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I took a two-day mini-tour by bicycle from my home near Akron, up to Sandusky to catch the ferry over to Kelley’s Island. I borrowed a Yakima cargo trailer from a co-worker, to see how I liked touring with a trailer compared to panniers. I had a delicious and inexpensive lunch of pancakes and a ham and cheese omelette at Gramma Joe’s restaurant in Vermillion.

After the 90-mile ride to Sandusky, I found that the ferry there was shut down due to high winds. The other ferry was an additional 45-mile ride away, around Sandusky Bay. I hitched a ride with a generous local stranger, who drove me directly across the bay on the freeway, where it was just another five-mile pedal to the ferry at Marblehead. I will remember to call ahead to check the ferry status next time…

Once finally on Kelleys Island, I set up my tent and showered at the state park campground, which was very nice. I had a cheeseburger for dinner at the Kelleys Island Brewery, then a couple drinks with a few locals at the Village Pump Bar.

The next morning, I had pancakes and strawberries for breakfast at Bag the Moon restaurant, which was again delicious, and surprisingly inexpensive. I had to take the ferry to Marblehead again, where I caught a ride with a nice woman named Cindy back to Sandusky, and then pedaled home.

The Rachel Carson Trail is a 34-mile hiking trail near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Every year on the Saturday closest to the Summer Solstice (to provide the longest possible daylight), the Rachel CarsonTrail Challenge is held, where participants hike (or attempt to hike) the entire trail in one day.

This was my first time participating in this event. It took me about 15 hours to hike the entire trail; I finished, but not before the “official” cut-off time.

Mountain biking trip to Ellicottville, New York.

During the Independence Day weekend of 2005, my friend Ray and I bicycled from my place east of Cleveland to Pittsburgh and back. The trip down was 151 miles; by eliminating a few wrong turns, the return trip was 143 miles.

Our trip mostly followed the route known as the Cleveland-Pittsburgh Connector, which joins the Adventure Cycling Association’s Northern Tier Route with the Great Allegheny Passage.

Thanks to my friends Henry and Emma for putting us up (and putting up with us) for the couple of days of our stay.