley Team rider "Mark Shellhamer" recently about his day trip to Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania.   These new trails have certainly been the buzz around the Pittsburgh area, and have heard members of CAMBA (Cleveland Area Mountain Biking Association) have been enjoying making the trek as well to Central PA.   If you get a chance, check out the site at: http://www.raystown.org/outdoor-fun/allegrippis-trails.html   Here's what Mark had to say about his 1 day trip to Raystown: "After reading letter after letter and articles about Raystown Lake in Dirtrag Mountain Bike MagazineI had to take a trip over and check it out. I left at 4:30am and got there by 8:30am. As you may have heard the place is super flowy, smooth, and really fast! I've never rode anything like it in PA. I would sum it as a cross between Mohican State Park and North Park (Pittsburgh). I have Bontrager Revolts on my Fuel EX for racing and had plenty of traction. There's no need for knobbies here! I had a blast ripping around on my EX and feel it's the biggest bike needed for Raystown. 5" of travel was more than enough for soaking up the jumps off the whoops. I have no pride and often climb in granny gear.......I only used it once all day! I rode 99% of the trails with minimal overlap/backtracking.    A couple of hours in I got used to riding at higher speeds. On the Hydro trail I found myself "dancing" with my bike on the trail. Side to side leaning/sinking  into the curves. I've never experienced that before! I bet a ridged single speed 29er would be a blast there as well. The place is that smooth. No skinnies, No log piles, and only 1 real rock garden. If you think your bored pick up the pace and that feeling will go away real fast.  If they ever hold an XC race there you better watch out for Roadies with mountain bikes. They will give us mountain bikers a real lung thrashing at this place! Would I go back? ........When are we leaving!"   Thanks for the report Mark.   Bob

Ride on a Train, a Night Bike Ride and topped off with a "Pint"

 

 

Wanna do something different this fall while getting a chance to ride your bike? Make plans for Akron, Ohio and to catch a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. Remember to bring your bike.

I got a call last week from Pete DiGiacomo (Ernie's Bicycle and riding bud) that he and some of the other shop guys where heading up to Akron for a late afternoon 16 mile train ride trip followed by a night ride back to Akron. Oh, I said. Count me in.

I met up with the guys (Chris, Jason, Joe, Aaron & Pete) late Sunday afternoon at the store then made the trip up to Akron to board the train. Now, the train usually costs a rider $15, but if you are traveling with your bike you ride for only $2.00. Wow, what a bargain!!

Heck, we even got the chance to enjoy a fine adult beverage while enjoying our 16 mile train ride north through the Cuyahoga River Valley which follows much of the path of the Ohio Erie Canal Towpath.

Once we exited the train we were handed our bikes (which rode in the bike travel box car), then decided to grab some dinner at the local Winking Lizard (Peninsula, Ohio) before beginning our night 16 mile Trek. Upon entering the pub, Pete was wearing his helmet which had his night light mounted to it. One patron walked up to Pete all excited and asked if Pete was video taping his dining experience (we gotta good laugh at that one)? He was quite sincere and wanted to be part of the "video" (fact is, I think he had enjoyed one to many "pints" of his favorite adult beverage while watching his Pittsburgh Steelers lose to those Bengals). Nonetheless, we enjoyed some wings and drinks while the sun continued to go down.

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.

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.

CAMBA's New Years Day Poker Run Ride

Well, I hadn't planned to ride this years New Years Day ride in downtown Cleveland with the CAMBA crew, but when I woke this morning I thought what the heck, sunny skies, dry roads why not? My wife sort of gave me a push so I quickly gathered up my gear and loaded up the Element. I missed not having my riding partners from last year (Travis, Michelle and Pete), but none of us seemed to be real anxious to plan it this year. Thus, I ventured up to Cleveland by myself but knew I would have plenty of riders to keep me company. On my way into Cleveland I came up on a fellow Element owner, with a vast arrangement of stickers on the back side. We ended up taking different routes to the starting point and I never did get to meet the driver and find out more about him. I must say, he did drive a fine automobile.

"Bring on those Snow Flurries"

25 degrees that felt more like 11 is what the weather channel was touting. They didn't mention the 20 MPH winds and a good amount of snow flurries.

As I headed out the door for my ride today it didn't appear too bad. So, I opted for the Soho SS and to put it through its paces. I quickly realized heading out of the housing development that maybe the single speed wasn't the greatest choice today, but didn't want to turn back.

I live in pretty much an old farm area on the south side of the city of Massillon. It is exactly 2.6 miles from my garage to where the city limits begin and I can take shelter from some of the wind from the homes and business buildings as I enter the city confines. I pretty much freeze for a bit against the wind and snow, but begin to warm up as I get in among the buildings. Got to love urban riding this time of year.

Long live long rides...

What constitutes a long ride? I'm sure that many of us would have varying answers, but to me it's all relative to the average length ride you usually find yourself riding, then expand upon that times 2. For me, these days a good long ride is over 2 hours. I know, this pales with epic rides of a century, or that 3 hour plus group ride some weekends or even what a typical race can be, but nonetheless, for me and my schedule a 2 hour long ride plus is a "long ride".

Tonight my neighbor Scott (and urban riding partner) and I were able to get on the bikes around 5:30pm and finish up just after dusk (approximately 7:40pm). We decided to take a few twists to one of our regular routes and mix in a bit of towpath trails along with paved roads.

The weather signified to me the start of fall and this actually as our "first official fall ride" as the cool air and cloudy skies told Scott he better opt for long sleeves; as a seasoned winter rider, I on the other hand will avoid wearing long sleeves or tights till I absolutely have to as I'm in no hurry to begin the winter riding process, thus opted to wear my normal lycra shorts with short sleeve jersey.

This ride was awesome! We felt great, as we took turns pulling each other along the route and each suggesting new segments as we went along. What started out as a typical "one hour quick ride" turned into this 2 hour long one. It would have been longer except that we both forgot and left our lights at home (a big no no at this time of year hey?)

Nite Ride in the Hall of Fame City...

Scott, Pete and I outside the main entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Scott and I met up with our friend Pete at his house around 10:30pm last night (Friday) for a nite ride around the city of Canton as it prep for the weekend festivities of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies.

First, we worked our way through the city's monument park (where former President McKinley's tomb is) till we reached the steps of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Media crews were setting up in preparation for today's induction ceremonies of this years new members. Security was out and had most of the roads blocked, but got a kick out of us as we came riding through and permitted us to pass and look around with no problem.

We then headed to Cleveland Avenue which is one of the main streets that run north/south through downtown Canton, and also is the parade route for the Hall of Fame on Saturday morning. The police close this street down around 11pm, so we rode along this main drag enjoying the cool air as we watched the early bird parade watchers get out and stake our their areas of choice for the following mornings parade. They put out their folding chairs and leave them overnight, while others seem to be content on sitting down relaxing and waiting till morning. I was real surprised at just how many people we sleeping in their chairs for the night or brought along a tent.

We decided to stop and partake in a cold beverage of choice at a local restaurant called "Hog Heaven". Let me tell you, boy did I get the looks upon walking into that bar. I think they were trying to figure out just what I had on my back (my messenger bag) since I continue to try to educate my fellow bar patrons about the utility aspects of a fine bike. We didn't want to get our bikes ripped off, so we took our drinks and headed outside to the fresh air table area. In all honesty, I felt like the Delta boys from Animal House as they spotted Otis their man inside a blues bar. Now, back to Hog Heaven and my story. In Ohio all establishments are smoke free. This is great, but most bars have established these outside areas for their smoking patrons. Yep, you guessed it, as we enjoyed our cold beverages we got to inhale the other patrons smoke. Got to love those Marlboro's, hey? Oh well, I was just waiting for someone to ask me if they could dance with Pete.

Couldn't help myself

I told myself no trail riding till I get to Madison. On top of that, my boss is in the process of healing up after suffering a nasty fall which lead to a few cuts, broken ribs and a jammed finger/thumb. I know I should resist, but I miss the trails...

I spent the morning in my office, then decided to walk through my garage to go outside and retrieve the mail. There she was, my HiFi 29er leaning against the wall begging for some needed attention (affection). It's been so hot and dry I couldn't help but think of how bone dry and quick the trials should be.

Do I need to say more? Yeap, grabbed the gear, changed into my riding clothes and took off for a lunch time trail ride. The trails were dry, except for the normal mud spots.

No worries, rode in control and didn't take any chances. There's no way I'm missing Trek World this summer!

Bob

A wounded quail...one and done for this rider

Its been awhile since I've been on a mountain bike trail. The rain and local trail conditions have been a real mess. Getting a few runs at the recent Seven Springs Mountain Resort left me wanting to spend some time on the Gary Fisher HiFi 29er.

I looked up the local trail conditions report which read that on July 12th Quail Hollow's trails where "wet with standing water holes and a major tree was down at the end of the trail". Since this was the 15th of July I figured the trail would have dried out some and maybe, just maybe the tree had been disposed of.

No chance. Since my Element was the only vehicle in the parking lot I decided to ride the trail in reserve in which I came upon this tree immediately. In the couple seconds it took to maneuver myself (and bike) through the tree I was engulfed by mosquitoes. They were "thick" to say the least (and I didn't have any bug repellent on) and once I remounted I quickly ran into overgrown brush and briar's hanging out into the trails. Riders have been staying away from this trail.

Poor Quail Hollow, it is feeling neglected. As I rode through each water (mud) hole; I decided to navigate them slowly with my crash history and all, since I really wasn't sure how deep they would be. I could tell no one had been riding through the puddles, but rather riding around them. The trails are in really bad shape.