4/26/2015 0 Comments TRECYCLE Day 7 - Sat. April 25My wife Michele met me on Friday afternoon and we stayed the evening at the historic Inn at Brandywine Falls Bed & Breakfast. This morning we hiked to the falls, not 200 yards from the Inn. After a scrumptious breakfast of fruit, eggs and oatmeal at the Inn prepared by Katie & George and the staff it was then on to the Cleveland Metroparks planting site where we met Valerie Carter-Stone and her daughter Ellie to see the trees planted earlier in the week along the Route 480 overpass. Valerie is a Natural Resources Manager for the Cleveland Metroparks and oversaw the planting at this site. I met more people on the trail on this Saturday in just a couple hours of riding than I had met in the 5 previous week days. The Ohio to Erie towpath trail is very popular on weekends. I encountered at least 4 different boy scout groups. Riding into Cleveland was interesting without a clearly marked path to Edgewater Park. Just a couple blocks off the route I swung by the house from the Christmas Story Movie complete with the leg lamp in the window. I did the ceremonial tire dipping in Lake Erie with Michele ready to haul me back to Dayton. I regret not being able to save gas and ride back to Dayton, but on the other hand I am satisfied with that amount of riding in one week.
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It was a frigid beginning of the day at 32 degrees. I met a park worker in Stark County at Lock Number 4 where they were preparing the park for a fishing derby for 500 kids the following day. He remarked that Ohio is one place in the country you might get all 4 seasons in a single day. Today was one of those days as it turned out to be rather pleasant and sunny for short sleeves later in the day. Much of the day was along the Ohio to Erie Towpath trail into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I met Chris and Grey and my wife Michele in a reforestation area along the Cuyahoga River. where we planted 7 trees. We protected them well with deer tubes, which is a must since the estimate of 100 or so deer per square mile will otherwise decimate newly planted trees with their rubbing. There was plenty of sign of wildlife throughout the day - deer tracks, beaver gnawing on trees, turtles sunning themselves on logs in the canal, and a Great Blue Heron rookery of nests high into some large sycamore trees. It was beautiful day for riding. This is an appropriate day to share a quote shared with me by TRECYCLE supporter Carol Collett of the Bellbrook Gardening club, whose motto is: "We pass this way but once......Let us beautify the path as we go, so the world may see which way we have gone." Bert the caretaker at Joy of Living Camp and wife Tana were gracious hosts. Bert saw me off at the beginning of the day at the "Bridge of Dreams" 370 foot covered bridge on the Mohican Trail. Flakes of snow lit upon the trike canopy just as I was departing. I think many adventurers will relate that it is often the amazing helpful people you meet along the way who make the adventure. Two men were very good to meet today. Let me tell you about Tom & Steve. Tom Alexander is a member of the Ohio to Erie board of directors. In just the past couple weeks Tom completed posting the directional trail signs at intersections for the Ohio to Erie Trail through Holmes County. Those "Ohio 1" signs were invaluable in getting me along the trail without any wrong turns. Tom also operates a hostel in the town of Glenmont, Ohio which will soon become part of the trail when it eventually is rerouted through his area. In recent years he attempted a through hike of the Appalachian Trail and got all but 270 miles from the end of the trail in Maine and fell and broke his collarbone. His trail name is the "raisin bran kid". Tom plans to finish the trek this July. Tom bought our lunch today at the Millersburg Hotel. We had only an hour together and I did not find out the origin of his nickname. Here's a link to Tom's facebook page Steve Upperman is equally interesting - a photographer, naturalist and avid cyclist. He even races his bicycle. As a certified naturalist with the Department of Natural Resources he volunteers his work, including today's project to help me plant trees at Killbuck Marsh Preserve. We rode together from Killbuck, Ohio on the Holmesville Trail and spotted, a dozen deer bounding across the trail in front of us, many birds, and a rare sighting of a mink crossing our path. Without Steve to guide me I would not have been able to get up and down all the hills to get to the planting site at Killbuck marsh at 2 o'clock. There we planted seven swamp white oak trees. Pam Gum (OCVN, Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist) met us there with the trees in a pick up and assisted with the planting. Thank you Pam & Steve. "Don't hug a tree on Earth Day. Trees are rough and they don't hug back. Go hug another person, then go out and plant a tree!" TRECYCLE Day 4 - Seven trees planted at Char-Mar Ridge Preserve in Delaware County. Craig and Patrick, natural resource technicians for the Preservation Parks provided me with a shovel and encouragement. Tom, a volunteer at the park showed me where the bluebirds nest and I spotted a female entering the nesting box. Females are not as bright blue as the males. Other interesting and beautiful sights along the way, included the Kokosing Gap Trail between Mount Vernon and Gambier was spectacular with hillsides covered in Trillium and Dutchman's Breeches. It was also a wild day for weather, chilly with sunshine and high winds and even, for two very brief moments in the morning and afternoon, it snowed! Staying the night down a long 2 mile gravel lane along the Mohican River at the non-denominational Joy of Living Camp. Thank you caretaker Bert for setting me up with my own little lodge. 4/23/2015 0 Comments Trecycle - day 3 , april 21, 2015TRECYCLE Day 3 - Tree planting at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park with Natural Resource Managers Andrew Boose and James Jones. We planted a variety of Oak trees in a reforestation area near an oak savannah not far from where the bison roam in the 7,000 acre park. A celebrity sighting along the way - Luke Kraus of the 2013 Bowling Green Falcons basketball team (also my daughter Madeleine's boyfriend) met me along the trail at Galloway OH, which is less than a mile from where he works. The day went went well, even the tire blow out with about 6 miles from the end of the ride could not have happened at a better time. My sister Teresa was just about to meet me and bailed me out by driving to a bike shop in Gahanna, which was the nearest we could find a 20" replacement tire. Celebrated the day with dinner with Teresa and husband Ben and daughter Maria, my daughter Madeleine, her friend Sarah Puchala, and the Murray family, my hosts for the evening. Sorry no pictures of the feast at the Thai Grille. Graeters ice cream topped it off. It was a wonderful day 3. 4/21/2015 2 Comments TRECyCLe - DAY 2, april 20, 2015Day 2 of TRECYCLE. Rain showers this morning as I was riding but the sun came out this afternoon with westerly winds helping power me along at over 20 miles an hour at times. Highlight was seeing 14 trees and shrubs planted in Shawnee Park in the City of Xenia and Peterson Indian Mound Park in Cedarville. Gretchen Rives of Greene County Parks and Trails took the photos at Indian Mound Park. Earlier today I passed the Travertine Fen north of Spring Valley on the Little Miami River Trail where cattails and skunk cabbage were taking off. Also got some pics of the little flower known as Dutchmans Breeches. Lunch at Beans & Cream in Cedarville and afternoon ice cream at the Purple Monkey in South Charleston. I enjoyed spaghetti dinner at Ronettis in downtown London and lodging tonight is at Alexandra's bed-and-breakfast.
Panorama view of Shawnee Park in Xenia where 7 trees were planted along the Little Miami Trail. 4/19/2015 1 Comment TRECYCLE - day 1, april 19, 2015First day of TRECYCLE starting from the Ohio River guided by biking escort Bill Hopple, director of the Cincinnati Nature Center. We met Tom Borgman, Natural Resource Manager at Avoca Park, one of the Great Parks of Hamilton County for the first tree planting of the trek. Enjoyed the rain throughout the day and seeing spring blossom in front of my very eyes - trillium, phlox and the Buckeye state tree nearly fully leafed out. Thank you to my wife Michele for her support on the first day. I'll rely on the good will of others the rest of the way to Lake Erie! Thank you to all supporters of TRECYCLE.
4/10/2015 0 Comments TRECYCLE - Ready, Set, GrowIt is just one week before the TRECYCLE adventure to cycle 333 miles across the state of Ohio on a recumbent trike to raise awareness and support for native tree reforestation in response to the loss of millions of ash trees to the Emerald Ash Borer in Ohio.
Thank you! First off, to all who have supported with pledges towards the goal of $1,000. I actually haven’t made it to the online goal, but some have sent me checks and handed me cash that exceed the $1,000, so we are in good shape - in fact added another park. Thank you to Ed Kapraly of Riverside Native Trees who grew the trees and will be delivering over 50 trees and shrubs to the 8 parks on Monday and Tuesday April 13 & 14. Here is a list of parks and the foresters and volunteers I have been working with and need to thank as well:
I wish to thank David Cornthwaite, from the UK who is advising me and other adventurers on our journeys to plant 1,000,000 (1 million) trees! TRECYCLE will begin in Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River on Sunday, April 19, 2015 and ends on the shore of Lake Erie on Saturday, April 25. The week encompasses the Environmental holidays of Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22 and Arbor Day on Friday, April 24. I will be travelling about 10 miles per hour, around 50 miles per day. It looks like lodging is all lined up and there are some interesting local places to eat along the way. Folks are welcome to join me on the trail or visit with me at the dining stops. I have a timeline and a map posted at my web site: Link to TRECYCLE Timeline LINK to GPS Map of the Ohio to Erie Trail TRECYCLE Ride And what adventure would be without its own logo and line of t-shirts? Thank you to my daughter Christine for design and to America Stevens of Swirly T-shirts who helped me recycle over a dozen perfectly good t-shirts inside out with new TRECYCLE logos. Thanks the Greene County Parks & Trails for donating a dozen used Trail Sentinel jackets to be recycled with new logos for the adventure. See you on the trail in one week! |
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