Today it got up to 60 degrees F so I went for a recumbent ride. All the snow has melted away the last couple days and only a few places along the trail had any left over ice so it was an excellent day to get outside and spin. In the off season I do ride my titanium general purpose bike to work and back but that is just a quick fifteen minute commute each way so it doesn't do much in the way of keeping me conditioned to the standard bike seat. I can hop on the recumbent and do a three hour ride in perfect comfort. One of the many reasons why recumbents are great.
North Lake Park lies at the northern terminus of the B & O Trail. The creek that feeds the pond was frozen over and I'm glad I took the time to roll down by the water and take a few photos.
By nature of design the HP Velotechnik keeps the rider dry when the road surface is wet. The hard shell seat and the boom in the front block off all wheel spray but it does leave a mess on the frame. I'm just about to the point where I am ready to put fenders on the bike just to keep it cleaner during the winter months.
At the other end of the trail in Butler, Ohio I spied this old barn with the ubiquitous Mail Pouch hand painted advertisement. This barn art can be seen all around Ohio and other Midwestern states. There's many pictures of these old timey tobacco adds on the web and an interesting back story on wikipedia.
Beside the tobacco barn was this old 1800's log cabin. Very cool!
Richland County B & O Trail
Ride Time: 2:48
Distance: 37.13 Miles
Average Speed: 13.26 mph
Nice ride... Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe barn ad is priceless... and I like the way the cabin was re-roofed. It looks as if you could live in there still. I don't see a chimney... do you figure they've put in central heating, too?
Seems as if your front wheel would spray your legs without a fender.
ReplyDeleteDo they make a Bike that will carry a Wheelchair in a Side Car? Great Pictures! Thanks for Sharing.
ReplyDeleteLots of log cabin enthusiast around here. Many buy a cabin, disassemble it and move it to a new site on their property which is probably what happened here. I didn't think to take a peek inside but I don't see a chimney not even a stovepipe so it just must be a warm weather hang out.
ReplyDeleteSteve -No spray on the legs but the wheel does fling junk as far back as the rear swing arm. My idea for fenders would be shorties so I don't have to run struts. (the front fork has no eyelets) Just a little protection to cut down on the majority of grit, leaf rubbish and decomposing worm bodies that get picked up off the trail.
Norm -A company called Xtracycle who specializes in cargo bikes makes a side car kit. It's cool check it out here
Hello Mike,
ReplyDeleteYou have a great place to ride there!
Like your photo of the geese on the icy road.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Mail Pouch barn here out here in California too, but you can't see the letters very well anymore.
Here's what the one in our town looks like:
http://tinyurl.com/mailpouchslo
Hi Nate. Somethings wrong with your link. I'd still like to see your mail pouch barn. They are all over Ohio. I'm gonna start photographing them now.
DeleteTry this one:
Deletehttp://tinyurl.com/slomailpouch
Cool! Looks like they incorporated the logo into the shingles. Never seen that before. It is a beautiful photo. Thanks Nate.
Delete