Mountain Bike Ride

On this Fourth of July I finally made it to Ohio's Mohican State Park Mountain Bike Trail to test out my new 20 tooth Kick Ass Cog that I recently installed on my Yeti single speed.  I got up as early as I could for a weekend and after 45 minute drive I arrived at the trailhead and got started at 9:40 am.  It got hot quick even in the woods.  Luckily the night before I had filled my 70 ounce Camel Back bladder with ice cubes so that in the morning I could just add water and go. 

The Camel Back is a small insulated backpack that holds a large capacity plastic water bag and fits tightly on your back.  A small section of vinyl hose runs from the bottom of the bladder up and over your shoulder so you can easily have a sip of cool water while engaged in the adventure sport of your choice.  The Camel Back that I have used the past few years is called the Mule.  It has an insulated pocket for the bladder and several other pockets in which I carry a tire pump, patch kit and a small multi-tool.  There is also room for some snacks and a light jacket for the cooler seasons.  The Camel Back has been around now for about fifteen years and it has revolutionized the way endurance athletes stay hydrated.  Not suprisingly Camel Back's biggest customer is the U.S. Military.  Sure beats the old metal canteen!  Dehydration is the enemy no matter what your mission.  

I accomplished my goal for this ride which was to cover the entire 25 mile loop.  My ride time was 4 hours and 5 minutes, including stops for photography and food.  I felt great and I could notice a difference in the one tooth larger cog in the back.  Climbing was much more bearable and I even found myself able to stay seated longer on less aggresive climbs.  As far as spinning on the flats I could not really tell a difference so thumbs up on the new 20 tooth cog.

Virtually all of the 25 mile single track is in the woods.  Here is the best view I could find of the Clear Fork Gorge from the trail. This is about the 16 mile mark from the parking area where I left my car.  The trail follows the topography more or less spending equal time on the south and north rim of the gorge.  If you ride the whole trail you will have decended to the valley floor and climbed back out twice.  I don't have a fancy GPS device to calculate the total elevation that I climbed for the ride.  I would love to have one now that they are about the size of a cell phone and come bicycle specific with a handle bar mount.

A plaque I found down in the gorge reads:

CLEAR FORK GORGE

HAS BEEN DESIGNATED A

REGISTERED

NATURAL LANDMARK

UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE

HISTORIC SITES ACT OF AUGUST 21, 1935

THIS SITE POSSESSES EXCEPTIONAL VALUE

IN ILLUSTRATING THE NATURAL

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

1967

                                                                     

To add a little extra to my 4th of July Post I stopped at the park's fire tower.  The use of manned fire towers came to an end in 1978 when the last tower in the parks system was decomissioned.  It is amazing that some of the towers are still open to the public.  One cannot gain access to the box at the top but you can climb all the way to the trap door.  This tower is 80 feet tall.  I took the picture below from the last landing before the box, probably about 70 feet.  The view is looking east towards southern PA and West Virginia. 

Thanks to some forward thinking conservationists and politicians from the past I got to spend part of my holiday in this beautiful natural area.  All of America's parks are special and we must be vigilent in providing their continued protection so that future generations can enjoy and learn about the natural world.