Beverly

I agree Xenia has no good motels. If you want to stay in the Xenia area go about 12 miles west to the Beavercreek area. There are several hotels and restaurants in that area for WPAFB and Wright State University visitors. You would still have easy access to the trails since the connecting trail from Dayton to Xenia goes through Beavercreek.

will dehne

Beverly-
Thanks, I got it. It will take time to evaluate.

Tom Bombadil

Those Ohio maps look great. Someday one will be able to ride from Cincinnati to Cleveland on trails, then back almost to the Indiana state line past Toledo. One could spend days on a tour.

I visit Canton once or twice a year, one of my daughters lives there. Will have to check those trails out sometime.

Tom Bombadil

Hey Will, will you be riding on the Sugar River Trail tomorrow (Saturday)? I think I will be. I'm thinking about riding down to New Glarus and back (44 miles total), which will put me on the trail for about 12 miles.

But I never know how my legs will feel. I could get out there and decide to turn back after 8-10 miles.

So if you start in Brodhead (23 miles to NG) and I start out of my driveway (22 miles to NG), and you spot me about a 45 minute lead, we might get there about the same time.

will dehne

Tom-
Just got back from a biking in South IL. I will be on SRT noon today, Saturday.
If you see a guy without helmet, headband, Trek Hybrid with Aerobars, black Trek Stem mounted bag, that is me.

Tom Bombadil

Didn't make it that far. Woke up and didn't feel well. Decided to make a go of it anyway, but got out a little late. I'd forgot that my gears had skipped a couple times on my last ride and so hadn't checked that out. When I got down the trail a little way, it started skipping a lot.

I shifted up to the big ring and the skipping stopped, but that's not my comfort zone. I got down to Belleville , 8 miles, and saw a sign for a new bike repair shop. Just what I needed! So I rode over to it and it was his first day. He put it on his stand, looked it over, ran through the gears, inspected the chain and told me that my chain was completely shot and my cassette was marginal. Unfortunately he didn't have those parts in yet so there was nothing he could do for me.

So I headed home, with the gears skipping anytime I got into higher gears. I had 3 gears working off of the middle ring and 2 off of the big ring. Got home okay, with 17 miles ridden. It was a really nice ride, perfect day. Only saw 4 other riders on the trail.

Packed the bike into my car to head off to the 30+ year old bike shop that's 6 miles away. They look at it for about 2-3 minutes and tell me that my chain & cassette are fine. Just a simple tension adjustment to the rear derailleur was needed. He was done in less than 5 minutes. Took it out for a test ride and it was perfect.

Now I'm glad Mr. New Repair Guy didn't have any chains or cassettes in stock. I'll think twice before going there again.

will dehne

I did the Sugar River Trail today and it was almost normal. That means a bit bumpy North of Brodhead and a few loose sand stretches. I was glad to have 700 x 38 tires and a full suspension bike.
The WI maintenance crew did a decent job considering the extreme weather.
I do not recommend a road bike with 23 or 25 mm tires on this trail for now.

rodrigaj

I agree, and should add that none of the crushed limestone trails in WI should be ridden with thin tires.
32mm should be the considered the minimum size for safety. I've seen too many chipmunk holes, ruts, and large branches that come up unexpectedly on these trails.

will dehne

I do not disagree with you but you missed a previous thread and frequent exchanges with Tom Bombadil. I set a personal best time on Sugar River Trail with a Trek Madone just a bit under 20 MPH average.
(700 x 23 tires)
If challenged I think I can do 20 MPH average. That will not be good for that bike but good for my ego.
It is also not safe because of all the cross roads.

Tom Bombadil

I think if I challenged Will to ride it on rims, that there's a good chance he would do it and his time would be pretty decent.

rodrigaj

...And kids learning to ride bikes....and dogs, off leash, whose owner is gabbing on a cell phone or listening to his ipod...and walkers who don't know what "left" means.... and bicyclist who don't know what "left" means...etc...

will dehne

I am trying to spread something positive about this wonderful trail. I use this trail very often. Perhaps every other day. There is just about nobody on that trail on a weekday. On many weekends I counted less than 10 bikers and walkers are rare because the bugs eat you alive if you stop the bike. I had to make an adjustment and the mosquitoes were all over me.
The cross-roads are treacherous because some of them have ALMOST no traffic but you know the one time you do not slow down, there comes a car. So I do not recommend flying through there.
If someone wants to do what I do, he/she can shut off the Cateye computer across the intersection to get a more realistic average.
A road average is always faster but roads have their own dangers.

rodrigaj

Sorry, I was commenting, in general, about the WI bike trail system in general; nothing specific about Sugar River.

Having said that, it seems to me that bike trail etiquette is being lost as the new generation of cell phone yackers, ipod listeners, dog owners, etc.. hit the trails. Although I always buy a season pass, I find I am using the trails less and less as my negative experiences mount up.

BTW, the most problematic encounters with loose dogs have occurred when "ALMOST no traffic" is the norm. Dog owners seem to think that since no one is around, their dogs can be taken off leash.

Tom Bombadil

I've ridden a few hundred miles this year on Wisconsin trails. Over all of it, I'd estimate that I passed another person, whether they are walking or riding, at a rate of maybe 1 per 2 miles. I've had almost no negative experiences - there was one time when a couple of teenagers coming from the other direction, refused to ride single file and forced me to the edge of the trail, and one other time when a dog walker let their dog & lease block the entire trail, forcing me to stop before getting past them. Can't remember another problem. I've yet to see anyone using a cell phone.

will dehne

Tom and I ride the WI trails a lot.
I did Sugar River Trail again today with my wife on a Tandem. There were more bikers than normal. Perhaps 20 over the 46 miles. There was one young lady with a cell phone on her ear. There was one guy with two Labrador Retrievers, not leashed. He was very worried about his dogs and quickly got them under his control as we were approaching at high speed. The Tandem would not be kind to those dogs at 20 MPH. I know the guy and he knows me from previous encounters. I take no offense and he knows that I will not harm his dogs on purpose. There is a dog breeding farm around there. Perhaps he is training the dogs?
There were a bunch of very young kids biking. They were more of a challenge than the dogs.
All in all a very wonderful biking day. We did the 46 miles in under 3 hours and celebrated with a dinner and good bottle of red wine.

George

+1000

Tom Bombadil

I had a chance to assist someone again today. I came upon a couple that was stopped so I asked if they needed any help. Turned out that she had crashed a couple miles back up the trail. Now her bike wasn't riding well. She had mangled a brake pad and it was rubbing. I took out my little mini-multi-tool, re-adjusted her brakes, and got the bike running again.

She had a cut on her knee and I offered them the use of my Triple Anti-Biotic ointment and a band-aid, but for some reason, she didn't take it.

I have occasion to assist someone on about 1/3rd of my 20+ mile rides.

They were riding matching Trek 7300 hybrids and they were fast! We took off together and the two of them dropped me immediately and disappeared off into the distance.

They were on a 35 mile ride, up from Monroe on the Badger Trail and the only thing they had with them were water bottles. No helmets either. Weren't prepared to handle even the smallest problem.

Tom Bombadil

Most of the Root River Trail is now open. Here is what they are posting, note the message to Stay Out of Town pertaining to Rushford.

"The entire Root River Trail and Harmony Preston Valley Trail is open with the exception of the trail segment between Lanesboro and Whalan which washed out. This leaves 29 miles to the west of Lanesboro and 26 miles east of Whalan that are open for use.

Parking is available in each of the trail towns.

The City of Rushford is not ready for trail users so we ask that you respect their request and stay out of town."

will dehne

I wanted to go biking on Sugar River Trail today. On my way North to Brodhead the temperature dropped to the mid 50's and the rain came down hard. So I turned around and used my trainer at home. Actually that was good because it reminded me how hard a trainer can be. I did 17 MPH for 90 minutes at 85 to 90 RPM on a Madone on a CycleOps FL2. It is a good workout. I recommend it.

Tom Bombadil

Yes, it was cold here this afternoon. Raining, windy, and temps in the mid 50s. First time I've been that cold in many months.

Tom Bombadil

At 6AM tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, it is predicted to be only 38 degrees here. Friday morning is predicted to be down to 36-37.

Time to turn on the furnace.

HopedaleHills

I'm noticing a trend here