Mary and her Surly LHT tire dipping in Lake Erie at Edgewater Park in Cleveland Ohio after riding 350 miles on The Ohio to Erie Trail
Mary is a regular visitor and participant on iGotaBike.com. She just sent us this great photo from Edgewater Park with her cool bike.
Thanks Mary! Congratulations on your excellent ride!
An excerpt of some her comments are below.
To see the full discussion click here and another discussion here
Mary says…
I rode this the week of July 9-13 solo, Ohio River to Lake Erie.
I stayed in hotels; in Cederville at the Hearthstone Inn, and with my brother in Columbus, The Comfort Inn in Millersburg, and the Quaker Square in Akron.
I was riding a 2011 blue Surly LHT frame that I built up with older MTB parts. I had a small handlebar bag, and Ortleib classic rear rollers. I carried bike tools, cycling clothes (more than I needed), one pair of street capris and gym shoes; a book, a small camera and an iphone though I used maps for the trip. Oh, I also carried a frame pump and two 25 oz water bottles as well as a 50 oz. Camelbak. I had a brother traveling who picked me up in Cleveland. I downloaded the PDF maps at the Ohio to Erie website and printed them out. I carried each days map pages in the handlebar bag and kept the rest with my clothes. They were too general and the street names were written too small but this forced me to stop and talk to people in every small town along the way, not something I’m very inclined to do normally, and that might have been the best part. The most difficult part was riding the gravel trail to the Bridge of Dreams and the dirt trail beyond it till it ran out. I was riding on slick 26×1.6 tires. The worst part was trying to get food in Akron when it was about dark and I didn’t want to be out walking around alone after the sun went down.
I used the map print outs except for the point at which I was lost then turned on the iphone for general directions to get me back on track. I stopped at the first bike friendly place I saw to make sure I was going the right way. Yes, this was my first taste of multiday touring and the first time riding this route.
