Road Soldiers Cycling Club®

Scooter & Wheelchair Owner's Group

Sandusky, Ohio

Welcome to the Road Soldiers Cycling Club

RSCC/SWOG News
The Veteran Newsletter
22 October 2008

On the 9th of October, the clubs traveled to the picturesque and rolling hill country of Holmes County where we were reunited with old and dear friends at the Holmesville American Legion Post, the Holmes County Veterans Service Office and the Women’s Auxiliary of the Millersburg Legion Post.  We made, in the due course of the day, new friends at the Killbuck VFW Post.

The Holmes County Trail has been extended another 8 miles or so from the Wal*Mart Store on the southwest end of Millersburg to Killbuck.  This follows the same railroad track that the older parts of the HCT are built upon.  This trail will eventually cross the entirety of Holmes County and terminate in the southwest at the Mohican Gap Trail near Danville.  It currently crosses into Wayne County in the Fredricksburg area at the north central part of the county.  The trail is currently paved for its length along the opened parts.  Its paving is unique and reflects the Holmes County ethos.

This ethos involves the presence of one of Ohio’s strongly Amish areas.  The trail is paved in two levels, one for bikes, skaters and hikers, and the other for the Amish buggies that use the trail as a safe means of travel to avoid motor vehicles.  For the cyclist, this becomes an important distinction (pardon the pun), since “road apples” dot the horsey-side of the trail and add a certain ambiance to the trail that isn’t found on most!  That “ambiance” was compounding the fall perfumes of falling and decaying leaves and the aromas of farmers combining off their fields.  Fall was in the air despite the extraordinarily warm day on the trail this year.

As usual Jason Brooks, VCSO, and his cohort of Service Office Commissioners did an outstanding job of hosting us in their county.  Our members have come to appreciate the very special treatment we get from the Vets Service Office and all the service post members who rise to greet us with food, fellowship and hydration.  This only adds to the natural beauty of this jewel among Ohio’s many places of historic and natural interest.  We’ve had the kindness of these folks, specifically, and the county, generally, since we first started going on this great trail.  Thank you, folks, you make our riding easy and memorable!

For the individual cyclist, or group of cyclists, we, the Road Soldiers, strongly recommend the HCT as one of the premiere velo-venues in the whole state.  Where else can one travel, at a leisurely pace, along tree-lined byways, past immaculately kempt farms, languid ponds and swamps teeming with wild life, in an area known for the Amish ways and sights?  The velo-photographer can have a field day, but just don’t go “shooting” the Amish without permission; it’s disrespectful to their beliefs!  Motor travel is almost as fulfilling and there are many retail and restaurant options all dressed in the Swiss motif familiar to and appreciative of the Anabaptist sect of the Plain People. 

Our cycling season is down to the last ride.  We journey to a very short trail next, the University Parks Trail in Toledo.  We’ll ride that trail and end up at the Wildwood Preserve Toledo Area Metroparks.  At this later place, we’ll have an autumn wiener roast with the fixin’s and cider!  A fitting fall end to a long and eventful season. 

We’ll have the welcome presence of State Senator Teresa Fedor, who is a veteran, Legion Member and the ranking minority member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  She’s an avid cyclist, too, and this fits in well with the spirit of the RSCC/SWOG.  Additionally, Gary Grime, Director of Ranger Services, TAMP, will be present with his Rangers to escort us on this familiar trail.   Mike and Lance with drive and do the support duties for the ride and the roast. 

After our ride, we begin the long dark season.  This year, we’re anticipating moving into a new campus location in a building that will be dedicated to the clubs and our purposes.  We’ll be calling in all the fleet bikes and vehicles, cleaning and servicing them and putting them “to sleep” for the long winter.  We’ll do inventory and work up the necessary purchase orders to replace broken, lost and worn equipment and parts.  These tasks keep us busy and keep the fellowship alive.

We also will go out to eat once-a-month at area restaurants.  As we often claim, we’re the only bike club that gets “heavier” as the years go by!  Concurrently, we’ll be working on the next year’s ride schedule and developing our cycling and scooting programs for the next season.  The latter is a concern, the scooter program, as we lost key participants in this, notably Richard Platt, who was the SWOG Board Representative to our club board of trustees. 

For the Road Soldiers, the activity doesn’t end; we keep at it all year ‘round.  Join us as you can in ’09 for another great year!

Yours in wheelin’ about,

Lance N. Franke, Staff Liaison
Road Soldiers Cycling Club
Scooter & Wheelchair Owners Group
22 October 2008

RSCC/SWOG News
The Veteran Newsletter
15 September 2008

The BIG RIDE of the year took place in Clermont, Warren and Green Counties between the 10th and the 12th of September.  We also drove over to Brown County for a surprise visit to the Georgetown Campus of the Ohio Veterans Home Agency, but more about that in a minute!

The Road Soldiers traveled, on the evening of the 10th, after supper down to Clermont County to the City of Milford.  It is an old, old, Ohio River town on the banks of the Little Miami River.  The Great and Little Miami Rivers were instrumental in the opening of the lower Ohio territory from the Ohio River in the pioneer days.  Milford is a picturesque place and many of the old buildings have been preserved.  It’s a unique place to see and visit. 

The Little Miami Trail State Park is a narrow park that runs from Lunken Airport, on the Ohio, near Cincinnati, up to Dayton-Xenia.  Last year, we rode down from Xenia Station to the little hamlet of Corwin, Ohio, on the LMT where we were chased off the trail by a violent thunderstorm.  This year, we rode upstream and uphill from Milford toward Corwin, hoping to complete the whole LMT in two years.  We allotted two riding days to do this, but, like last year, inclement weather would thwart, by a little (ten miles), our plans.

We drove down to the Holiday Inn Express on Wednesday evening and got there in good order and without any negative incident.  We stayed in a more upscale accommodation this year because the Holiday Inn Express has a breakfast buffet that negated the need to go out to a restaurant in the morning.  This made the cost about the same, out-of-pocket, as living in a more “economical” hotel and removed the hassles of loading up in the motor vehicles twice.  The group then went to the Milford, Ohio, trailhead of the LMT which is very near the Victor Stier American Legion Post #450 which was to be our evening meal destination.  We rode, thus, north, upstream and upriver toward Corwin.

It was a cool and clear day, on Thursday morning, the 11th of September.  14 members began pedaling their bikes and trikes toward the north and Mike Hepker supplied sag wagon support in the wheelchair van.  We parked the 15 passenger van and trailer at the Stier Post while we rode.  All hands were aware that the hurricane aftermath was headed our way for the second day of the ride and made the commitment to go as far as we could, on the first day, since day two would probably wash out (and did).
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We rode up out of Milford and on to the picturesque and charming town of Loveland.  I had a personal note of remembrance in that Galbraith Road dead ends near the trail outside of Milford and I once lived on the way far other end of it in North College Hill, Ohio.  I took a picture of the road sign!  Anyway, we stopped in Loveland, which is exceedingly cycling friendly, for a restroom break and water bottle filling after an 8.7 mile pedal.  We then got back on the trail and continued northward.

The trail, which is a state park, is very well maintained and largely tree-shaded.  It is a glorious piece of Ohio, and one can catch glimpses of the Little Miami River along the way.  Indeed, the trail is so shaded that it was even cold at points until the sun came over the trail more directly. 

We pushed on to Kings Mill, which is east of King’s Island Amusement Park, and several of faster riders held up at the old, and now abandoned, Peters Powder Mill.  We got Mike to go back and pick up a couple of riders who needed help, and we explored our trail options for a better stopping point for lunch.  This was found in the form of the South Lebanon trailhead.

The South Lebanon trailhead has a nice pavilion and picnic tables that made lunch a better thing.  The riders, by this point in time had pedaled 17.1 miles.  After refreshment, it was determined, by consensus, that the day might as well be spent in riding as the hurricane weather was definitely going to drown our next day’s planned ride.  We had hoped to get to Corwin and “complete” the whole LMT in two years.  We pushed save for a very few in the sag wagon.

The group continued riding northward and two more riders left the trail at Morrow.  This meant that they made it 21.9 miles from our start!  This was more than almost all of our rides to date.  The rest of the peloton rode on to the agreed upon termination at the Fort Ancient State Memorial at Strout Road.  Logistically, we had to figure our motor vehicle travel times to get back to Milford after picking up the trailer and returning to the Fort Ancient trailhead, and then back to Milford, so as to be on time for dinner.

We made the double back and load up with five minutes to spare from the 18:00 Hours supper hour curfew!  The post members were gracious and had a trained chef who was doing the honors with the Brauts, Mets, and Burgers!  We ate like, well, famished cyclists!  The post is in an idyllic setting on the banks of the Little Miami River and a most pleasant place to be.  After a number of pleasant hours at the post, we returned to the hotel where folks relaxed, some swam in the pool and others tended to saddle sore derrieres!

Sure enough, it was raining “as in the days of Noah” the next morning.  We had been kicking around the notion of driving over to Georgetown and seeing the place.  We figured that we could really do a practical joke, too, by announcing that the “transfers” were ready for their new rooms!  It did get the DON going!  We did call, however, and let the folks know we were coming over prior to going to G-town, and John Chorepenning, Facilities Manager, and past Sandusky OVH Police Chief, gave us a tour of our sister facility.  We were impressed. 

We left Georgetown and traveled north to the Dayton Air Force Museum, which is not that far away from the Beavercreek Memorial VFW Post #8312 (where we took supper twice last year).
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We spent several hours at the USAF Museum at the Wright-Patterson AFB, and it was clearly just not enough time.  The thing is spectacular in scale, quality of exhibits and thoroughness.  It could take days to see it all completely!  I had not seen the thing in about 45 years, being still in elementary school when I saw it last, and it is a wholly different place – for the better.  This filled the rainy afternoon that we would not spend on the trail to complete the last 9.2 miles of the unridden LMT.  That gives us a goal for succeeding years?

Altogether, the peloton did about 27 miles in the single-day ride.  It would have been really great to have added the last 10 and be able to claim the whole trail as our own.  However, there are other great trails in the Dayton-Xenia area that make returning to southern Ohio desirable for coming years.  Xenia is a hub for a large and expanding trail network, and that means a potential return for a number of seasons in the future.

We had 11 resident members, 2 official volunteers, our Dom Nurse, Darlene, and I on the trip.  We had room for more members, and we sincerely hope that next season more of our membership will consider the BIG RIDE event as part of their own commitment to riding.  But, even more important than the riding is the fellowship and camaraderie that arises in these outings – it’s positive, wholesome, and rewarding. 

We thank the Stier American Legion Post and its members, the Beavercreek Memorial VFW Post and its members, and the OVH, Georgetown and Sandusky, for providing us with the resources to make this ride possible for our members to enjoy!  As I often say, “No one has more fun than us!” 

The riding season is coming down to a precious few at this point.  Next, we take it easy at the Findley State Park, near Wellington, for a day of off-road and park road riding and a cook out with all the fixings.  We’ll go on to one of our favorites, Holmes County, in October, and ride a newly completed segment of the HCT.  We’ll finish at the University Parks Trail and Wildwood Preserve in the Toledo Area Metroparks chain.  After that, it’s on to the Off-Season Schedule of dinners out, maintenance sessions, and re-locating our club room.  It’s never boring as a Road Soldier or SWOG Member…

Yours in wheelin’ about,

Lance N. Franke, Staff Liaison,
15 September 2008 

RSCC/SWOG NEWS

The Veteran Newsletter

29 July 2008

The RSCC/SWOG recently ventured upon a new venue, the Western Reserve Greenway Trail, which is located in picturesque Ashtabula County. The trail extends the width of Ashtabula County from the north in the City of Ashtabula running south to Orwell and into Trumbull County. In all, the trail will be at least 46 miles in length.

We had to start our journey on a cool, sunny day somewhat north of Orwell due to the construction efforts on the last several miles, six in all, of the Ashtabula segment of the WRGT. At Callender Road, north of Orwell, we met up with the Ashtabula Metroparks Volunteer Bike Patrol, under the leadership of Chris Martello. Accompanying her were other Bike Patrol members: Paul Martello (Chris’ spouse), Chris Gerhardt, Joe Mirabell, Darrell Bulvony, Mary Neary and Dr. Arlene Rice, DDS. These folks, in their bright chartreuse jerseys, accompanied our riders on this inaugural trek on their home trail.

Permission for use of the WRGT was obtained from Charlie Kohli, President of the Ashtabula County Metroparks Board. He was key in making things happen in the local area for our Sandusky veterans to have an outstanding day on a new trail. Our hats are off to Charlie, Chris and the other local people who worked hard on this project of bringing the Road Soldiers and SWOG to a new county. Carl Feather, reporter for the Ashtabula Star Beacon Newspaper was present to cover the event, too.

The trail is long, well paved and maintained asphalt ribbon that is usually tree-lined. Several watercourses are encountered on this rails-to-trails conversion. It is almost string straight and is gentle in gradient. The local folks say that it is spectacular in the fall when the leaves turn color, but one has to time a ride very well so that one avoids a literal sea of leaves that prevent riding! I guess that the leaf fall is quite heavy??? Anyway, when the RSCC/SWOG returns to this trail, we’ll try to time it for a fall ride to see the autumnal splendor!

Eventually, when this trail is completed through Orwell, and links completely with the Trumbull County segment, it will run down to Mahoning County. There, it will hook up with the Mill Creek Bikeway, a.k.a. the Mahoning Bikeway and run down to Canfield and beyond. Ultimately, it will connect with the Columbiana County Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail that will extend itself to the Ohio River. What a time that will be when one can ride from Lake Erie to the Ohio River on a dedicated bike/hike system!

We ended our ride at the Old Austinburg Staging Area near where I-90 crosses over the WRGT. From there, we drove over to Geneva to the Geneva VFW Post #6846 where we were treated to a delicious roast beef sandwich dinner by the post and its auxiliary. Gene is the President of the VFW Auxiliary and had her gal-pals up for the occasion. Mel Deams and Steve Cycyk, Post Commander, proved worthy hosts of the event at the post. The VFW post is a spacious and inviting building, and unit crests and ship crests of local servicemen and women adorn and surround the hall.

If one is looking for a most pleasant and enjoyable ride, the WRGT is certainly one of them! One has to plan for amenities, such as rest rooms, as they are less well scattered along this trail than some of the others. I suspect that this is because this is a “work in progress.” When more development comes about, this will be one of Ohio’s premier rides. It’s worth the drive and the effort to ride it.

Yours in wheelin’ about,

Lance N. Franke, Staff Liaison, RSCC/SWOG

29 July 2008

A & B HOBBIES & CYCLES
1202 W Washington St
Sandusky, Ohio 44870
419-625-4242
The folks at A & B Hobbies & Cycles always give discounts to the veterans at the Ohio Veterans Home.

bikeforums.net

Fremont Cycle & Fitness Always gives us a discount too.
Corner Of State & Ohio Ave
Fremont, OH 43420
419-332-4481