Trail Troubles | OTET 3 | Cycle Touring | Keppel’s Vlog 23 | Milford, OH

Day 2 on the Ohio-to-Erie Trail, crossing the state of Ohio! This is the longest day of the ride, starting before dawn with a visit from the police, and ending just at dark. Along the way, I meet a man riding his bike from Michigan to Florida, raising money to help get people to their cancer treatment.

Despite riding in circles in Xenia, and the encounters with wildlife along the way, will I make it to London to hang my hammock?

Mile Marker 16 – 98
(Milford – London)
82 miles (131 km) for the day!

Relive.cc is a great place to check out details of the ride, including elevation and an interactive map.
Relive Day 2: https://www.relive.cc/web/view/v36AxzP5jGO

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Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction
01:28 – Loveland
03:24 – Detour
04:14 – Morrow
07:45 – Interview
09:39 – Spring Valley
11:20 – Xenia
12:23 – The Truth
16:14 – Outro

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Recording gear used:
GoPro Hero 8 Black
Sony ZV-E10 w/ SEL18135 lens
Ulanzi AM-18 U-Mic
Google Pixel 6
DaVinci Resolve 18
DJI Mini SE (FAA Remote Pilot Cert. 4872384)

Music:
Licensed through Epidemic Sound

“Dark Horse” by Tigerblood Jewel
“Outer Rim” by Subliminance
“City Echoes” by dreem
“Go On Together (Instrumental Version)” by Christine Smit

technically was a uh violation of the law save some mustard this is only day [Music] two had the opportunity to have a morning coffee and veggie burrito here at uh trail head 42 coffee shop 42 Mile Coffee Shop something like that now about to get back on the Ohio de Trail there we go good morning friend humans this is about the first time I’ve had enough light to be able to talk to you I’m on the trail early this morning because yesterday’s uh into Cincinnati and out of Cincinnati was enough that I stopped after only 30 mil so that means today we’ve got 80 miles to go and uh 80 Mi is a lot more than I’ve done uh and one sitting so we’ll see how it goes but I left at about 6:15 this morning then I stopped for a coffee at the uh 42m coffee shop here in Loveland Ohio this is a lovely lovely little town it’s famous for being a valentine capital in the 1970s uh they got a campaign going to get people to submit Valentine’s to the post office here so they’d be postmarked from Loveland and they’ve continued that Trend ever since and they definitely have fun it’s that kind of a that kind of a place okay detour so that was exciting apparently the uh Bridge across the Little Creek in Loveland pedestrian bridge and part of the otet is closed from October 1st through May of 2024 wouldn’t you know it there was no designated detour so I had to do a little bit of scrambling to figure something out I’m now on one of the surface streets hoping to make it back to the the trail properly shouldn’t too much further it is gorgeous out here today even this morning when I could just barely make out the trail in front of me I mean beyond my headlights it was a gorgeous morning of being able to see the Little Miami River oh this is all lovely [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] detour number two [Music] oh steep hill but this is the detour so it must be taken [Music] the Caboose behind me is a great REM reminder of the original purpose of this Trail a little Miami Trail here here follows the former Little Miami railroad which followed the Little Miami River it’s a lot of infrastructure and a lot of things Allin one area this uh Caboose back here from 1905 is just uh emblematic of everything that went into this you see that canals uh and the rivers were necessary infrastructure to begin moving goods from the interior of Ohio uh to all the ports where they would be sold after the canals were built the railroad was invented and the railroad was much more efficient but they had all of these infrastructure points along the Little Miami River and so they built the railroad uh along the Little Miami River as well as a way to connect to those points that already existed it also helps that most River areas the region right around them are flat so it made it easier to make the grade work I just love seeing these reminders of the history of things because now of course these old railroads have been turned into bike trails and again flat is wonderful for that uh less about moving industry and industrial goods and Agriculture and the like and moving people and exploring which is kind of where we are this is the town of Morrow and every time I think of that I remember reading the uh the Oz books in which Dorothy always says something about tomorrow and it’s hyphenated like two tomorrow the uh thought was tomorrow was morning the next day now we just kind of think of it as tomorrow tomorrow is one word and that was about the same time that this Caboose was made actually 1905 right around the time that the Oz books were being published by lfrank bomb it’s interesting all the connections you can make I’m going to take a moment here and recharge myself and recharge the electronics but it is good to be able to take a break today to see him Wonder Ponder all these things [Music] where [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so I’m out here riding on the little Miami trail and I run into another longdistance cyclist here he’s going a little further than I am Jeff do you want to talk about where you’re going and what’s going on yeah right now my name is Jeff mby I’m a unteer with the American Cancer Society and uh I’m riding in support of their road to recovery program which helps patients get to their appointments if they have trouble doing that and um my current plan is to get down to Florida for the winter and then I’ll spend the next couple of years just kind of winding around the country man getting down to Florida you started in Michigan yeah and we’re meeting up here halfway well not halfway but a little bit along the way in Ohio um how long do you expect to be on the road um I am going to get to Atlanta uh by the 14th and then I’m going to fly home for the holidays um and then uh resume after Thanksgiving uh get down to Florida by Christmas time hopefully and uh you know after that I’m just going to keep going fantastic well good luck in your your travels here I’m so glad to have run into you and have a few moments to to absolutely it’s nice meeting you Lucas [Music] [Music] [Music] so I’m riding through Spring Valley right now and my original original plan this would have been the town in which I stayed the night on night one 60 miles or so from Cincinnati hard to believe that that was the uh the original plan and I’m only now just reaching it it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon on day two but I have ridden 45 miles already today so I’m more than halfway to London which will get me back on track probably going to arrive after dark cuz I need to stop for a little bit and have some food but it is uh it’s been a really good day out here temperatures not been too high been able to see some neat things but I’m a little sore and I need to have some lunch something more than a handful of gummy bears anyway we seem to be uh on multiple trails at once as we’re coming into zen that makes sense Zenia was a uh major crossing point for the railroads hello Mr Bieber how are you hard at work [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] just made it through the town of sou South Charleston and as you can probably tell I am exhausted no surprise I’ve come 73 miles already I have another 10ish to go but we are going to make London tonight when I set out this morning that was my goal to get back on track make sure that I was able to keep the timetable that I’ve got only got till Sunday to head back home and ending day one early was difficult now because of that I left early this morning of course I knew 80 miles was going to be a challenging day but there was more to that story you see the uh the guide put out by the Ohio de Eerie Trail Association men mentioned that there was the ability to uh sleep in one of the parks at Milford Milford was only 16 and2 miles from Cincinnati but with going back and forth you know I needed a place to stay that made sense to me what they failed to note or at least I failed to notice it was that that was only in the summer months after August they no longer allow that plus you can’t just roll in that night and stay in the park you apparently need to get the uh permission of the mayor’s office so around 2: a.m. I had a visit from some police officers who were very kind I explained what was going on and despite the hour they said you know as long as you’re out of here before Dawn all is well so part of my leaving early was to uh fulfill my promise to the police of Milford and I I do appreciate the miscommunication and the the fact that I didn’t follow procedure I didn’t know that but technically sleeping in that Park was a uh violation of the law so I feel a little chagrined about that however it did get me on the trail early this morning and that means that I’m going to be arriving maybe just after dusk just after Sundown and that’s pretty amazing and unlike Milford London has a completely free campsite one of the reasons I was so stoked to get there and it’s right on the trail probably going to make a donation to them as a thank you for letting me stay there there you know there’s a part of me that wants to extend this 83 miles of the day another 17 and get my get my Imperial Century out of the way but maybe maybe I should save some save some mustard this is only day two and there will be some long days is coming up so we’ll see what will happen yeah it’s London yes finally made it to the campsite 82 and a half miles completed today yes so good and Sun hasn’t gone down [Music] [Applause] [Music] ch [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] what [Music]