Extending Ryan's Driveway

Hey, now we don't have to ride through gravel when leaving the driveway on road bikes!

"Driving" Ryan's tractor.

Fish Fingers

Smell my fingers!

Three to Mohican

With Uncle Chris in town, we made plans with Ryan for a ride at Mohican.  Hot and humid describes the conditions.  We parked at the main trail head and pedaled some pavement to the second trail head.  It was a sweaty, and fun ride back to car.

Chris on the road.

 

Ryan on the road.

 

I packed raisins.

3 Years Old

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Cruisin around the school

It's been overdue for Daniel and I to head over to the high school for some riding.  We loaded our bikes into and onto the new car and drove around the corner for some bikin' fun in the sun.

Ready to shred on the Strider bike.

We rode around the school grounds, going over curbs and down sidewalks.  The sprinkler was setup at one of the practice football fields and Daniel made it a priority to stop and see the sprinkler.

He didn't want to get wet, just see it up close.

After some more riding about we stopped for a snack.  Daniel said we needed "to get some energy back."  Proper fueling is important while riding.

Daniel getting his energy back.

 Having fun in the sun, riding bikes.

After some more riding we packed up and headed home.  It's fun to be out riding bikes with Daniel!

Our bikes.

Elmo Trail Crew

 Daniel looks ready to do some trail work.

Man Down

For the last several weeks I've been taking my mountain bike to work with me in the back of the car.  Beginning on Tuesday I have bike and gear with me in hopes of getting out at a decent time and making it to the Knob.  I'm not sure that I ever made it over there on Tuesday, but I kept my stuff in the car and was able to ride either Wednesday or Thursday as my work schedule allowed.

After riding the Knob several weeks in a row I was starting to feel better connected with the course and felt like I was riding pretty good today.  As the lap went on I felt progressively faster.  After the Furnace and before getting back into the heavier woods I looked ahead and saw a banked corner.  I thought to myself "oh, I'm gonna rip that corner".  Problem is there was a little turn just before getting to the banker and I leaned too hard and lost the front wheel on some dusty trail.  Wham!  I was skidding down the trail head first in the ol' superman position.  I jumped up and looked at myself to find a bloody elbow, no ripped clothing, and not much else.  But, the elbow was leaking pretty good and was full of dirt.

Without much more than a pause I jumped back on the bike and followed the course, a bit slower, to get back to my car.  Oh man, brand new car and I'm dripping dirty blood.  I asked a guy in the parking lot if he had any first aid supplies, but all he had was a roll of paper towels.  After packing my bike up I was about to mummify my arm with paper towels when I looked in my front seat and remembered the stop I had made on the way to the Knob.  KT had asked me to pick up diapers for Ellen... perfect!  I strapped on an infant size 0 diaper on my elbow and drove home without concern over staining my new interior.

 In addition to a first aid kit, I'm going to keep several diapers

in the car for such situations.  It worked well!

 Ouch.

 Gross.

On the Road Again

Another hot, hot day.  Met Ryan on the road for a loop down around Fredericksburg.  Between the heat, humidity, and not riding tons lately we were both beat when we parted ways to head back home.  I ran out of water coming through the swamps on Messner Road, so I slowed down and took some pictures while cruising.

I don't call it "the swamps" for nothin'.

 It's a long, flat road.

Babies in Helmets

Daniel, a couple weeks old.

Ellen, a couple weeks old.

the Wilderness

Today we drove past the campgrounds and people tubing down the river on Wally Road to the Mohican Wilderness area trailhead.  It was unbelievably hot in the sun as we geared up for a ride.

Pointed towards the climb.

 

It was the first time this year we've ridden the Wilderness course.  The opening mile of the ride is uphill, supposedly the longest mountain bike climb in Ohio.  After the climb it's curvy singletrack with a couple rocky sections.  The loop is not too long, maybe 7 miles?  At the end of the day, in my opinion, it's not different enough from riding at the state park to make it worth the extra drive.  Once or twice a year is all the more often I can see visiting the Wilderness Course.