Skip to main content

July 3-- Cincinnati, Ohio

Today was another good cycling day. As usual we left our hotel to beat the heat and the predicted afternoon storms.  Believe it or not, our first stop was Ripley, Ohio, not to be confused with our destination a few days ago in Ripley, WV.  According to a historical marker, the town got its name in 1816 to honor General Eleazar Wheelock Ripley, an American officer of the War of 1812.

Ripley has several points of interest for us. Joe took many pictures of the interesting old homes and we stopped at John Parker’s house.  He was an American abolitionist, inventor, iron molder and industrialist. Parker, who was African American, helped hundreds of slaves to freedom in the Underground Railroad resistance movement. He rescued fugitive slaves for nearly fifteen years. He was one of the few black people to patent an invention before 1900. His house in Ripley has been designated a National Historic Landmark and restored.  Next we walked out bikes on a half mile hill that went straight up, to see John Rankin's house and enjoy a marvelous view of the Ohio River. John Rankin was an Presbyterian minister, educator and abolitionist. Upon moving to Ripley in 1822, he became known as one of Ohio's first and most active "conductors" on the Underground Railroad.

Further along we stopped at Ulysses S. Grant's birth place.  As you know, he was an American Civil War general and 18th United States President. The house was so small it could be included in the TV show that features tiny homes.  After leaving there we must have picked up a tail wind because our speed increased to 17-20 mph.  And did it feel good.  In fact it took us to Utopia (Ohio).  We did not have any of the threatened rain but it did get hot.  Near Cincinnati, we enjoyed traffic free bike trails that lead us close to our hotel.

Pictures

Map

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

June 28, 2019—Ripley, WV

After we left Parkersburg , WV we cycled for about 15 miles on rural roads, with NO traffic.  We had lots of hills and rough roads but the lack of traffic and the benefit of the shade from overhanging trees made it all worth while. We cycled thru farm lands and along a mountain road.  After dropping back down to the highway, we were again along the river.  Unlike earlier days, we saw lots of barges moving on the river.  It is amazing that a “little” tugboat can gracefully push a pack of barges 3 wide and 6 long. Most of the rest of the ride was on low traffic roads until we got to Washington, VW.  Yes, George did own land here and it was farmed.  (He did get around.)  From Washington to Ripley, we had lots of hills, traffic and road construction.  So, believe it or not, we did arrive safely in Ripley. Pictures Map
1 comment
Read more

June 25-- Steubenville, Ohio

  In summary, we anticipated a tough day and were not disappointed. We had lots of climbing, some missing shoulders, some flooded shoulders, and some heavy traffic.   However, we did have reasonable temperatures, a cooling head wind, several nice down hill runs.   So don’t expect much from today’s blog.   We departed from our Pittsburgh hotel around 6 a.m. and hit the first of our continuous climbs.   While there were lots of them, they weren’t steep or long.   A server storm dumped lots of rain last night bringing down debris and flooding the low spots.   Besides impacting our riding, the rain dampened our first stop at Raccoon Creek State Park Wildflower Center.   The trails were swampy and there were no blooming wildflowers visible from the parking lot so we decided to keep climbing the never ending hills.   Our one really nice down hill occurred as we headed down the mountain to the Ohio River .   Not only was it long, it pr...
Post a Comment
Read more

July 12, 2019—Chester, Illinois

We left Anna early and enjoyed cool temperatures as we cycled back to Mom’s Restaurant in Jonesboro .  Mom was glad to see us again and shared the latest road closures and prepared a good breakfast.  Before leaving “Mom” made sure that we had adequate water, admonished us to be safe, but didn’t give us a goodbye hug.  Come on, that’s what moms are for.  (Mom, when you read this, Thanks for the great hospitality.) Temperatures stayed cool for several hours and we cycled low traffic roads thru state and federal forests.   As it warmed up, we were back on the highways heading north with a headwind that helped diminish the effects of the heat.   We went along roads that had flooded fields on both sides, saw many closed side roads, and were thankful we hadn’t been here a few weeks earlier. We had no traffic until we got to within 15 miles of Chester .   Then:   (1) we encountered a stream of tractor trailer trucks hauling gravel to a barge lo...
Post a Comment
Read more