Sunday, October 23, 2016

October Sunday Ride

I managed to get out for a nice little fall leaf ride today - a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, with golden sun, a light breeze, and temperatures about 60. I chose the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath for my route, which seemed like a nice way to be immersed in the autumn colors. Oddly enough, our leaves have only just begun to change, so there's still quite a bit of green on the trees, but there are also lots of leaves on the path to make a very satisfying crunch underneath tires.


For the ride, I took my Mercian Vincitore path racer - a fixed-gear, single speed bike equipped cyclocross tires, fenders, and a couple of small bags.

Much of the towpath runs parallel to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway, so there are little train depots along the way. I didn't take the train today, but the CVSR has a nice deal for cyclists where you can take your bike on the train for just $3 one way, then ride back. It lets people ride the towpath farther than they might if they had to pedal both ways - and it's great if you have kids.
That's a Velo-Orange stem and bell, with Soma Portola dirt-drop style bars, a Velo-Orange rack with small Berthoud bag, and Honjo fenders.

The Mercian path racer is an ideal bike for rides like this one - in fact, rides like this are exactly what the bike was built for. The towpath is mostly paved with a crushed limestone, and when it's dry, that dust coats every bit of a bicycle - particularly the drivetrain. That dust will completely gum up a freewheel, or a derailleur. I've seen freewheels completely seized up from it. But the fixed gear drivetrain has a lot less to worry about. Also, there are almost no hills along the path (no more than about 5% grade) so one carefully selected gear is plenty. I have Challenge Grifo XS cyclocross tires on the bike, which are cushy and have an ideal tread for maintaining grip on the packed limestone surface.

Just a brief post - not a lot more to say. I hope the fall weather is good where you are.

5 comments:

  1. Nice pics! Yesterday was a lovely day for a ride down at the other end of the state, too. Did a good stretch along the path beside the Great Miami river. Sunny, but windy as all get-out.


    I hope I live long enough to see (and ride) when they connect all of the sections of the Ohio-to-Erie trail, hooking up all the different bits of the canal towpaths. Last I heard, they were about 2/3 complete. I know a few folks that have made the ride and just "figured out" the incomplete bits via roadway.


    Wolf.

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    1. I've ridden all the parts of the towpath that are connected. They could be better about providing signs or something to help people navigate the incomplete sections. I'd like to ride the whole thing from end to end when it's all connected.

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  2. Man...I love the colours of that bike....sweet!

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    1. thanks - I was going for something that would look kind of vintage, even though the bike is relatively new.

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  3. The bike's colors are right for a fall ride. Everything looks lovely. Thank you for sharing a nice experience!

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