Adventures of an AT Section hiker "Mapless"

Tag: bike ride

  • Bike ride in “The Valley”

    August 24, 2025 – Adventure / Road Trip Day 12 – Did not sleep well last night worried about the van and where and what to do today. Got up at 7 and made coffee in room to figure things out.

    As part of the trip I was looking for forward to a bike ride on the Tow Path in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park south of Cleveland. I had spent a lot of time on the trail and in the park during life. But it would be a bit of drive and I with the van sounding like a jet engine so I thought to should stay closer to where I was staying.

    I decide on a bike ride on the Metroparks trail starting in Lakewood. I had bike this trail many times as a kid. We used to just call it the “The Valley” before it was the Metroparks. Toured the boat ramp and rode from Lakewood to the Mastick picnic area. Rode past the old hang out of the “green barn” which is not painted green. Ended up with 15 miles and brought back lots of memories.

    Next stop was Erie Island Coffee in Rocky River. I was fun to see this part of Rocky Rive… basically grew up here. Work on the journal and killed time until I could check into my room in Avon.

    Had dinner with the long time friends the Stothards on their backyard patio … how many time have we done this ??.. wild. Thank you Dan and Phyllis for for your hospitality. I was nice to visit and catch up.

    After adding the photos below I realized how lucky I have been with weather on the trip. The super hot and humid summer weather ended just as I started the trip and I have had sunny sky’s and gorgeous days with only on rain day out of 11 so far … blessed

  • First Bike Ride of the Trip

    First Bike Ride of the Trip

    August 14, 2025 – One of the goals of the trip is to bike and on a number of “Rail Trails”. I had found trail just a bit north of Lexington VA that I had planned for the day.

    Got up early at 7am , breakfast and packed up the “camper van” to head for the trail. Did not have cell service at the campground last night so had to drive a bit this morning for service to determine where I was going. Arrived at the Blue Ridge Railway Trail by 8:30

    Trail was nice and shaded, gravel trail. Just enough elevation to get the heart going. Rode to the dead end of the trail which was kind of different. Total ride was 13.7 miles, 1 hour and 28 min for a average pace of 9.3 mph.. Not bad, I am not a fast rider !!

    After the ride I changed clothes and hit the road heading to Fredrick Maryland. Google took my on I-29 north which very scenic and a nice ride for the start of the ride. However things got more and more congested the further north I went due to DC traffic I assume. I route also had numerous traffic light and this got frustrating. In addition to add the the frustration the check engine light appeared…. so I have that going for me…

    The motel I reserved in Frederick looked a little sketchy so I found a different motel near by and check in …. headed to a auto parts store to get the error code form the check engine and found to may be a sensor related to the crankshaft position. They reset the error and it did not come right back on so decided to carry on.

    Traveled to downtown Fredrick looking for a spot for drink after the day of travel and car trouble. Parking was a issue but eventually found a spot and a drink at Jo Jo’s. Once I found they has a full glutted free menu I ordered a check sandwich on a gluten free bun ! yeah

    The rest of the night was uneventful and happy to be in the air conditioning as the temps and humidity were still high.