RSCC/SWOG NEWS

The Veteran Newsletter
30 June 2008

On the 26th of June, the Road Soldiers, the Scooter Owners and the Domiciliary Recreation Department did their combined annual amphibious assault on the popular and scenic South Bass Island.  This annual trip was made possible, once again, by the generosity and support of the Miller Boat Line which conveyed the Home’s vehicles to the island for a day of leisure and remembrance.

The bike and scooter clubs, of course, brought their favorite rides with them and went off about the island and its village, Put-In-Bay, riding the many slow-conveyance-friendly roads.  Some of the riders stayed in the small village of P-I-B, while most of the bicyclists went about old and familiar roads to see what changes the year had wrought. 

The non-club members of the Domiciliary, however, stayed around the village green, or park, in front of the marina at P-I-B.  Several members found their way to local refreshment shops or the souvenir stands.  P-I-B is very much a waterfront town, but in a friendlier and nonindustrial way!  People come from miles around to boat, consume adult beverages and have a relaxed day in one of Ohio’s playgrounds.

Bikes and golf carts, which are legal on the island roads, abound on SBI.  They can be rented for the day or by the hour.  Several members of the Dom group did rent golf cars and putted about the island.  We bikers would come across them from time to time as he traversed the length of the rock in Lake Erie. 

Biking on the island is a matter of going down cul-de-sacs and returning.  A couple of roads do run the length of the island, but, unlike neighboring Kelley’s Island, there is no perimeter ride completely around the place.  We stopped to see the boat house cabin, the SBI Lighthouse, and at the SBI State Park.  We rode past the International Peace Monument that still has construction works about it due to the finding of structural problems in the past years. 

Lunch, which was provided by several service organizations, was had in the P-I-B green/park, in front of the bay.  The colors were posted and remembrance of Richard Platt, SWOG member and Board representative, as well as other veterans were done in advance of the noon chicken dinner.  Several volunteers from the Dom Rec. Ther. Department and RSCC were there to assist.  Andrea Klausing, the newly hired Domiciliary Administrator, was present as was Jackie Bird, Secrest/Giffin Social Services Director.  Jackie is also mayor of nearby Marblehead, Ohio, and exchanged municipal greetings with the P-I-B mayor who attended the posting of the colors and the remembrance of the lives of our departed OVH members and members of their own service posts. 

A note of thanks goes to the P-I-B police department who made it possible for the OVH vehicles to park right at the park.  This enabled our vets to move between the vehicles and the park itself without the necessity of hiking from a distance.  This really helped with our logistics as it also accorded us the ability to keep all our parties together as well as get the food chests to the picnic area easily.  Again, thanks is owed to P-I-B’s Finest for assisting us on the 26th!

Our trip back to the mainland was on an especially smooth “sea.”  While the morning had some  wave chop on the ferry ride over to the island, the evening was glassy smooth; probably the smoothest passage, ever, for us.  We got back to the OVH in plenty of time for the members to get to their respective dining halls for their evening meal.  The Road Soldiers were able to off-load the trailer, too, and put it away in an expeditious manner.

A debt of thanks is owed to all who participated in this annual and popular event.  Especially, we thank the collected service posts, the P-I-B mayor and his police, the Miller Boat Company, and our many OVH volunteers for making this annual special day possible for our members.  It is good to get away from the campus for a day and change our ambiance!  South Bass Island is certainly such a day – a day to be looked forward to each year.

Yours in wheelin’ about,

Lance N. Franke, Staff Liaison, RSCC/SWOG
30 June 2008

A Second Journey to the Hennepin Canal Trail in Lincoln Land
13 June 2008

The week after our recent Memorial Day Holiday, Lance hooked up with an old and dear Miami University friend, a Navy Veteran, by the way, and he and Dale drove off for some of that “male bonding,” reconnecting and athletic stuff that the buddy movie genre is all about.  Fortunately, this was far removed from either Deliverance or a National Lampoon Summer Vacation type of experience!

Dale and I drove back to Annawan, Illinois, on Tuesday, 27 May, with two bikes in the back of Lance’s CR-V, and found waiting lodgment with Lance’s aunt and uncle.  The next day, Dale, Lance and Uncle Don headed out for the Hennepin and began riding at the center pool at County Road 300 just east of Mineral, Illinois.  We started at Lock 22/Bridge 19 which have been restored to a more-or-less original condition, though they are not operative.  The lock gates throughout the canal, are now fixed in place and function as aerating waterfalls to the canal for the aquatic life contained in it.  The bridge is one of the surviving farmer’s lift bridges that was counterweighted and lifted by manual cranking of it above the stacks of the tows on the canal. 

Don drove his F-150 as our sag wagon and we proceeded eastward toward the Bureau Junction terminus of this historic canal.  Annoyingly, there was a very strong, raw, east wind that battled us for the entire day.  That wind would continue the next day, too.  The trail seemed more resistant to the passing of our tires as it seemed slightly softer than when Lance rode it the previous October.  Probably the result of the winter’s freeze-thaw cycles?

Fortunately, the day was clear and sunny, and the rains stayed away.  We forced ourselves into the wind at about 8 MPH (3 MPH slower than Lance’s traverse last October) for the whole ride day.  Along the way, we’d stop for photography and to simply rest and take in the cool, late spring/early summer Illinois countryside.  Don met up with us at Lock 11/Bridge 6, where there is a parking area and rest rooms, and we put the bikes in the F-150 and drove into Tiskilwa for the meat loaf lunch plate at one of the small bar/restaurants there.  It was just the ticket for hungry riders, and not too much.

Resuming our riding, we scared up a deer, which showed us her white tail for a quarter mile or so down the trail before leaping a fence and running off in an adjoining field.  Other four-legged creatures included insolent woodchucks, impertinent chipmunks and hoards of rabbits.  We also were privileged to see 3 and ½ eagles!  Actually, it was 4 bald eagles on the wing, but the one was a juvenile and we counted it as half.  Curiously, a small black bird was harassing the parent of the eaglet, and an even tinier small bird was harassing it!  I wonder if “Mother Nature” was messing with us!

We reached the Bureau Junction terminus which is Lock 2.  Lock 1 is currently ill kempt and under water in the Illinois River.  It’s also on private property owned by a gun and game club.  We talked to one of the club members who gave us the skinny on the watery lock.  He said that there isn’t anything to see, it’s not only waterlogged, but covered by thickets and growth.  Since it was a gun club we took his word for it and headed home.  We did 31 miles this day.

Dale’s right knee was rebelling about all the wind push and it was provided that he’d accompany my other uncle, also a Navy vet, and go fishing the next day.  I decided that I’d get the Colona-to-Annawan part of the trail ridden, and thereby I’d finish the entire main length of the Hennepin.  My Aunt Judy took me to Colona and I began at Lock 28 on the Rock River in a misting rain.  I had on my riding shell and needed it.  I had a dozen granola bars, three bananas and two 1-quart water bottles for sustenance, and, it would prove, I needed almost all of it.

The well paved sections of the Hennepin soon fell behind as my Trek 3700 left the more densely inhabited area around Colona eastbound.  Once again, the fine crushed agricultural limestone or thin, coarse blacktop greeted my Bontrager tires as I cut into the east wind.  Lots of picture stops were part of this segment as I had not shot it in October.  This was new trail to see and ride.  Besides, the stops allowed the blood to flow back into the derriere and the legs to clear out some lactic acid!  This part of the trail is less steep, too, as the fall from the central pool is less, to Colona, than from the pool to Bureau Junction that we rode the day before.

Soon, Lock 24 arrived, after many granola bars and banana consumption.  This marked Geneseo, Illinois, which is the county seat of Henry County and the place where my mother graduated from high school.  Water bottle refill is safe, here, too, at the provided drinking fountain.  Slightly rested and refitted, I pushed on re-riding some trail from last October’s second day of riding. 

My original thought was to pull off at Annawan, at the intersection with Route 78, but then the macho madness set in!  Being so close to Mineral’s starting point of the day before, soon had me thinking of grinding on into the prevailing wind to at least make that point.  I kept on the pedals and decided it’d only be another ten miles and I’d conquer the whole main part of the Hennepin.  I promised myself the last banana and a granola feast at the lift bridge if I would make it.  Besides, in my lactic acid-laden brain, I figured that once I turned around, the wind would push me back to Annawan. 

Actually, the wind did a great job of pushing!  I went from about 12 miles per hour to 14/15 MPH in a simple turn.  I had managed to do the whole main length of the Hennepin!  The ride back to Annawan was an easy, and actually fast, ride because of the assistance of an easterly.  When I got back into town, I “noodled around” a little bit and rode past the Annawan Bank that now sits were my Grandfather Schroeder once had his International Harvester Implement Store alongside the Rock Island Railroad tracks when I was much, much younger.  This helped cool off the legs and get the lactic acid metabolized.  I finally cruised back to Don and Judy’s place for an absolutely necessary shower.  I had ridden 43 miles solo this day.  That made an accumulation of 74 miles in two days, and the conquest of the Hennepin’s main trail.

A small number of Hennepin-related tasks remain.  One is to ride the western-most sections of the Hennepin that are not connected to the main length.  These are short segments around Rock Island and Milan, Illinois.  A second is to ride the Feeder Canal that begins at Rock Falls, Illinois, on the Rock River and flows south to the Hennepin at a junction just east of our starting point on our first day.  This Feeder Canal did what its name suggests; it supplied water both ways to the Colona and the Bureau Junction ends of the canal.  It passes by Tampico, Illinois, and that is the home of Ronald Reagan.  That means a side-trip to see the birth place of “The Great Communicator” on the next velo-vacation to the Illini State.

Maybe someday, we’ll be able to get some of the Road Soldiers on the Hennepin?  Lots of difficulties abound for such an experience, but it’s not impossible.  Anyone thinking of riding the Hennepin, however, needs to take along supplies since it’s well done but amenities are far removed from many stretches of this great trail. 

Incidentally, Illinois has absolutely fabulous maps available for bicyclists!  The Illini State is light years ahead of us Buckeyes in providing biking maps, including color-coded risk factors for all the roadways that a biker would encounter.  If you’re thinking of a bike vacation, go to the Illinois DOT website for their bike maps.

Yours in wheelin’ about,

Lance N. Franke, RSCC/SWOG Staff Liaison
13 June 2008

RSCC/SWOG News
The Veteran Newsletter
22 April 2008

The RSCC/SWOG clubs have begun their riding year with a return to the Sandusky County segment of the North Coast Inland Trail, Clyde to Fremont.  This is the traditional first ride of the clubs to allow folks to shake down newly purchased equipment and get a start on shaking the kinks out of legs that have "rested" over the winter.  It was a cool day and few riders, unfortunately, showed up for the day.  It is hoped that more members will show up for rides as the weather improves with the advance of the seasons.  

Members of the clubs attended the second Annual Sportsman's Banquet at the AmVets Post in Sandusky.  Linda Johnston, Vol. Services, did another outstanding job of pulling together this event for the various "extra-curricular" groups that involve residents.  The RSCC/SWOG joined the dart ball team members, camping club, pool league players and others who have participated above and beyond the norm for this annual recognition dinner.  Thanks, Linda, for all your efforts to recognize the best and the most positive of the OVH! (more...)

Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail Ride
12 August 2005

The Road Soldiers and Scooter and Wheelchair Owners Group traveled for about one hundred and fifty miles to the little eastern Ohio town of Leetonia in Columbiana County for their newest ride. This was an “expansion ride” that expands the list of rides that the members have experienced. Expansion of the ride list is club goal and task to keep the ride schedule from becoming too boring or routine.

The Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail director, Dottie Beck, as well as the Wilfred Clunk VFW Post #4111 of Lisbon, OH, were the local supporters of the clubs’ ride on the 11th of August. As hosts, they made the ride a very enjoyable experience – especially considering the 150-mile distance that the trailhead is from the Home! Dottie made it possible to have good maps of the trail and the surrounding road net and road with us on the trail. The Post members, Sandy, the Canteen Manager, in particular, made it possible to have a relaxing spaghetti dinner after the ride before the long drive back to Sandusky. Our thanks to all!

The trail itself is built upon the conversion of the abandoned Erie and Lackawanna Rail Road line that followed the Little Beaver Creek. The rail line was slightly uphill from Leetonia and then begins a long, uninterrupted descent into Lisbon. All along the trail was a splendid view of the ancient foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Sometimes the trail was seemingly perched on a cliff side overlooking the Little Beaver Creek. In the fall, this would be an amazing trail when the leaves turn to their autumnal colors!

Because of the mountainous terrain, sometimes the 2-3 degree of the rail gradient demanded that riders exert themselves in a continuous, but manageable “grind.” Then, once a grade was crested, some braking was necessary lest speeds increase to the point that one could not enjoy the scenery because of minding the road. Despite the gentle rise and fall, the trail is an excellent way to view the mountainous remains of the Appalachian Geosyncline (the folded part of the Earth’s crust that formed the ancient Appalachians) without all the work that would be required if one rode the streets or roads surrounding the trail!

Columbiana County, too, is an “ancient” part of Ohio as it was, naturally enough, in the eastern and first-settled parts of the lands that became our present state. While Leetonia was only incorporated in 1869, Lisbon has a far-earlier history. Magnificent old homes are present in this eastern Ohio town, and suggest that the area was once more prosperous or at least industrial than it is today. It is on the cusp of the Ohio ceramics industry area that focused more fully in East Liverpool, to the south (and in Columbiana County). The people are friendly and outgoing as well as helpful.

All 15 participants on the ride enjoyed the day. The clubs lost a scooter due to mechanical failure, and it may or may not be able to be repaired. It is noted that the majority of the clubs’ members have now purchased their own rides and the quality of bikes, trikes and scooters owned by the membership is greatly increasing. This says that investment in one’s recreational pursuits is a good thing and contributes to one’s enjoyment of them.

The clubs recommend the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail to our readers. It is well worth a drive into the Appalachian/Allegheny foothills to experience the natural wonders of this well maintained trail. The new parking area and last mile or so of the LBCGT was being paved as we rode the trail. By the time you read this article, the Leetonia trailhead will be complete and ready for you to park your vehicle and get directly on the asphalt. Enjoy this trail!

One personal note! While I was off on an extended medical leave, the members and the officers of the clubs performed magnificently in maintaining the rides, esprit d’ corps and the equipment of the Road Soldiers and the Scooter and Wheelchair Owners Group. One of the few joys that came to me while dealing with two serious surgeries was knowing that the RSCC/SWOG was continuing on even when I, for a time, could not. I thank all the club members for hanging in there and keeping in touch with me by phone and Email. Thanks!

Lance Franke, RSCC/SWOG Staff Liaison
16 August 2005