Circumnavigation of Lake Erie

The idea to ride entirely around Lake Erie has been kicking around in me and Will's heads for a while now. The key to these kind of rides is to stay flexible, so when the weather looked good, we decided to go for it fairly last minute. I worked up a quick route, figure out some logistics, and checked the weather one last time. Everything seemed good. Of course, on a 660+ mile route, you gotta expect a couple curve balls,  but that's what makes it fun.

Last Wednesday came around, and I frantically put a new cassette and chain on my gravel bike. Then, I drove out to Will's house, put a new chainring and chain on his gravel bike (Hamburgers' Mobile Bike Shop, that's trademarked by the way), and we drove up to the Cleveland area to get a cheap hotel. Thankfully, the hotel let us park our car there for four days, which was very helpful.

Lake Erie just after sunset

Shenandoah Mountain Bikepacking

With the weather finally getting warmer, I got the urge to do another bikepacking adventure. I texted Will early in the week about there being a good stretch of weather coming up, and it ended up working out that we could do a trip from Saturday through Tuesday. The weather was looking especially nice in Virginia, so I went to work planning a 300-350 mile route of gravel, doubletrack, and some pavement to do near the Harrisonburg area.

On Friday evening, after finishing all my homework and putting the final touches on my route, I picked up Will and we drove down to Virginia. We parked my car at a trailhead in Massanutten and spent the night in a luxurious five-star hotel suite known as the back of my Subaru Outback. After a not-so-great night of sleep, it was time to rip.

Will had the advantage of having wiings (thanks Red Bull) to start the ride