Big Bird's Adventures

Ohio should go quickly, but Pennsylvania will be very hard, and I have 3 zero days built in so I can hang with my buddy and his family Larry Butler (Drew and Melanie) as well as any of my backpacking/camping brothers that can take time away from their own lives to share time with me. The closer I get to Pittsburgh, where I will meet Larry, the details of our journey together have started to mature. His son Drew will support us by carrying our gear so that Larry doesn’t have to 1) find gear to carry his gear on his bike and 2) worry about anything other than riding a bike with me for four days. 2) is a large enough task that I am sure Larry lost a lot of sleep worrying about as I got closer. The first day of Ragbrai I made an effort to ride with Pete for a fair part of the day and asked him to get in touch with Larry and assure him that I can ride slow enough so that we can enjoy the ride together.

August 4th, Day 49 Paris OH to Beaver Creek OH – It would seem that I did not write anything in my Strava post for this day or the following day. I didn’t even post to Instagram for those days either, or as I now look at my history in both of those social apps I see nothing. Zippo. How unlike me.

Let’s go with the short version of events. I was bound for Beaver Creek Ohio which is a suburb on the East side of Dayton Ohio that lies closer to Dayton than it does to Columbus. I have places to stay in both Beaver Creek and Columbus, after which I will have two more days to West Virginia. The road ahead was very rural until I hit the Western suburbs of Dayton which blended seamlessly with the West side of Dayton. This is not where Ohio spends a lot of money. The roads were in need of repair, and though I did eventually gain access to a bike path, it was not well maintained. Very much like the South side of Chicago and really any city that marginalizes it’s poorest residents into “areas that can be managed” poorly. Dayton is another city hit hard by the migration of industrial jobs to lower wage countries with little else to fall back on.

Eventually the bike path found its way to Wolf Creek and followed this to its confluence with the Miami River. There it was a couple of crossings and eventually then riding upstream against the Mad River until I broke away from the River and onto the Creekside Trail which took me all the way to an intersection that allowed me to drop down to Mary Beth’s place. Mary Beth is the youngest sibling to my buddy Larry Butler and she graciously offered to host me for the evening. She wouldn’t be there when I arrived but she left me with instructions for dealing with the many dogs she was caring for. I believe she had one in her garage because he/she didn’t socialize well with the others. Inside there was a new foster that was still getting its bearings and another dog that has been with MB for some time. I believe there was also a cat running around. Inside the house was the most elaborate partitioning system I have ever seen in a home where MB could give plenty of room to any fosters, and keep them safely separated until they adjust.

I hadn’t seen MB for some number of years that was much greater than 0, and I was uncomfortable just being there by myself so I kind of setup outside in the shade of her backyard, a garden backyard that had been transformed under MB’s care into a very pleasant space. A variety of trees and shrubs as well as lights and wind chimes created a restful space where I sat and enjoyed the shade and a beer until she rolled in from work around 4. By that time I had gone inside and following instructions used the guest bathroom shower to get cleaned up and into my comfort clothes. We sat outside for awhile catching up until it was time to eat and I invited her out for dinner. I was hoping for a authentic Italian meal like I had in Rapid City SD, but Beaver Creek Ohio seemed limited to the establishments that were more glorified pizza joints. It was a good meal and I was satisfied. Afterwards we continued catching up outside in her backyard until it was bedtime and that is how the day ended. Day 49 Strava, Relive.cc

August 5th, Day 50 Beaver Creek OH to Upper Arlington OH – Again I didn’t write anything into my strava post, and there was no Instagram post for this day, so I will have to recall it from memory. On the plus side it would be a planned “short” day today as it was my plan to spend the night with Blake Kaplan and his family in Upper Arlington, a Columbus suburb on the West side. I reached out to Blake at least a month back when I agreed to Larry’s suggestion that rather then seek a Northern route home, I should route through Pittsburgh and he would join me. Knowing that this option would take me through Blake’s neighborhood I reached out to him then and asked if we could get together and he replied very quickly “Absolutely!”. “Who the fuck is Blake Kaplan?” you ask. In 2021 I took a group of friends to the Weminuchi Wilderness in Southwest Colorado just outside of Durango. The Weminuchi is one of the largest wildernesses in the lower 48 and I am told hosts a geographic point that is the furthest from a paved road of any other geographic point in the lower 48. You can read about that adventure here, and that is where Blake Kaplan comes into the story. On our last day while we were awaiting the train from Durango, two other adventurers were also waiting, and I struck up a conversation with Kris Warner who was buddies with Blake. Kris was living in Durango with his wife Susannah and Blake was a buddy and they had been in the Chicago Basin for the weekend to summit the 4 14ers that were reachable. We ended up lunching at the same place in Silverton, and later met again downtown in Durango. We exchanged Instagram and Facebook contact information and that is how I met Blake Kaplan and he agreed to host me if I wanted a short day. I didn’t need too much time to get there as most of the way was bike path that I covered fairly quickly.

I awoke and hung out with Mary Beth awhile longer before I packed up and retraced my steps back to the bike path. Along the way I passed a cyclist in a recumbant and since that occurred on a hill where recumbants do not shine at all, I gave him a wave and a greeting and proceeded on my merry way eventually dropping down onto the bike path and heading East towards Columbus. I think my day would be about 50 miles, most of which would be on bike paths. I was moving along at a decent clip when I suddenly realized I was not alone. While recumbants do not shine on hills they do shine on the flats and since the bike path was following a creek, it was fairly flat and this gentleman made the effort to catch me and we rode along together until he was about 25 miles out. I don’t recall his name, but I did enjoy riding and talking with him and it made the mile erode away quickly. He turned around and I was alone again.

I don’t think I touched much actual roadway the entire way. I think one bike path transitioned into the next and it was only in some towns along the way where I wasn’t on a bike path. Even at the very end I was still mostly on bike path until I got to Upper Arlington and left the path to find Blake and Tiffany’s home. There was a water main replacement project in progress on their street so there were some detours that weren’t known to RideWithGps but I found their home and Blake pulled in not long afterwards. I believe I shared my location with him so he could track me and judge when I was about to arrive. I arrived early afternoon and got cleaned up and into my comfort clothes and we went out to get a late lunch and to catch up.

His wife Tiffany arrived at the end of her work day, and before the day was over their two youngest children, Cohen and Dylan came in as well. Cohen was older, and had broken his arm doing something, but had managed to still go on an adventure with his Dad to The Enchantments in Washington. Blake had managed to score a permit for 2 and they jumped on it. It was very nice hanging out with the Kaplan’s. I can’t remember really what we did that evening. It could be just chatted and ordered out and when it was all done I retreated to the basement where the guest room lay. On the walls down there were two frames. In one was Blake’s singlet from when he wrestled varsity for The Ohio State Buckeyes. I want to say that he achieved All American status as a Buckeye because I believe he mentioned that and a decent targeted google search found this, so I guess I remembered correctly! The other frame, and I didn’t ask Blake or Tiffany about it, contained a leotard from when his oldest daughter Caitlyn had been a gymnast and her team won the state title. The Kaplan’s took very good care of me. Thank you both. Day 50 Strava, Relive.cc

August 6, Day 51 Upper Arlington OH to Zanesville OH – I had to call an audible with about 17 miles left to ride. I was routed off a nice rail trail only to be dumped onto a busy road with minimal shoulder and drivers who gave 0 fucks for my safety. I saw an alternative however it would be longer, and it had some climbs with teeth, but that was better than inconsiderate mutherfuckers behind the wheel. It started out fine. Pleasant Valley Road. It was pleasant for awhile until the valley part started to roll up and down. The further into it I got is when the big steep teethy parts began to bite back. I had a choice at one point and I think it would have been more valley out to 40. That is US 40 as in the Old National Road, and I knew that would be busy even though it showed a decent shoulder. I elected to finish on Pine Crest road, and I think “Crest” says it all. It required one final steep biting climb, which I walked up, and then once on the “Crest” it was rolling for the next 4 miles until I reached the other side and began the last descent. I still had about 4 miles along a creek road, and the traffic wasn’t bad on that, but I had to stop with 2.4 left, as I was close to nothing left. Downed a protein bar within ear shot of a young woman and her boyfriend having an argument across the street. I gather it was the same argument that goes on between young women and their shit boyfriends across the country. He sounded adamant that he wasn’t going to do what she wanted and she finally left.

The final 2.4 accomplished I checked into the Travel Inn in downtown Zanesville and collapsed on the bed for 45 minutes before I showered and made my way to a Carrabean Comfort Food place a few blocks away where Duane, the proprietor hooked me up with delish food and his own homemade ginger beer. Yum.

I awoke at 6:15 and dressed quickly. It was so nice to use a bidet again. So clean. Upstairs Blake made me some breakfast before we departed on a tour of The Ohio State University campus. We went down Woody Hayes drive past the “Shoe” where the Buckeyes have won many victories, even V’s over my beloved Nittany Lions :(. We did mirror lake, and we also rode through the engineering area where I recall there was a reception after Alyson’s (aka D1) graduation all those years ago. Finally I let Blake know that it was time to get moving and he dropped me at the Oletangy River trail which would be my route for the next 2 hours as it wound North on the West side until it hung a Ralph and started East. Eventually I was dumped into Worthington where it seemed like I started to climb for a very very long time. Not a steep climb, but a long series of steps that never seemed to end. It did end, but not before my legs started to question my destination.

I stopped at a brewpub that opened at 11 to chow and have a light beer as it was getting a wee warm, and nothing makes it cooler like a wee beer. That was New Albany, and I still had 51 miles to ride!! Maybe the 51 was from Worthington, I can’t recall for sure, but I knew it was to be an 80+ day after all.

Finally around Alexandria I was routed onto a rail trail and there I stayed for a long time until the point where this log begins. That trail, at one point was called The Pan Handle trail, which is the name of a trail in the Pan Handle of WV that I will see on Friday. Haven’t a clue if it is the same or not. I suspect not. (There are plans to link the two Pan Handle trails together, but unfortunately for me that was far in the future.)

Zanesville as it turns out is where my good friend Jim Kirby is from. Not sure if there are any Kirbys here any longer, Jim didn’t offer to set me up at anyone’s place, but Jim hasn’t lived here in a couple of generations. It’s a bit of a tired town, could be many of the source jobs are long gone, and the city scrapes by. I am enjoying it though. (I found out later that the wife of my first office mate at AT&T, Very Tenner Welker, currently lives in Zanesville, and maybe that is where she is from originally. Both Steve and Vera were Ohio people when Steve was hired by AT&T and brought to Monmouth County to work at the Bell Labs location where I met him)

Tomorrow it will be another 80+ day to get to Wheeling where I plan on an old downtown hotel. Not sure how much elevation there will be but when I think of WV I think of mountains, but I am sure the pan handle is just hilly, and of course it will be the first crossing of the Ohio River. Yes, I will cross the Ohio at least 3 more times. Day 51 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

August 7, Day 52 Zanesville OH to Wheeling WV – Super hard day today.

This is an update 3 days after the event. When I say hard, I mean one of the hardest days ever on the bike, and I have done some pretty hard days on the bike. I am not sure I ever suffered as badly as i did on The Triple Bypass ride going up Vail Pass, but this was pretty close. The difference being that in my legs now is a lot of miles, and a lot of the ability to just keep going. No lactose overload, but just general fatigue both physical and mental. “Oh for crying out loud, another hill?” Crikey!! I was lucky that at some point the route started to follow a creek, and though there were at least a few deviations away from and retuning to the creek, the route was mostly flat in that area, and I was able to pedal along in a normal cadence. Getting there though was a Coney Island Roller Coaster ride of epic proportions. Once again, getting up a hill doesn’t put you “On top” of a ridge. No, you only top a hump and it goes right back down again into the next hump, which more often than not is a bigger hump. Double Crikey!!

This all started right out of the gate in Zanesville. I hit a convenience store because I was too lazy to climb the hill to the Cracker Barrel, which I could see from my gas station perch. That is a decision that I now regret as it was a long time before I saw anything again. That would be Barnesville at around mile 53. Anyway, I was on a reasonably safe road with low traffic when I came to a right turn and there were 3 indicators right away that made me audible the route. 1) “Turn right onto State Route…” anything state route means trucks and narrow shoulder if any; 2) A giant semi went by hauling ass; 3) the “Hey you are going off the road” rumbles ate up more than half the piece of shit thin shoulder that was there, so I looked and found a shorter route to Barnesville called Putney Ridge Road. We all know what “Ridge” means and in the context of the Ohio Valley, it means you are on a rolling ridge, but it was shorter, and I knew it would be a LOT less traffic, and it was. It was however pretty damn hard, and it was still pretty damn long, and there were more than a fair share of “I am not pedaling up that” 15%+ sharp biting climbs that just added to the time it would take me to get to Wheeling.

After about an amount of time that seemed like “forever” I rode into Barnesville. I believe something organized was on the horizon as there was elevator Muzak baring from street pole mounted speakers along the street I was on, and I stopped at some bar/eatery for food and beverage to load up before tackling the rest of the route. Lady bartender took care of me, recognizing my need for calories, and recommending the apple pie with ice cream. Yum. Glad I did too because I would need every single calorie that day.

So, I was on 147 for awhile and then that turned into 149 when it finally hit a creek that I was able to relax on, but I was into a big day already, and I knew 149, following the creek would go all the way to the Ohio River, however upon investigation there was nothing but unknown highway to get to Wheeling, and so I went with the “Route” which meant an ascent of almost 400+ feet to get up onto yet another “ridge” for another hour of suffering before I descended into Bridgeport. I had to dismount and walk the first 1/4 mile which was dodgy as fuck because of the hidden turns, but it could not be ridden and there was no alternative. Eventually I was able to mount and ride again, but as was the case all day, there is no real top ridge. Just up and down steep grades until I finally got above Wheeling proper and could see that I was there. As steep as my ascent was the descent seemed and felt steeper. I rode the brakes all the way down hoping there was enough pad left to maintain control. At the bottom there was a sharp left and then a right (there always is) and through a very tired Bridgeport I rode until it was time to cross the Ohio River for the first time on this trip. Out of Ohio and into West Virginia. Crikey!!!

I crossed onto Wheeling Island, a low developed part of the city that has seen more floods than Noah. There was a structure along my route showing the levels of all the floods for the last 100 years. Why there was anything on this island was amazing to me, but there it all was. Off 40 I went to 12th st where there was a bridge to the main part of wheeling and was closed to vehicles. Across I found a Wheeling that has not yet recovered from whatever flu it has. It’s Hey Day, long in the past, there wasn’t even a place to stay downtown. I had to ride further to a Hampton Inn another 4 miles inland that I would have to retrace on the morrow. Poor Wheeling. 90 miles, and I was very very tired. Glad i had a hotel!! Day 52 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

August 8, Day 53 Wheeling WV to Marshal Twp PA – Another Long Day.

Marshall Township? Why Marshall Township? Because This is where the last person I rode across the country with in 1981 lives. Frank and his wife Lisa built a house here and moved back to the greater Pittsburgh area where two devoted Steelers fans can live in Steeler country and they offered to put me up for as long as I wanted. Maybe I made that last part up, but I am kind of on a schedule, and I will stay here through Sunday when I will transfer down to Pittsburgh proper and meet up with Larry and Drew.

Wheeling was nice and cool in the morning when I departed the Hampton Inn. I preferred the McClure downtown, but a red sign on the building declared the building unsafe, and whether that was due to the recent flood or not, I do not know, but seeing as it was listed as a Wyndham business and Wyndham didn’t offer it up in a search, and no one answered the phone because it was disconnected, I had to move to the outskirts of the city where there were some hotels. My legs still tired from the efforts of the previous day wanted to avoid climbs as much as possible so I opted for a longer ride back to downtown to avoid the elevation barrier between me and the Hertiage Trail.

Wheeling looks like it wants to be a better city and make some kind of a comeback, and there are a lot of improvements, but the fact that it still floods and will flood again, doesn’t help its cause. I rode through some very tired neighborhoods to get around the obstacles and through a downtown devoid of humans walking around. No places to stop in, just right through to the Heritage Trail and North on the East side of the Ohio River.
If there is one thing I know (and I know a few things) its that Pennsylvania is a hilly fucking state with the Appalachian Plateau running SW-NE which has all the approach hills on both sides, 4 major rivers, and we know that rivers cut into terrain, and all the feeder streams and creek drainages do their part as well. In the East you have the Pocono Mountains which is still a sub range of the Appalachians, and is part of a larger local region called The Endless Mountains. See @hiking_mitch or @endless_mountains for any post on the beauty contained in this part of the country. Mitch gets out there and explores it all.

So back to my day. PA hilly, so rail trail along river very good. All the way up the panhandle it goes, but just not far enough. Yet. My goal was The Pan Handle trail which goes right to Pittsburgh, but the various rivers cut into trails don’t make it that far and in Wellsburg the trail came to an end dumping me onto WV 2 to get to Follansbee. That wasn’t actually so bad until the shoulder disappeared and the giant hill closed in on the road forcing a narrowing of the roadway. I was lucky traffic was low, and no trucks and made it to Follansbee without issue. This just cemented my resolve to not audible and leave the route, so a right turn off the river and the climbing began. As expected the climbing went on and on and continued after a left. A little bit of traffic on the climb, however on the next segment was where the fracking fucking trucks began. As bad as fracking is for people’s groundwater the amount of heavy truck traffic that operation puts on small local roads has an enormous effect on the conditions of those roads. Thank you not Dick fucking Cheney you fucking asshole.

I didn’t have much longer up there but still after turning left on that road I was still not relieved of more oscillating climbs, one of which I climbed off the bike to walk, but finally I reached the downhill that took me back to drainage level where I found The Pan Handle Trail and I knew the next 40 miles would be long mild false flat ups and downs. A false flat up does eventually wear into your resolve as you are encouraged to push a bigger gear until the lactate failure in your muscle tissues forces you to slow or select and easier gear and spin more.

The winds have been out of the E in general for the last 10 days. Ever since that storm moved through that took me off trail early my first day out of Chicago, and so in places where the trail was wide open, there was wind to be battled as well. Fortunately the open areas were few, but passing through took a toll. At some point I finally reached the connector to The Montour Trail which would take me down to Coraopolis PA, a white clay gravel trail that I had investigated years ago during the Covid lockdown when I visited my in-laws for a week. I was familiar with this trail and what came after with regards to locale. My in-laws lived NW of Pittsburgh since the 70’s and I have been visiting since the 80’s so all the landmarks were known to me and provided a warm sense of comfort. Home.

My worry over riding 51 to the Sewickley bridge was overblown and it was a non event. Sewickley was very Sewanky with a thriving downtown business district, newly paved roads and very nice homes. Money lives in this town (As do many Steelers, Pirates and Penguins). I was able to avoid 65 and just on the edge of Ambridge I turned onto Big Sewickley Creek Road aka the Red Belt which would take me to Frank and Lisa’s. No drama other than a “slide” which closed a small section of road that had a detour that I knew would suck rotten eggs. I decided to proceed and see if it was passable and there was no one working and it was passable so I passed through. Yea!!

I will take another Zero day Saturday and then ride down into the city as mentioned. Day 53 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

August 10, Day 55 Marshal Twp PA to Pittsburgh PA – The debate on this day was whether to ride into Pittsburgh or to ask Frank to drive me down. It seems like a no brainer, but there was a part of me that wanted to ride it, arguing with the other part of me that said “Take the ride”.

I knew it would be an easy ride if I just went straight downtown, however Larry and Drew would not arrive until after 3ish, so if I was to ride, i would leave such that the heat of the day was not a factor yet, and if I added Mt Washington then I could probably hang out on top until the Butler’s arrived and meet them then. I decided to ride.

I rode out of Frank and Lisa’s place and retraced my route all the way back to Coraopolis on the other side of the Ohio River where I rode further South and crossing a bridge out onto Neville Island for a long stretch until I crossed again back to the SW side of the Ohio before reaching McKee’s Rocks where I crossed the Ohio again to the NE side and took that down to the North side of the Allegheny River confluence. What I should have done was cross the Allegheny into Pittsburgh proper and then cross the Monongahela River and then climb up to Mount Washington, but noooooo. I decided to cross the river on the West End Bridge and little did I know that 1) I had to climb stairs to get up to the bike walkway, and 2) I did not need to descend stairs on the other side. When I crossed to the other side there were a couple of women with a megaphone extolling Trump very loudly and though I hate that Mother Fucker as well, they were loud and I was trying to get away from them but alas, I was supposed to cross the busy roadway right where they were so I had to climb back up those fucking stairs again. Crikey!!. I gave them the thumbs up and when the crossing signal favored me I followed the not so obvious path to gain access to Greanleaf Street, which I could see from where I was, but it would be suicide to try and reach it by crossing the street and so I followed the designated bike path to get there.

Greanleaf was too steep to ride up and so I dismounted and began the long ascent on foot. I tried to find as much shade as I could and eventually I reached a point where I was able to get back on the bike and finish it out. I found a pub right across the street from the incline station and I set myself up there for a spell while I awaited Larry and Drew who were still on the road. The Steel Mill Saloon took very good care of me while I waited and when it was time I paid up and made way across the rest of Mt Washington and then down and across the Monongahela River where I found my airbnb and just as I was about to open the door who should walk up but Larry and his son Drew. Perfect timing. It was a tight fit getting into our place and we didn’t see the “Elevator” at first so we carried our bikes up the stairs, which was really tight for me since I still had all my gear on the bike. This was where my flag that had stayed solid and traveled 3000 miles with me had broken. Uggggh!! The stick broke. So frustrating.

We reached our room, entered and found an acceptable Airbnb rental. Wasn’t great but it wasn’t good either. Ha!! The shower sucked. I wrote my host and told him he needed to spring for two new shower heads because both of them sucked. It worked well enough for me to get clean, and both Larry and Drew showered as well before we set out to find our first Brew Pub, The Dancing Gnome. The second one was The Grist House and I can’t recall which one we ate at. I do recall that whatever I ate it wasn’t enough because I was still hungry when we returned to the AirBnb and I ordered some more food from the Indian place across the street. What I didn’t finish, I ate the next morning before leaving.

We solidified our plan to start on the GAP, and then cross the Monongahela into Braddock where we would be on roads until we found the first rail trail. A good night’s sleep was essential and we all turned in fairly early. Day 55 Strava, Instagram, Relive.cc

This marks the end of another Phase of my journey which was to get from Iowa to Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and now that that is complete it seems to make sense to begin another post from the top, and so let’s wrap this one up. I am now in Western Pennsylvania which means I have the entire state to cross to get home, though my plans are to cross into New York state just like I did in May. I am in the Southwest part of PA and my exit will be in the NE and though I do have a fair amount of rail trail to utilize there is still a lot of elevation gain (and loss) to go through to get there.

Tagged: adventure, Bicycle Touring, bike, Bike About 2025, Bike Packing, Bikepacking, biking, Camping, Cycling, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Travel