Funk Bottoms Gravel Route

With a wide open schedule Saturday and the rest of the family traveling I planned for adventure.  First thought was to hit up a couple mountain bike trails I've never ridden, but the perpetually wet summer has put these trails out of commission.  While eating a late breakfast I stumbled on the idea of riding the Funk Bottoms Gravel metric century route.

Mid-day start for a long ride.

I quickly gathered up bike gear, food, and drink.  Of course the day I decide to do this route is hot and humid, perhaps the hottest of the year so far.  Good thing there would be at least a couple options for mid-ride refueling in Killbuck and Glenmont.

Humble is a good way to go. 

Out of the parking lot in Lakeville and straight up a hill then onto gravel.  It was an appropriate start for the route.  I planned to ride a steady pace and not push it unless needed.  After all, I had however much time I needed today.  I wanted to take some pictures and enjoy the ride.

Plenty of gravel and scenery along the way.

Oh, and blaring sun too.

Many of these roads I'd ridden before but never connecting together for 100km.  I was making quite a few map checks and stopping at most intersections to verify the route.  As I turned onto TR221 northeast of Glenmont I knew the fun ahead.  A fast, fast gravel down hill and a big climb up TR251, a one lane gravel "road".

Refill and refuel at the drivethru window in Killbuck.

Coming into Killbuck I was nearly out of water, so a stop was needed.  To prove to myself that I was not in a hurry, and because it sounded refreshing, I stopped for ice cream.  Never done that mid ride that I can remember. 

 Supporting Orrville by enjoying ice cream

from the dairy in the country.

Leaving Killbuck I got turned around and made a couple laps up and down Main St. to get my bearings.  As is often the case, it was really obvious once I figured it out.  The gravel kept coming south of Killbuck with some winding, secluded country roads that would occasionally open up to big views of the valley.

Lots of green to be seen.

And then it got really interesting... heading west on TR324, at the most southern part of the route, I was looking for a right hand turn to head north.  I spotted a driveway / access road but continued on in search of TR28.

Surely that's not the road.

I stopped for another map check and then a GPS map on my phone check.  Yeah, that was the "road" I had passed.  It wasn't much of a road, let's call it a trail.  Narrow, rutted, and full of puddles.  Fun ahead!

 Are you sure this is the way?

 Through the woods.

Now I understand. 

About a mile later the trail opened up to a township road.  I looked back and spotted a sign that made sense.  A Jeep or ATV would be needed to traverse that section, or a cross bike can get the job done too.

Now it was all about riding north.  Glenmont was the next stop where I stopped at the volunteer fire department and was thankful for a couple cold bottles of water.  The gravel climb out of Glenmont was a good one.  I think I've ridden all the paved ways out of Glenmont but this way was a good, uphill gravel grind.

Legs filling up with miles. 

The heat and sun and effort was starting to catch up with me.  Looking at the map I saw a strange loop instead of a straighter option north and I knew what that likely meant; some more climbing was coming.  I stopped at a little bridge over a stream to eat a PB&J while looking up the gravel hill I was about climb.

In the homestretch but the hills kept coming!

By this time I felt like I was going really slow on the hills but I was still cranking as necessary and keeping it together on the gravel.  In the last several miles my legs felt good and I was able to dial in some speed on the pavement. 

I remember thinking this was the final uphill,

but I don't think it was. 

One last map check and I thought I had the finish dialed.  Except, I failed to pay attention to an intersection where I should have stayed left and I went right.  By this time some cloud cover had rolled in and I didn't realize I was heading south instead of north, but three miles later I figured it out.  Ouch, this was not the time in the ride I wanted to be adding bonus miles.  I sucked down a GU and backtracked.

About 6-1/2 hours and 70 miles later I was back to the car.  It was a great, challenging, and scenic route.  Lots and lots of gravel.  Good time!

A victory sneer... ready for some food and recovery.

Mixed Surface Overcast Wandering

Overcast days are my favorite to get out for a ride.  There's nothing like an early spring, chilly, and sun-less Saturday morning to keep many inside while I'm out on the road.  This morning was such a morning and I rolled out the driveway unsure of where I was headed.

This way looks promising!

I did have it in mind to go see if Shreve Lake looks any different, as it was drained over the winter due to a dam issue.  There's no fun in just riding straight there so I ventured out Wilderness Road past the peat bogs.

Bonus: gravel.

A turn here, a turn there... I enjoyed the quiet morning and waved to a couple farmers out plowing fields.  They know spring is here even if it didn't feel like it this morning.  I stopped to retrieve some dried apricots and cashews from the pocket of my wool jersey and ate up while some sizeable horses looked on.

Pitstop.

Eventually I made it to Shreve Lake.  It really didn't look any different than the last time I swung by, which is to say it looks rather strange.  Interesting to see the structure that fish must have been hiding around.  I wonder how many fisherman, with future vision, have mapped out the shallows for when the water and fish are back.

Still a drained lake.

No sense in taking the direct route home either.  I rode up the hill into Shreve and headed for some more gravel.  Coming back through the swamps I was impressed by a pair of blue winged teal that flew right in front of me at shoulder height.

It was nice to be out and about on two wheels.

A Lap of the Amish Country Roubaix

The Holmes County Fairgrounds at 8:30AM was the meeting place.  From there Ryan and I did a lap of the Amish Country Roubaix gravel road race course.

Rolling countryside.

Leaving the parking lot, it was in the mid 30's and the skies were clear.  I declared a beautiful morning was ahead of us.  We enjoyed sunny skies and warming temperatures.

"Gravel" road with most of the gravel

washed away this winter.

As expected we frequently consulted the map to find our way.  There was a good selection of gravel/dirt roads with some good climbs thrown in.  None of the climbs were the "break your soul" kind of climbs like we've found on some other rides, but I'll bet racing this course is tough.

Off the beaten path.

A little past halfway of the 50km loop as we started up a short hill I heard some drivetrain grumbling.  I shifted a few times and it seemed to cease, until a short distance later when my chain disconnected.  I looked down to see a chain wrapped around my cranks with both ends draping on the road.  Oh, this is not good.  First thought; "uh-oh, I didn't bring my multi-tool with a chain tool on it!"

Upon inspection it seemed the quick link had un-linked.  After a futile search for the missing half of the quick link we decided Ryan would ride back to the car and I'd walk, roll, and sulk.  And then...

 Okay, not on the course but we really

wondered where this double track headed

so we had to explore a little bit.

Cresting the hill we had just come up I saw a Soupcan Jersey or two!  Jason offered up his multi-tool, the same model I left laying on my work bench, and my chain was fixed in short order.

Kevin, Sally, Jason.

We finished the ride with Jason, Shawn, and friends.  Soon encountering the longest climb of the route, a road climb. We strung out while headed up, then regrouped, and had a good ride to the finish.  It was a nice morning for a ride and I was glad to pedal the second half instead of walking it!

HoCo Gravel & Hills

Sunglasses were needed as we drove south to Big Prairie.  It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and a little warmer than I expected.  We parked and rolled out on a gravel ride.

Here are some colorful bikes!

There was no easy start as we were standing on the pedals a few moments after leaving the parking lot.  I appreciated the opportunity to get up to temperature right away and was unzipping my wind jacket ten minutes into the ride.

In short time the road turned to gravel and it was on.  The cross bikes and wider tires would be put to good use today.  So would our climbing legs.  The countryside was a rollin'.

I'd like this in my backyard.

There were some memorable, as in long and painful, climbs on our route.  Mountain bike gearing would have been helpful a couple times as would some added traction on the wet, dirt roads.

Heading up.

We made it as far south as Glenmont and had the choice to continue into Glenmont or ride further south.  It's all good, let's go further south.  We looped around and came into Glenmont.  During a food stop we suddenly realized the sun was getting low.  It was 4 o'clock!  It had taken us two hours to get this far and the route was half through.

TR212: not a real road.

It was time for plan B.  We abandoned the dirt roads and chose CR52 to travel north.  No more dirt but uphill all the way to Nashville.  The sun had lost its punch and we were chilly even while climbing, unusual.  It was a push through some final gravel sections back to the car.  We were drained.  Good timing, it was 5pm and sunset near.  Great ride!

Last of November

The turkey and stuffing are well digested and this afternoon was time to get out for a ride.  On my last, and first ride, with the Black Mountain Cycles bike I thought the handlebars were a touch high.  Today I lowered the handlebars 15mm before heading out.  I also strapped a super blinky to the seatpost.

Not a crash, just testing the ice. 

It was nearly 40 degrees when I left the house.  The sun was quickly dropping in the sky and I had a feeling the temperature was about to follow.  It's been below freezing the past couple days and when I got down to the swamps I found an icy landscape.

A setting sun. 

There were several hunters parked down in the wildlife area.  I passed by a father and son headed for the woods.  "Have a good hunt!" I yelled.  "We're gonna' try!" the father yelled back.  Before dusk I left the swamps, climbing Clark Road to the east.  As the sun began to set I heard end of day gunshots from the woods.

After climbing south on James Road I reached Harrison and turned west.  A couple rollers kept me warm.  The air temperature was dropping and the sun was about gone for the day.  I stopped alongside the road for what I thought would be one last picture.

Sunset from the county line.

Coming around an uphill bend on County Line Road I looked up to see a flock of birds flying over in formation.  "That would make a good picture" I thought as I ripped my glove off my hand with my teeth to retrieve the camera from my pocket.  I got my picture and returned the camera to my pocket.  The hill didn't allow me to put my glove back on as I needed to tend to stand up pedaling.  My hand was frozen by the time I did get my glove back on and it took a mile to warm up again.

Formation flying. 

About this time I realized it was smart to have put the blinky light on the back, but I was about to need a headlight up front.  The shortest route home was back through the gravel in the swamps, no need to twist my arm for this option.  I had to drop my lightly tinted glasses to my nose and look over top the lenses to see where I was going.  A pothole caught me by surprise and I nearly lost the handlebars from my grip but kept hold.  Then, a couple miles of road and I was home, ready to stand in front of the wood stove.

Dark came fast.

Gravel & Hills Around Loudonville

I always like making plans for a weekend ride mid-week.  Then, the last few days of the week there is some fun to anticipate.  Ryan and I made plans to head down to Loudonville and do a gravel road ride, the same one we did last spring.

Cross bikes this year.

We left the mountain bike parking lot and headed north on SR3 to Wally Road.  Much like last year I started out a little cold, but we remembered a good hill off Wally Road that would warm us up soon.

Bouncing down a gravel road.

The day was overcast and breezy.  It didn't feel like spring, more like a warmish winter day.  There was little vehicle traffic to be encountered on the roads we pedaled.

Going up.

The rain of the previous week founds its way to the rivers around Loudonville.  We had a couple bridge crossings and the brown water was churning away, high on the banks.

Bikes on a bridge.

After some good riding we ended up down by the Mohican Wilderness course.  We started up the gravel road climb past the Tree Frog Canopy place.  I'm not sure how I didn't remember this climb from our ride of this route last year.  Perhaps it was not too big of a deal on a low gear mountain bike, but this year on my not-geared-for-climbing cross bike it was a grunt fest.  As Ryan later described it, "each pedal stroke was a one rep max effort."  I was proud to make it up without walking, without falling over due to low speed, and without cramping up or exploding.

Last sight before chuggin' up a hill... slowly.

The last effort of the day was a punchy but short climb past Landoll's Castle and we were soon back to the parking lot, satisfied with the climbing we put in our legs.

Beavers Spotted

It was a nice afternoon to head out for a ride beneath sunny skies.  I rode west into the wind and headed across the Funk bottoms.

Abandoned house on Funk Road.

There's nothing like some good 'ol sunshine to make cool temperatures feel more comfortable.  It's not the effect of the sun heating you up, it just seems easier to be out in the cold with the sun shining down.

Sun behind, Amish haystacks ahead.

It's been a while since I rode across the Funk bottoms on Wilderness Road.  Sporting the cross bike and cross tires it was a good day to check out this dirty gravel road.  There was the ever present peat bog farming operations taking place alongside the road, and I noticed a new "pond" up ahead.

The water was frozen over, but I spotted a couple creatures out on the ice.  I reached for my camera with one hand while squeezing a brake lever with the other. Unfortunately my brake honked and two beavers wasted no time diving into a hole in the ice!  They were within 75 yards of where I stopped.  That would have been a cool picture.  Oh well, it was neat to see them fairly close.

Wilderness Road, pre-beaver sighting.

Opposite Direction

The weather was expected to bring warmer temperatures today and wind from the north.  I mapped out a ride heading north and back for several hours of riding this afternoon.  On the way home from church I noticed the occasional flag pole we drove by showed wind from the south / southeast; time for a change of route.

Can you girls check the weather on that thing?

 Ryan and I headed down to Millbrook Road and worked our way southeast toward Shreve.  The temperature was warm, mid 40's, and the wind was in our face.

Shreve Lake was frozen.

 

The skies were overcast.

 

We road south into Holmes County and found some township roads to pedal eastward.  The chip and seal surface frequently changed to gravel and mud.  I thought we were on a good streak of gravel when my map and the road in front of us did not agree.

But my map shows an outlet.

 A slight reroute brought us back north and we rode around Shreve again before taking a few gravel roads through the swamps.  We made a few detours on the way back home to maximize ride time.  Nice day to be out!

Only a few hills on the ride today.

 

After Ryan headed for home Daniel asked if we could go for a bike ride.  Of course!  I finished spraying off the road spray, wiped the bike down, and Daniel and I rode some laps up and down the road.

Making the red bike go!

Motivated or Not?

Hey, I should head out for a ride when the kids take their nap this afternoon.  It looks sunny out there, but I bet it's cold.  What's the temperature? Oh yeah, the thermometer in the back window quit working.  What does Weather.com say?

Sunny, 30 degrees, 11 mph wind, feels like 20.

Aw, that's colder than I thought it would be.  Maybe I'll just pass on a ride, I've been to the gym at lunch the past three days in a row anyhow.

But... if I layered up good I should be able to stay warm.  I've done it before.  I could ride down onto the gravel roads in the swamps again, that would be scenic with the snow on the ground and ice around.  It's really bright out, but I could swap my glasses over to the grey, polarized lenses.

I know it's muzzleloader hunting weekend and there will probably be a bunch of hunters down in the swamps.  Maybe it's better not to go, and it's nice and warm in here.

The kids are in bed for naps.  Quick to the basement, there's no bad weather only bad clothing choices!

Heavy socks, heavy tights, shoes, over boots, base layer t-shirt, base layer long sleeve shirt, wool jersey, wind jacket, heavy hat, heavy gloves, pump the tires, swap the sunglass lenses... I'm getting hot in here.  Water bottle filled, snacks and cell phone packed.  Should I take the camera?  Sure, I will probably only pull it out if something looks interested, don't want frozen fingers.

Roll out!

About 35 pictures later... here are some highlights:

Nice sky.  Get moving to stay warm.

 Snow covered and icy in the swamps.

 It's a bit nippy out, but I'm warm.

 The roads are clear, just full of cinders.

 Heading back into the swamp,

having more fun than I look.

 Slippery fun.  I was never too cold.

Post ride hot chocolate and snack after a

great ride.  Why did I try to talk myself out of it?