Why I'm doing this

Just because I posted this April 1 doesn't mean this is a joke. For this trip, I return to Ohio to do a loop tour. Why Ohio? I think they have some great bicycle infrastructure, and there are trails I have not yet explored. Plus, it's a day's drive from the Atlanta area, and I can throw my bike (i.e. carefully place my bike) into my car and transport it to the cycling destination. Places that are farther off (like Minneapolis and the New England Coast) require a bit more planning and day's drives.

And you may say, "Why don't you fly?" and my response would be something between "Commercial air travel is miserable" and "I don't want to be stuffed in a pressurized aluminum tube at 36,000' sitting in a middle seat and cramped personal space" But that's just me talking....

So, my preference is driving, and if that means a one-way rental to some destinations (like I did to Buffalo last year) then bring it on.

Why (part 2)

I'm not sure I fully explained the why. Let's see, I mentioned the day's drive, I mentioned the cycling infrastructure and the trails, OH! I didn't mention the weather.

Spring should be hitting Ohio at this point, and that means I can camp half of the nights here. There are some good camping spots along the Ohio to Erie trail and then again along the North Coast Inland Trail. And at this point, if you're guessing I'll be riding both of those trail then you are right on the money. Waynesville using the OTET to around Akron, then west to hit the eastern terminus of the N. Coast Inland Trail, and then go through (Holy!) Toledo! and then south connecting with the Great Miami River trail in Piqua (It certainly Piqua-ed my curiousity!) all the way into Dayton. Or you could just look at at the route below.

Two of the places I plan to stop are near the end of the trip - these are the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Waponetka and the National Air Force Museum in Dayton. I've been to the latter and they have a great collection of aviation memorabilia, but never to the former. And both should prove very interesting.

I'm also going to camp, which is going to be fun, and possibly meet up with a subscriber for a short ride. So, looking forward to the ride.

I answer the question posed in the title.

When I first thought about this, it's probably just the way I routed it. But then I did think about getting through the OTET section from Waynesville to Columbus first, and saving the aviation-themed museums towards the end of the tour, when I shorter days on the bike and could spend more time in the museums. Plus, I find left turns easier on the bike.