Shier-Rings Park, Trinity Park, and Brighton Commons Park

As I noted in my immediately previous post, it's been quite wet around here lately. After dinner this evening, I headed out to the garage with no real agenda except to clean things up a bit. While I was hosing off my Blackbuck, the kids came out and played in the spray from the hose. Since they were already a bit damp, I figured we might as well head out for a playground. Usually, the slides are wet for a few hours after a rain, but that shouldn't matter much on a warm evening like this.

Our first stop was #45 Shier-Rings Park. This is another--boring!--park without a playground. But we had to check it off. I didn't even get the twins out of the trailer:

This little park did have some nice bridges over water, which might prove relaxing if you didn't have three kids with you:

We continued south along Emerald Parkway. We came across this interesting stretch of bike path where nature was fighting back:

This path is only 6 or 7 years old, so maybe they just laid the asphalt down too thin. Anyway, we missed #54 Woods of Brighton Park, but came then to #49 Trinity Park. Perhaps Trinity refers to the three play structures:

Or maybe the developer was just a "Matrix" fan. Not much interesting here, but right across the street was #9 Brighton Commons Park. It's accessed by this nice looking bridge:

And has a rather peaceful little orchard:

The play structure is not so interesting:

But that hardly matters, because, what's this?

They have a fair sized wading pool. So wade we did:

And maybe a few more things:

With the kids already soaked, they didn't have to do much to convince me to stop at the #5 Ballantrae Spray Park again on the way home.

I think my Burley trailer stopped being waterproof years ago, but that hardly matters when the water is coming from the inside:

Then it was time to hit the road for home:

 

Three down, 24 to go.

Rainy Cross Check Ride

It's been a very wet spring in Central Ohio, making it tough to find trail time or dry playgrounds. We had a baby sitter for Saturday morning, so I figured I might as well use that time for a longish road ride. I had planned to take my Rawland Nordavinden, but it didn't have fenders--not a good thing with wet streets and drizzle still coming down. So the Cross Check it would be.

The CC is in kind of a weird state right now. I started setting it up to be my child puller, but only got about half way done before this ride. So it has the (heavy) Burley rack and the (heavy) dyno hub, but it's still set up as a fixed gear. Good enough.

My basic route was north to Bellepont, the west along Mills road to Ostrander road. Mill creek was running pretty high:

I was looking forward to a junk food snack at the store in Ostrander, but I got there 45 minutes before they opened. Disappointed, I turned south for home. Into a headwind. And road construction:

At least the drizzle kept me cool. But it was a long grind home.

I wasn't really feeling the love for my CC on this ride. The slight vibration from the dyno hub bothered me after a while. On my bars, there was a big step between the end of my grip and the bar end, which I didn't like either. And I swear I could feel the weight of the rack dragging me down every time I stood to climb a hill. I'd really like to find a magical bike that combines the best attributes of the CC and the Rawland:

- fat tire clearance, V brakes, and single speed-ability from the CC

- low trail, light tubing, and a low bottom bracket from the Rawland.

But I can't think of anything that fits this, short of a custom. Any ideas?

Rigid 29er smackdown

Regular reader(s) may have noticed a recurring theme in my bike posts: too many bikes. I'm working to downsize my fleet of seven. The Globe is already gone, courtesy of Craigslist. I have the hardworking Soma Doublecross for sale right now. Others may soon join this list: today, I spent the morning at the Alum Creek beginner trail, doing comparison laps between my Blackbuck:

and my Soma Juice:

 

(My apologies for these poor photos, I thought they would turn out better with my wagon as a backdrop)

Like a total bike nerd, I drug both bikes into the woods, far enough from the road (and it was early enough) that I could semi-confidently leave one leaning against a tree while I lapped the other.

I started off on the Blackbuck. Right away, I liked the low riding position--I have the EBB nearly as low as it will go--and the sharp handling. It also seemed to accelerate a bit better than the Juice, but that may just be my perception. The ride isn't as smooth, so it feels faster.

Jumping to the Juice, it felt tall (seat height) but narrow (Mary bars vs. a normal riser bar). Definitely lazier handling than the Blackbuck, it kind of arced through the corners, where the Blackbuck can square them off if needed. It did have a notably smoother ride than the BB, however. Kind of a Cadillac of rigid mountain bikes, if there could be such a thing.

Between these two bikes, I was looking forward to the Blackbuck laps, and just kind of tolerating the Soma laps. So the Blackbuck is the keeper, right? I just wish I liked the looks better.

This got me wondering: could I get the best of everything? Quick handling and smooth ride? 10 minutes of wrench twiddling in the parking lot gave me this:

Ignoring the clashing color for a moment (if possible), I kind of like the way the curved Blackbuck for goes with the curved tubes on the Soma. The lower fork (by about 30mm), and the lower bar position, did help drop my center of gravity noticeably, but not down as low as I felt on the Blackbuck. Steering was also definitely better for me: quicker, sharper, more responsive to my inputs. It was good, if not quite as good as I felt on the Blackbuck, but much better than my regular Fargo V2 fork.

Today's smackdown is actually kind of a punt: I'm not in love with either of these bikes, and they're both threatened by an upcoming frame that I hope will give me quicker handling, normal looks, and a low bottom bracket. Stay tuned!

Henry's First Backpacking Trip at Zaleski State Forest

As I mentioned earlier, I had plans to take Henry on his first backpacking trip this summer. After going to the zoo on Sunday, I decided it was time to go. The forecast was iffy, 50% chance of rain, but it looked to be that way all week. I decided we could chance it. On the drive to Zaleski, we got caught in one major thunderstorm, but it was clear and sunny when we finally got to the area. I had promised Henry a snack before we started--and I wanted to get some extra calories and fluids in us before we set off--so we stopped at the Lake Hope State Park lodge for sustenance. Then we were ready to hit the trail:

We were oh so clean then:

If you have the Zaleski map handy (if not, look here), my plan was to hike A-F-H, skipping the B-C-D-E southern loop, camp at H, then hike out through G-M-N-O-P. We got screwed up right from the start: the first choice was either towards B, or the Owl Hollow Loop. I haven't hiked these trails in probably eight or ten years, so my memory was pretty hazy. But I knew we didn't want to go to B, so we took the Owl Hollow Loop. The trail got off to a nice start:

I should have been concerned when we came across this "new" 150 year old cemetery:

Hmm, I didn't recall that cemetery being there before, nor all of these caves:

We ended up walking the Owl Hollow LOOP (the name should have been a clue) in a circle, coming right back to the start. 1.5 miles of walking wasted.  For try number two, we started with the other option, heading towards B.

This turned out to the be the right choice, and we found the cutoff trail that short cutted us to F. The trail was pretty good so far, and we took a well earned break there:

And then things got worse:

And even worse--shoulda brought the machete:

Lots of blackberry vines and other stickers and thorns added to the fun.

We took another break to rest our tired and now muddy feet:

As a side note, since I haven't been backpacking in many years, I don't currently have any hiking boots or even anything close. Instead, I wore my Merrel barefoot running shoes, which turned out to work great: excellent trail feel, light weight, quick drying. I didn't miss the heavy, clomping boots at all.

We started on the trail around 3:30 or 4:00, and about 6:00 a light rain started to fall. The trees mostly kept us dry, but forging through the undergrowth still got us pretty wet. About 7:30 we finally found our way to the campsite at H and set up camp:

If you're looking for an inexpensive, roomy tent, I heartily recommend the Eureka Spitfire 2. Plenty of room for my 6'3" self and another adult, or a kid and lots of gear. And it's waterproof, which came in handy on this trip.

We fired up the stove and enjoyed our freeze dried chicken and noodles:

We hung around for a bit, but finally tucked in around 8:30 and read Henry's story book. A thunderstorm hit around 4:00 am, and then it rained continuously until about 7:30. In the morning, we packed up our wet and dirty tent, had a quick bite for a cold breakfast, and hit the trail. With the trails in such poor shape, my new plan was to hike through G to M, and then take route 278 back to the trailhead.

Henry was excited (and I have to admit, kind of scared) to find this turtle:

We spent about two hours of mud, vines, and bugs (but not much rain) until we could finally hear the cars on the road. We emerged from the forest to find... point K. About 180 degrees from where I wanted to be. Pick your choice words here... I can only partially blame some logging in the area which screwed up some of the trails. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

So we hit the road. We marched north, away from our car, climbing up route 56 until it intersected with route 278 south. The sign there said five miles to Lake Hope SP, where we were parked across the street. These shoes are made for walking:

On the plus side, it was a great morning for walking: cool, shady, mostly downhill or flat after the initial climb to the intersection. But we were tired, and hungry, and tired. We eventually gave in and started putting our thumbs out for every south bound vehicle. Who passes up an adorable six year old with his thumb out and his teddy bear? Everyone, apparently. No one stopped or even slowed. Some people did wave. Thanks.

We took a break at every corner barrier:

I checked later, we ended up walking 6.3 miles on the road, after 1.6 miles of slow trail going (and after another 6 miles or so the previous day) But finally we had the end in sight:

I promised Henry the can of Coke I had in a cooler for being such a good sport about the long walk. He celebrated with it:

Then it was on to a well earned lunch (driving in a few minutes the stretch along 278 that took us over two hours to walk):

And an equally well earned rest:

I later asked Henry what his favorite part of the backpacking trip was: "the Coke." Least favorite: "the walking." I wonder if he'll be ready for another trip this summer? Certainly not to Zaleski!

The For Sale Post

Updated as of Mar 28, 2026

Price don't include shipping from central Ohio. I'd be happy to get out of the house and meet someone a few hours from Central Ohio to make an exchange in person (for a bike or frame)

Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V5.6 (I think), 64cm, Frame/fork/WI headset SOLD

This is in excellent, like new condition. Uncut steerer tube. I have it assembled in case anyone local wants to test ride it, but I'm really only interested in selling the frameset.

Shown is set up for 6'3" me with a 32" seat height.

Geo is here:  https://blackmtncycles.com/info/archived-frame-tech/

The headset (included) in a very nice White Industries, made in the US.

Bike Friday New World Tourist / Silk, size 60cm, SOLD

This is an unusual BF for two reasons:

- it's big, sized for someone 6'+, unlike most folders, and

- it folds so the bottom bracket pivots with the rear triangle, so the chain stays on, unlike most Bike Fridays. This means you can also make it into a fixed gear Bike Friday! With another rear wheel.

Excellent condition except for a few paint chips here and there.

Shown set up for 6'3" me, 32" seat height, though I used a shorter stem. But I'm keeping my Redshift stem.

Lots of tire clearance, probably good for a 2.2" or so. I like V brakes for folding bikes because they deal with getting knocked around better than discs.

AT-2 style handlebars, but these are NOT splittable. They're just regular bars.

I find this old Bontrager seat pretty comfy, but I'm all about Charge Spoon saddles these days. Rare silver suspension seat post.

Basic Shimano nine speed drivetain with a Litepro 1x crank.

Nearly new rear tire.

Here's the magic of the rear end. Normal BF fold behind the bottom bracket, and the chain comes off every time you unfold it. This is frustrating, but this design solves that 95% of the time.

This part of the frame has a history you can read about here.

The wheels are generic 20"/ 406 rims, but I find pretty much anything is strong enough for this small size.

Folded

The rear dropouts are a swinging style, so the chainstay length can be adjusted for a fixed gear, IGH, etc. I also have a drive side dropout without a derailleur hanger for that clean look, if you run single speed.