My 70 mile bike ride

About two years ago Jon and I road our bikes on the Little Miami Bike Trail, Newtown Ohio to Yellow Springs Ohio a 70 mile bike ride. It was an adventure. This year I did the same thing.





It was Jon's idea to do the ride again. He was to leave his car up in Yellow Springs and ride down and meet me at Newtown. Then we would both ride up north to Yellow Springs. 7o miles for me and 140 miles for him. Some how at the big day he was no where to be seen. Cell phone calls were routed to the mailbox. As I said before in the video, "If you learn to be disappointed in Jon, you will not be disappointed". So instead, I re-adjusted the route. I would ride 35 miles up and back. Where the mid-point would be, I had no idea.

Of the whole week, that Sunday was the best day to ride. Forecasted for in the lower 70's, sunny the first half of the day and overcast the last half.

A beautiful fall day.

Larry Varney, Bent Rider Online Co-Editor

Two miles into the ride I encountered about ten or more fellow recumbent trike riders going the opposite direction. At the head was Larry Varney, a well known recumbent rider among the US recumbent circles. He took a photo of me as I passed by.

Photo by Larry Varney

Trail side view.

I-71 Bridge

Near the halfway point the skies turned overcast. But, that did not diminish the sight of the I-71 bridge. The first time I rode under the bridge I was amazed on how high it was. Driving up I-71 I always wondered what the bottom looked like and I wasn't disappointed.

The halfway point.

The landmark of the 70 mile halfway point looks to be at the Little Miami River Canoe Rental.

The halfway point.

Looking south for another 35 miles.

Heading south again underneath the I-71 bridge.

The trail north of Morrow, Ohio seem to be lightly traveled. It's quite rural and any breakdowns out here would be a problem. Just south of the bridge is an entrance to the Fort Ancient State Memorial Park.

I took a 15 minute lunch break at Morrow and met again a cyclist that started in Loveland. We were doing between 16 to 18 mph back to Loveland. He was the guy in front of me (on the video) as the two recumbent riders passed by. He was doing his last leg of his 54 mile ride.

Hunter's Moon

On the last 10 miles my legs started to feel fatigued. I believe, that if I kept a better track on drinking regularly I would have faired better. That day sunset was around 6:44 PM. I was ready with my 900 lumens bike light. The first 70 mile ride Jon and I got caught without any lights on our last 10 miles. From that day we made sure we had the best lights to illuminate the trail.

On the way back to Newtown's parking lot my truck was the only one left. Arriving back around 7 PM, it took me around 5 hours to finish my 70 mile ride. Would I do this again next year and maybe do a longer ride? The answer would be yes.