Bike Aboard!

Imagine our excitement as the train comes puffing around the bend!  This is the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, one of "America's best ideas," and one of the most visited parks in the U.S.

 There is nothing like an old locomotive to get your heart pumping.

Our point of entry is the Brecksville Station. You will find plenty of maps and directions at that CVNP website.

 We have a small group of six, about to set off on an adventure- biking and a little birding, on the bike trail. Our hosts were Dave and Nancy Reinhart.  (Don't tell anyone, but they are also part-time elves on the Polar Express!)

This is a well operated machine.  The train is on time, we know right where to stand, and the bikes are loaded into a cargo car as we prepare to head south on the train.

Greg Cornet visits with Nancy and Dave Reinhart during the ride.

We pass the time in the comfort of a passenger car. A short fifteen miles up the track, we disembark.  It is just far enough for a pleasant fall bike ride back to Brecksville.

If you ain't the lead bike, the scenery never changes...

 Our travels included miles of scenic canal corridors, wetlands and woods. We visited the quaint town of Peninsula, Ohio where we had lunch at a nice restaurant, The Winking Lizard. Back on the bikes afterward, to complete the last six miles of the journey.

This was an incredible trip, if were it not for some cooler misty weather, it would have been perfection!  I hope to do it again next summer, with more moderate temperatures. We could even get in a few more miles on a long day.  Either way it was great fun, and I highly recommend this trip!  Thanks to Reinharts and Cornets for inviting us along.