Back from tour

I recently completed a really nice bike tour with my wife and a friend. We rode the path of the old Ohio & Erie Canal, as nearly as I could research it, from Portsmouth Ohio to Cleveland & Lake Erie. The Canal was an early investment by the state, and was critical in allowing settlers to get their goods to market, thus changing Ohio from frontier territory to a prosperous state.

I did lots of research to determine the canal route in southern Ohio, although it turns out the first 75 miles or more are used by TOSRV each year. (That wasn't at all obvious; TOSRV is not billed as a canal route ride.) But I spent time in libraries, finding names of towns on the route, then correlating with detailed modern maps, looking for things like "Canal Road" or "Three Locks Road" or "Canal Park," etc.

The research was rewarded with countless miles riding with the old ditch (40 feet wide) still visible at the road's edge, and many unheralded encounters of locks overgrown with trees. I photographed dozens of historic markers, and we visited several little canal-theme museums or visitors' centers on the way. It made for a constantly interesting tour. The weather was wonderful, with just one hour of downpour (which we could have avoided if we'd had access to a good radar map). All in all, it was one of the more interesting tours we've done. The objective (follow the canal) gave a pleasant feeling of mission, and the historic bits made it a learning experience. Oh, and we did about 60 or 70 miles (as a guess) on multi-user paths right on the former towpath, generally with crushed limestone surface. That's certainly as close to the canal as possible! That (plus the official "Ohio Scenic Byway" signs for the final 110 miles) made navigation easy, until we entered the old industrial areas of Cleveland.

Not much tech to relate. Our 1986 Cannondale touring bikes did their job admirably. My wife rode hers "empty" since I carried all our gear. Motels and B&Bs instead of camping made that possible, although other pre-trip obligations made packing a rush and caused us to take far too much stuff. Only tech problem was that my wife's front derailleur needed adjustment about three separate times, for failing to drop into the granny chainring. Puzzling, but not major. I forgot one fender's mudflap, and had to cut a replacement out of some coated card stock from a motel. It lasted just long enough. (Our friend had no fenders, unfortunately. Wet crushed limestone made her bike a mess by the end.)

On issues of contention: We counted only three times in 355 miles that someone shouted at us ("Get off the road" or similar) and only two rude horn honks. Yes, it was necessary to control the lane hundreds of times, including with large trucks and tractor-trailer rigs. That generated two of the yells, both from young dudes in situations where anyone could see that the 8 foot lane was not wide enough to share. But mid-20s guys in junky vehicles are the country's most important citizens, and must never be delayed by even a few seconds. Just ask them!

Only one passing car came too close. That was an older guy with a "handicapped" plate, at a place where I was not at lane center, but pretty far right. I was trying to ride the smoothest pavement and thinking "It's obviously narrow, there are no other cars around, he'll certainly change lanes" but he apparently felt compelled to stay within the lane. My fault.

On the other side of the coin, we were treated with kindness and/or pleasant interest by thousands of people. Most people in old canal villages really care little about the canal history, of course; but even those seemed charmed by the idea of doing the route by bike. Young folks working at visitors' centers and guys in a bike shop were the most enchanted, saying "Wow, I'd love to do that tour!"

(And BTW, if you're on tour and calling ahead for a room, mention the bike tour! In one town, a "Sorry, no vacancies" changed to a "Well, perhaps we do have some rooms" when I mentioned we were on bikes and couldn't drive to an alternative. Turns out that sometimes managers hold a room or two back for those in need. Who knew?) We got free desserts from an ex-New-York chef, free beer at a pub, and free lodging from two sets of friends. (Well, we took them out to dinner.) The weirdest reaction was "Wow. You're so brave. I'd never do that without packing my forty-four and my Bowie knife." (He didn't seem to be joking!)

I did only a little night riding (in cities), but my usual generator set plus rear blinky did fine. And despite much riding on little-used country lanes and even towpaths, the number of times we ducked to avoid head injury by low hanging branches was... let me think... zero! Go figure!

We ended by passing through the oldest industrial areas of Cleveland to the site of Settler's Landing, then riding through the main city square and the heart of the city out to our rented van. But I enjoy even riding through old industrial areas, looking at the rail yards, the factories, the industry. Cleveland became a major city specifically because of the canal.

Portsmouth, the canal's southern terminus, might have become just as big, but the mighty Ohio River flooded it so often that major growth wasn't possible. OTOH, the huge flood walls that (usually) protect Portsmouth are now covered with amazingly beautiful murals - hundreds of feet of murals, all by one artist, depicting the town's history. They're not to be missed, if you're in the area.

Following the tour, we've had extended family visiting now for a week now. So I hope I haven't missed much here; I'll catch up later. Hope everyone's having a good summer.

- Frank Krygowski

"Frank Krygowski" wrote in message
...
I recently completed a really nice bike tour with my wife and a friend.
We rode the path of the old Ohio & Erie Canal, as nearly as I could
research it, from Portsmouth Ohio to Cleveland & Lake Erie...

Following the tour, we've had extended family visiting now for a week
now. So I hope I haven't missed much here; I'll catch up later. Hope
everyone's having a good summer.

- Frank Krygowski

---

I was wondering, where's Frank? One or two people impersonated you
whilst you were gone-- or someone claimed they were "channeling" you.

I never road the canal, but that sounds like an excellent trip. I have
ridden in NE Ohio a little. From Erie to (Canton, OH?) Mosquito Lake
(and back a couple times). That was a nice ride without too much
traffic. Nice scenery, mostly farms, and gently rolling hills. Rte 20
is a bit hairy in some places but didn't get all that much traffic
usually. And rte 7 in Ohio had virtually no traffic and was a great
bike road.

You mentioned junky cars, with impatient rude drivers. I had forgotten
how when growing up in PA in the 70s, people would say a car must be
from Ohio when it was all rusted and about to fall apart. I don't
remember why exactly. I think because PA had car inspections back then?

As for that guy that said they can't imagine doing what you were without
a 44 and knife... I look back at how I used to ride alone a lot when
young. Especially, in the foothills of the Rockies when I lived in
Denver. I did make a few excursions farther and some times didn't see
anyone for long stretches... I didn't have any protection. Other than
my wits and bike. I'm not sure I would do that now, ride out so far
alone. You are so vulnerable when just on a bike. Who knows nowadays
who's going to come up on you. And they notice you are alone and
vulnerable...

But I loved the freedom of riding like that. I did with groups some too
but they always had a timetable and were all rushing along, though it
was much safer. (Safety vs Freedom.) I enjoyed the rides I did by
myself and just moseyed along at my own speed and would stop once in a
while when I felt like it and enjoyed the scenery for as long as I
wanted.

Frank Krygowski writes:

snipped

Nice trip report. Sounds like a good time.

--
Joe Riel

Frank Krygowski writes:

I recently completed a really nice bike tour with my wife and a friend. We rode the path of the old Ohio & Erie Canal, as nearly as I could research it, from Portsmouth Ohio to Cleveland & Lake Erie. The Canal was an early investment by the state, and was critical in allowing settlers to get their goods to market, thus changing Ohio from frontier territory to a prosperous state.


Awesome! I love that TV show, "History Detectives"; it's produced
in Portland, you know.

I did lots of research to determine the canal route in southern Ohio, although it turns out the first 75 miles or more are used by TOSRV each year. (That wasn't at all obvious; TOSRV is not billed as a canal route ride.) But I spent time in libraries, finding names of towns on the route, then correlating with detailed modern maps, looking for things like "Canal Road" or "Three Locks Road" or "Canal Park," etc.

The research was rewarded with countless miles riding with the old ditch (40 feet wide) still visible at the road's edge,


Did you ride through the ditch? That would have been cool.

... and many unheralded encounters of locks overgrown with trees. I photographed dozens of historic markers, and we visited several little canal-theme museums or visitors' centers on the way. It made for a constantly interesting tour. The weather was wonderful, with just one hour of downpour (which we could have avoided if we'd had access to a good radar map). All in all, it was one of the more interesting tours we've done. The objective (follow the canal) gave a pleasant feeling of mission, and the historic bits made it a learning experience. Oh, and we did about 60 or 70 miles (as a guess) on multi-user paths right on the former towpath, generally with crushed limestone surface. That's certainly as close to the canal as possible!


Er... I guess you didn't ride in it, then (?)

That (plus the official "Ohio Scenic Byway" signs for the final 110 miles) made navigation easy, until we entered the old industrial areas of Cleveland.

Not much tech to relate. Our 1986 Cannondale touring bikes did their job admirably. My wife rode hers "empty" since I carried all our gear. Motels and B&Bs instead of camping made that possible, although other pre-trip obligations made packing a rush and caused us to take far too much stuff. Only tech problem was that my wife's front derailleur needed adjustment about three separate times, for failing to drop into the granny chainring. Puzzling, but not major. I forgot one fender's mudflap, and had to cut a replacement out of some coated card stock from a motel. It lasted just long enough. (Our friend had no fenders, unfortunately. Wet crushed limestone made her bike a mess by the end.)


Sounds slippery, too.

On issues of contention: We counted only three times in 355 miles that someone shouted at us ("Get off the road" or similar) and only two rude horn honks. Yes, it was necessary to control the lane hundreds of times, including with large trucks and tractor-trailer rigs. That generated two of the yells, both from young dudes in situations where anyone could see that the 8 foot lane was not wide enough to share. But mid-20s guys in junky vehicles are the country's most important citizens, and must never be delayed by even a few seconds. Just ask them!


*Five* overtly hostile encounters? I thought you rarely had any such
trouble - to the point of essentially denying the problem.

Only one passing car came too close. That was an older guy with a "handicapped" plate, at a place where I was not at lane center, but pretty far right. I was trying to ride the smoothest pavement and thinking "It's obviously narrow, there are no other cars around, he'll certainly change lanes" but he apparently felt compelled to stay within the lane. My fault.


Let me get this straight: The guy did operated his motor vehicle
in at *least* an inconsiderate (if not outrightly dangerous) manner -
unnecessairly so - and it's "your fault"? And you don't see this as
"victim blaming"?

snip

Following the tour, we've had extended family visiting now for a week now. So I hope I haven't missed much here; I'll catch up later.


Same old same old (well, except without Frank ;-)

Hope everyone's having a good summer.


Glad to hear things are well with you, too. (Though I'd really
hoped maybe you were reading "Bridges Not Walls". Maybe later?)

Dan writes:

Frank Krygowski writes:


snip


On issues of contention: We counted only three times in 355 miles that someone shouted at us ("Get off the road" or similar) and only two rude horn honks. Yes, it was necessary to control the lane hundreds of times, including with large trucks and tractor-trailer rigs. That generated two of the yells, both from young dudes in situations where anyone could see that the 8 foot lane was not wide enough to share. But mid-20s guys in junky vehicles are the country's most important citizens, and must never be delayed by even a few seconds. Just ask them!


*Five* overtly hostile encounters? I thought you rarely had any such
trouble - to the point of essentially denying the problem.


To put it in context, your 355 miles is about a week's worth of
commuting for me. Even *I* don't get yelled that often; and I
am attuned to the "contention", riding in rush hour traffic daily,
behaving like a sort [1] of madman!

[1] The non-conformist sort.

snip

URA DOIN BETTER THAN I. I was hassled/assaulted out of the Keys. All Ohio people went home

leaving the usual whores and criminals.



http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=kw%...ced&dblist=638

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...CMHL2Q WE6YAg

datakoll writes:

URA DOIN BETTER THAN I. I was hassled/assaulted out of the Keys.

Oh I have my bad spells. Middle finger gets a workout some days.

All Ohio people went home


We all go home eventually.

"Say 'Rooo-Beee!'"

snip

On 8/15/2013 11:23 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
We ended by passing through the oldest industrial areas of Cleveland to the site of Settler's Landing, then riding through the main city square and the heart of the city out to our rented van. But I enjoy even riding through old industrial areas, looking at the rail yards, the factories, the industry. Cleveland became a major city specifically because of the canal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM

--
T0m $herm@n

On 8/16/2013 8:23 PM, Dan wrote:
Did you ride through the ditch? That would have been cool.

And wet.

--
T0m $herm@n

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/...d_War_II?rec=6

you cannot go home again....but then I am home so what gives ?