Shed Building Plans

Today I decided to clean the cobwebs off my titanium fred bike and take it out for its first ride on my local trail.  Some air in the tires and a squirt of fresh lube for the chain and I was on my way.  Up at the northern end of the B & O in Mansfield, Ohio workers were busy building a new bridge at North Lake Park.

Ive been thinking for a while now about treating myself to a new pair of cycling shoes.  My old ones are probably fifteen years old and while they are still serviceable Im in the mood for a change so Ill just relegate my old ones to mountain bike duty where Im sure theyll carry on for years to come.

I hit up my friendly bike shop for a pair of their house brand Bontragers.  I dont need any fancy Sidis these work just fine for a lot less dineros.

My old ones are brown and tan colors and I wanted to color coordinate a little better with my black stretchy uniform I always wear while out on the road bike.  I like shoes with laces and these fit the bill perfect.  As an added bonus the new shoes have a single velcro strap at the top to secure the laces and keep everything cinched down tight.

I was feeling like going fast so that is what I did today.  By the time I had around 24 miles down I was carrying a 17.6 mph average speed.  That was surprising because my season is just getting underway and that is a great average for me period let alone in the early spring.  I kept at it and enjoyed the nice weather but the fun was soon to end when I turned around to head back north at the bottom of the trail.

In my exuberance I went out a little to hard during the start of my ride.  The last third heading up the slight incline of the Clear Fork Valley and into a steady headwind turned out to be my time to suffer.  I had to struggle to maintain 15 mph at times and dipped to a crawl of 13 mph in some of the open fields with no tree cover to at least slow the wind.

   

The average only dropped a little by the time I made it back to my starting point and I feel satisfied with this first good hard effort on the skinny tire bike.

Spring is in full swing here in Ohio so when dawn broke cool and clear I knew I was going for a recumbent ride.  I decided to ride the B & O Trail which is my local trail and a staple in this blog.  Early on it was cool and almost fair to say cold.  I wore long tights with my jacket and even a thin helmet liner.  Spring has been a bit late here in these parts but things are finally shaping up.  Over the last couple weeks weve had a load of rain and the trees have all sprouted their greenery.  Next to the crisp days of autumn it is my favorite time for bike riding.

Ive been up and down this bike trail at least a hundred times but I never stopped to read this sign posted along the trail in the small town of Bellville, Ohio.  Today I wasnt interested in racing the clock so I pulled over to check it out.

 Thats pretty cool.  The United States was only 32 years old at that point. Ohio was indeed the wild frontier.

The log cabin is not in existence anymore but I bet the view out front of the McClure brothers cabin looked a lot like this 200 years ago:

I continued on from north to south covering all 18 miles of the trail as it warmed up and I could shed my extra layers.  When I rolled into Butler at the end of the trail it was too nice of a morning to just turn around so I decided on the fly to add a loop and tour through the Mohican State Park which lies about 7 miles to the east from Butler.

I know a route that uses seldom traveled rural roads so I can avoid the busy state highway that leads to the park.  For a short while the country lanes follow the Clear Fork valley and the steadily flowing river.  

Within a mile or two from the end of the bike trail I get to the hill country.  My recumbent bike climbs just fine and I actually like the experience pushing off the firm seat back putting 100% of my effort into the cranks.  The loop circles around to the north of the park.  The views are nice.

Eventually the Clear Fork River flows into Pleasant Hill Lake which was formed when the Army Corps of Engineers built a damn.  

The level of the lake is maintained at the damn and excess water is directed through a spillway and continues on its path through the valley.  A glimpse of the water can be seen just above my bike in the picture.  From this point on the stream is called the Black Fork.  It flows roughly east through the Mohican-Memorial State Forest for a few miles until its confluence with the Mohican River at Loudenville, Ohio.

In the above photo is the pump house and spillway.  In the background is the end of the 850 acre lake.  Continuing on the loop took me into the state park and down into the gorge along the park road.  Ive rode in this area and photographed the natural beauty of the gorge from my mountain bike on the 25 mile single track circuit.  It is fantastic on a knobby tire bike.