let's ride!

As last winter's cabin fever was making everyone eager to get outside, Dylan asked if we could plan a spring adventure.  I asked him what he had in mind.  He thought about it, and decided he wanted to take an all-day bike ride on an entire section of a nearby bike trail.  I'm not sure he realized the scope of his adventure proposal.  The round trip mileage of that bike trail section would be around 80-90 miles... too much for this Dad in one day!  (And, too much for the kid in one day, too!)

I figured it would push us hard, but we could probably do half that mileage in a day, since this is a flat, paved Rails-to-Trails bikeway.  So, I expanded his adventure idea and turned it into an overnight bike trip.  I researched the northern end of the trail and made contact with some locals in the area, with the goal of finding someone with a patch of grass where two guys could pitch a tent overnight.  I found the perfect location and a very gracious host for our father-son adventure.

By the time we put the details together, winter and spring were past, and we were into early summer.  June was a very busy month, but I had a target weekend on the calender, and as it approached, the forecast was slightly on the hot side, but otherwise perfect.

Dylan... let's ride!

We used Benny's trailer to haul our tent, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, food and water... lots of water!

And, we're off!

Some humorous trail graffiti at a road crossing

Ever the fisherman, Dylan had to pack a compact fishing pole.

We took a fishing break about 11 miles into the ride... here's his prize catch!

Lunch break

Trestle over Rock Creek

Rest break... one of many

Even on a bikeway we saw examples of Ohio's state flower... the orange cone

Trail completed!  The northern terminus is just 3 miles from Lake Erie

We rode the extra 3 miles so that we could say we rode our bikes to Lake Erie

After a Taco Bell stop, camp is set

Like father, like son

Dylan's younger back allowed him to sleep in later than I... until the tent heated up around 8:45

Heading home

Water... lots of water!

When we finished the ride (tired and sore), we had completed 92 miles of riding in two days!  It was a blast and I enjoyed the one-on-one time with my son.  I asked Dylan if he wanted to do it again next year.  His answer:  NO! 

A few days later, however, when the saddle sore diminished, he changed his mind and said, "let's do it again next year!"

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Author's note:  This blog post was written as a catch-up post and retro-published to fill some blogging gaps.