Ernie's Ride 2023 - The "Doc Brown" Year

Great Scott!! Much like Marty McFly experienced déjà vu in Back to the Future, Scott Wright became the first cyclist (& probably the last) to complete Ernie’s Ride two times in one year. This double-ride was necessitated by scheduling conflicts that made it impractical for all 6 riders to cycle the same dates. We have now taken steps to preclude this for future rides.

On August 4, Scott, Doug Shope, Chad Settlage, & Garrett vonBerge pedaled away from Paul Brown Stadium at 6:03 AM and, after short stops in Loveland & Morrow for Nature/Water breaks, they arrived at the Village Family Restaurant in Waynesville at about 10:00 having already completed 54 miles. We were back on the bikes by just after 11:00 and heading for Xenia. The temps worked their way out of the 60’s and into the low 70’s as we rode. By afternoon, it would still only make it into the upper 70’s.

After short Water/Nature breaks in Xenia & South Charleston we arrived at our lunch spot, M&M Diner in London, Ohio just after 2:30 – having already ridden 99 of our 120 miles for the day. After stopping in this Diner for six of the eight Ernie’s Rides, Doug finally noticed that the décor featured actual M&M candy items! It’s no wonder he didn’t notice that raccoon running in front of him in 2022. Anyways, the guys pedaled out of London headed for Columbus where they arrived at the hotel about 10 minutes before 5:00. Check-In & Showers preceded dinner at Roosters and then a well-earned night’s rest.

Saturday morning began before dawn, as the guys pulled out of the hotel parking lot at 5:30, in an effort to beat some of the days high temperatures. Garrett was proving himself to be more than prepared as the group rode north through Columbus, to breakfast at PJ’s Restaurant in Sunbury by about 8:45. The many twists & turns of the trail through Columbus always drops the average speed, so we only had 38 miles in by breakfast. From there, our next real stop was a lite lunch in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, after our usual mini-breaks at the highest point on the Heart of Ohio Trail near Centerburg and the Mt. Vernon Tower. We did get Garrett to climb the spiral stairs about halfway up the tower! By the time we stopped at Wendy’s in Mt. Vernon, we had a total of 63 miles for the day.

With 41 miles left for the day, we departed Mt. Vernon on the Kokosing Gap Trail, rode through Gambier and on to our next Water/Nature break on the edge of Danville. From there it was 12 miles to a short break in Glenmont which left us only 14 miles from our hotel in Millersburg, where we arrived just after 4:00 pm. The day had given us some warm temperatures, but we finished up with Chad & Garrett pulling us up the Holmes County Trail to Millersburg where we enjoyed East of Chicago Pizza, Dairy Queen, and a good night’s rest, having completed 104 more miles. In two days, we had ridden 224 miles.

Sunday morning’s ride began at 5:49 am as we aimed our bikes north for the final leg of Ernie’s Ride. We were all pretty tired, but the day began well. It was the Holmes County Trail for the first 11 miles into Fredericksburg, where we took to the roads & hills of Amish Country for the next 17 miles to Dalton. In Dalton, after a break at the “Best Gas Station in the World”, we jumped on the Scippo Valley Trail to Massillon and the Towpath Trail into Canal Fulton for Breakfast at about 9:45, having ridden 46 miles since leaving Millersburg. The last half of the last day is always so difficult, by this time you are almost too tired to eat. But you need the energy. So you eat.

We made it to lunch at about 1:45 in Peninsula after a short break at Mustill Store (Cascade Locks Park) in Akron. We had now ridden 81 miles for the day, 305 miles since Friday morning, with only 26 miles between us and Lake Erie. But those 26 miles were very difficult. However, the group rolled into Edgewater Park at Lake Erie just before 5:00 pm. I’d write more about those last 25 miles, but they are just a blur.

As mentioned earlier, Ernie’s Ride typically takes place on one weekend in August – however, two of the riders for 2024 – James Kenniv and Dave Kenniv were involved in the production of the musical “Horizons of Gold” during the ‘traditional’ date for Ernie’s Ride. As a result, the decision was made to have a 2nd weekend for Ernie’s Ride in 2023, three weeks later.

While James had completed Ernie’s Ride in 2023, he and Dave still needed a guide who was more familiar with the route, detours, and challenges--- and having a third teammate would make the ride a little easier. Scott Wright was their guy.

The weather forecast had been spot-on for this day – the prediction was for temperatures in the mid-90s – and even at 5:30 AM it was hot and humid – a bad sign for what was to come. The group was able to set off slightly early, and was on the road a little before 6:00 AM.

In this type of heat, the challenge is to hydrate consistently, not become over-heated, and avoid cramping. All three riders would need to be diligent in hydration. Even so, the fatigue & cramping still came.

The Little Miami trail is a large part of the first half of day 1, and the continued bridge work at Kings Mills meant a detour on the roads from Loveland to Morrow. The happy part of this is that we were cheered on by longtime Ernie’s Ride supporters (Mary Elmer & family) as we descended into Morrow. After 4 hours, the team arrived in Waynesville for breakfast – and while we enjoyed a little over an hour out of the heat, we came back outside to temps in the low 90’s. Fortunately, the Little Miami trail tends to be slightly cooler due to the trees and shade.

The riders took a longer-than-usual break at the next two stops in Xenia and Cedarville for hydration and rest. The heat was sapping energy, and the shorter breaks we’d typically take at these stops weren’t quite enough to re-charge. By the time we’d reached Cedarville, we were 7 hours and 40 minutes into the trip, the heat was significant, and we still had 3 hours of riding left. Sadly, the trail offers less shade from Xenia to Columbus, so the team felt the full brunt of the sun just as the day was hitting its hottest temperatures.

Fortunately, more supporters appeared in Cedarville in the form of James’ wife Kristen, who works at Cedarville College. Scott also was able to catch up with an old friend (Bart Sherridan) at Sherridan’s Auction House. Slight navigational foibles delayed our already late lunch in London, OH by about 5 minutes, but after a meal at M&M Diner, the team struck back out at 4:40 PM to complete the ride to Columbus.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful… the team was grateful for new trail that kept them shaded thru Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, and we arrived at our hotel in Columbus nearly 12 hours after setting out from Cincinnati. We were a tired, sweaty group held together by the support and prayer of our friends and sponsors, the mission, and each other.

While the temperatures declined for Day 2 (more into the low 80s), the prior day had a residual effect on the group. James, in particular, had struggled with the heat on Day 1, and he wasn’t fully back to speed for the early part of Day 2—and we were all a bit tired. As a result, the team took it easy as we navigated through Columbus. Maybe due to this slower pace the team accomplished a rare feat in Columbus – no wrong turns!! After a breakfast stop in Sunbury, the team began to find their legs a bit, and we were incredibly grateful to hit the high point of that day’s ride just outside of Centerburg.

Dave Kenniv joined the tradition of new Ernie’s Riders by climbing the observation tower when the riders reached Mt. Vernon. Note: As usual, Scott Wright stayed on the ground (ostensibly to take pictures).

After a quick meal in Mt. Vernon, the team braced for the longest climb of Day 2 – a 3.5-mile ascent between Danville and Glenmont. Dave viewed this as a challenge, and shot up the hill, while James and Scott ground out the long climb. All of us enjoyed the downhill into Glenmont on the backside – but the climb had definitely taken something out of Dave -as for the first time, he struggled on the rolling hills of the backroads from Glenmont to Killbuck, then on to our hotel in Millersburg.

Day 3 arrived with clouds, and cooler temps – which is always appreciated as the first part of that day takes the team through hilly Amish country. The scenery was gorgeous! James and Scott were in good form. Dave, however, was struggling more than he had for most of Day 1 and Day 2, but his determination to finish (and lots of prayer from family & friends) kept the guys moving at a good clip. That said, the riders were happy to survive Amish country and return to rail trail at Dalton.

Winds were out of the north, which helped bring the cooler air, but that meant that almost all of the riding from Dalton to Cleveland would be into a headwind. We pushed on to breakfast in Canal Fulton a little after 10 AM, and enjoyed our typical repast at Sister’s Century house – where they always take fantastic care of us.<

More cheers greeted us just south of Akron in Scott’s wife Jenny, and Sharon Aberle (Scott’s daughter’s Mother-in-Law) – and provided us with Gatorade and ice-cold towels along with encouragement to finish the ride. A nice day means a crowded trail in the Cuyahoga National Park, and navigating the narrow trail in was slow, but the promise of completing the ride kept the guys going. We arrived in the outskirts of Cleveland about 4:30 PM.

Just 12 more miles, and we arrived at Lake Erie around 5:20 PM. James & Dave had ridden 333 miles over the course of the 3 days. Scott had logged over 660 miles for his two efforts! Great Scott! (or so says, Doc Brown).