Cycling the Underground Railroad

  DAY 16: MILAN TO PERRYSBURG, OH Today it was confirmed I was indeed in Johnny Appleseed country...and they were ripe for the picking! This was a rare day when there were not a lot of historical sights along the route.  I was traveling westward toward Michigan. Over 20 miles of today's trek was on the North Coast Inland Trail. The entire network is 65 miles from Elyria to Toledo.  Very impressed with Ohio's trail systems statewide.  Yesterday I saw this train in Wellington and thought it might be significant.  Turns out that the Lorain and West Virginia Railroad was built around 1900 to connect West Virginia coal to the steel mill in Lorain, Ohio.  In 1977, the owners announced they were discontinuing service.  A group of citizens dedicated to keeping local and rail history alive began buying up parts of tje route.  The trains, complete with mid-century locomotives,  operates as a tourist train. Today's mileage: 63.2 miles Total mileage this...

  DAY 15: ASHLAND TO MILAN (VIA OBERLIN), OH Today's "feature attraction" is Oberlin College (but I also discovered some other interesting things). Founded in 1933 as a community and College simultaneously, Oberlin's originators were staunch abolitionists who adhered to the philosophy of "immediacy"--that is, the immediate end to slavery.  It was notably the first college in the United States to recruit both blacks and women.  The long and well-documented history of the institution to this day reveals it has been true to its mission of social justice.  Many of the older buildings are undergoing renovations to meet their goal of a zero carbon footprint.  The College is built in the middle of Oberlin, with the town occupying the land around it. The college has an intentional International focus.  This memorial, located in the central plaza on campus, is dedicated to missionaries who lost their lives in the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900.  These were at...

DAY 14:  BELLEVILLE TO ASHLAND,OH Pre-Civil War Farm in north central Ohio. Some days one starts out with nothing specific on the radar in terms of significant landmarks.  Then one is surprised and pleased with serendipitous findings.  Today was one of those days. "Patchy fog before 10am" was the forecast, which turned out to be correct. It cleared up quickly and, although very humid all day, I was blessed by blue sky and a few white puffy clouds. Early on I passed an 1855 farm (top photo) and wondered if they had been a station here on the Underground Railroad.  We will probably never know, as many of the participants kept a very low profile to protect their "passengers" (fleeing slaves) and themselves.  There were hundreds of anonymous and unsung heroes who aided freedom seekers with no desire for recognition, praise or remuneration. They simply were doing the right thing. Once again, I was admonished to share the road with horses.  I didn't see any, but ...

  DAY 13: BELLEVILLE, OH (Rest day) "A Convenient Country Oasis"--my rest day AirBnB.  My apartment is at the small porch covering on the lower right side of the house. After almost two weeks of averaging about 50 miles a day pedaling, I'm taking a true "rest/recovery day" at this lovely farm about 3.5 miles south of Belleville, Ohio.  The sun in shining today, and the temperature is in the low 70s--a perfect day to let this "mature" body get some much needed down time!

  DAY 12: DELAWARE TO BELLEVILLE,  OH An "Ohio Century Farm" north of Delaware, Ohio. The streets were wet and it was threatening rain on my departure from Delaware.   But somehow on my traverse through (mostly) gentle rolling woods and farmland, I managed to avoid the surrounding storms.  Thunder was ever present, but rain over my head never materialized, for which I am grateful. Dark skies typical of today's ride, as sceen from Main Street in Fredericktown, OH. As I journeyed today, I thought of the minor sense of relief that fugitives from human bondage must have felt being assisted by conductors on the Underground here in Ohio, and traveling over less hostile terrain.  But they could still be pursued by slave catchers and returned to bondage, if they lived through the lashings and punishment for their attempted escape.  Freedom was still at least 70 miles away (the port of Sandusky) over land and boat ride to Canada.  It would be further if th...

  DAy 11: DUBLIN TO DELAWARE, OH Plaque on the banks of the Olentangy River in Delawares,  Ohio.  Today's destination was Delaware, Ohio, an "anti-slavery stronghold" near the center of this Free State. As I pedaled out of Dublin, I was greeted by a gaggle of honking Canada geese.  I had to wonder on this warm (heat index of 95F) and windy day (thanks to hurricane/tropical storm Nick sucking all the air out of the Midwest) if they were rethinking their decision to head south at this point. A few clicks out of town I took a ride on the Heritage Rail-Trail.  This is a short 2+ mile paved path the runs through corn fields and connects a couple of farm roads. Very curious. A bit further on I turned on Mitchell-Dewitt Road, and passed several houses with the name Mitchell on them.  I came upon their farm stand.  This family has been here on this very large farm for a long time.  (Duh, the road is named after them!) Then all of a sudden I'm on a bridge ...

  DAY 10:  SPRINGFIELD  TO DUBLIN (COLUMBUS), OH Mike Coyle and I heading out of Springfield.  I was honored to be accompanied on the first 35 miles of today's ride by Mike.  He and his daughter Rebekah (she and Jeremy hosted me last night) are hiking the Buckeye Trail, a 1,444 mile loop around Ohio, in segments.  He's not a regular bike rider, but a trooper extraordinaire.  Not many non-riders would attempt this, but Mike jumped right in! I thoroughly enjoyed his companionship and catching up on what has been going on in our lives. About 17 miles of our day was on these beautiful Ohio bike paths.  A person could take the one we're on, the Ohio to Erie Trail, all the way from the Ohio River to Lake Erie (diagonally across Ohio), 326 miles! The rest of the day was along mostly roads winding through corn and soy bean fields. At West Jefferson we stopped for lunch at the Main Street Deli.  Mike ended his ride at this point, and his son-in-law Je...