Car Less Ohio

Back to Gear List: Credit-card Bikepacking the Ohio to Erie Trail

Today was my travel day prior to starting my bicycle tour on the Ohio to Erie Trail. I started out by getting up early to make some last-minute changes to my bike setup.

During a short ride yesterday, I heard a rattling noise that I assumed at first was my fenders. At some point, I looked down, and noticed my dynamo headlight hanging by the connector cable. The mounting tab on the light had snapped off. This may have been my fault; during a ride home from work a couple of weeks ago, I had to adjust the angle of the light, and, not having the required torx wrench used on the mounting bolts, I just man-handled it into place.

Regardless, I would have to be without a dynamo light for the trip, and thus without the USB charging feature that it also provides. Since I would have no use for the generator hub, I figured I may as well swap to my lighter-weight wheels. I was going to swap the tires, to continue using the Serfas Drifter 29er tires, but I already had a pair of Surly Knard 700×41 tires mounted on the lighter wheels, so I decided to stick with those for the trip.

Since I was switching into semi-weight-weenie mode, I decided to ditch the fenders, as well.

I didn’t anticipate having to do any riding at night, but just in case, I brought a rechargeable headlight, the Cygolite Metro 300, plus a Planet Bike Superflash Turbo USB taillight. If either saw much use during the day, I’d have the opportunity to charge them at night (with the USB charging cable that I remembered to pack).

If you read my gear list, you’ll notice these changes in subsequent posts and photos. A final significant change to my packing list was the maps. Over a month ago, I ordered a copy of the official Ohio to Erie Trail Maps from IGotABike.com. When doing my final packing a few days ago, I could not for the life of me find them. Fortunately, my friend Chris from work had ordered the downloadable PDF version a couple of weeks ago, so he provided me a copy to use.

My brother arrived a little after 9:00am with his mini-van to haul me down to Cincinnati. We made a stop for lunch at a Waffle House just off I-71 north of Columbus. We made good time during the rest of the drive to Cincinnati, and arrived at the Biowheels bike shop a little after 2:00pm.

With my lightly loaded Salsa Fargo at Biowheels in Cincinnati

My friend Austin used to work with me at Century Cycles in Peninsula. He moved to the Cincy area last year, and now works at Biowheels. I hung around and chatted with him and his boss Mitch, and went to get us some coffee down the street at Coffee Please.

Austin took off early around 4:00pm, and we loaded my bike into the back of his Jeep and headed across town to his place in the small village of North Bend, about 18 miles down-river from downtown Cincinnati. After getting settled in, we decided to join his mom for a short hike around Fernbank Park just a few miles back up the road, followed by dinner at Cabana on the River. It was the final day of business before the restaurant closed for the season, so they were offering 30% off our entire bill, which was a nice deal. All three of us ended up getting fish & chips, where were good. It seemed like they might usually have a decent beer selection, but their stock was winding down, so I had to settle for a Guiness as the closest thing to a decent-tasting beer.

Later, back at their house, the clouds parted just in time as we watched the lunar eclipse from their front porch. The clouds returned soon after, though, so we weren’t able to see the “blood moon.”

Next: Ohio to Erie Trail Tour: Day 1 – North Bend to Cincinnati to Waynesville