Cruise Time
To celebrate open road season, as well as Bike Week (May 30 – June 9) and my five-year anniversary with the Toledo City Paper, I am revisiting some of the folks I’ve written about before who truly love the open road. I’ll feature a few of their favorites rides, and you can check out motorcycleroads.com for more great routes (these routes make for great car rides too!).
Friends Butch Tolles (aka Old School for his vintage Harley’s, a 1941 Flathead 45 and a 1968 Electra Glide motorcycles) and Fred Ickes (on his 1956 Harley Panhead) are once again hitting the roads every Sunday. This time of year they recommend heading west out Central Ave. to US 127 North into Michigan to enjoy the gorgeous Irish Hills area, then continuing on US 12 to Cement City, MI, for one of their favorite pit stops, Artesian Wells Sports Tavern, a relaxed, biker-friendly place, before heading back. Alternately, observe the 42-acre McCourtie Park, just west of the intersection of US 12 and US 223/127.
Vickey Johnson is still riding her Harley-Davidson Road Glide and Big Dog Chopper and teaching Motorcycle Ohio Education Classes for beginner and intermediate riders. “The classes are an excellent way to learn in a safe environment with highly skilled instructors,” says Johnson. Visit motorcycle.ohio.gov for details, registration and locations. Her favorite ride any time of year is through the Hocking Hills, Vinton County area.
Kit Hedges, also a Motorcycle Ohio instructor, logs over 16,000 bike miles a year. He highly recommends riding through southeast Ohio on those fantastic, curvy roads, claiming the best riding challenge is OH 555, the Triple Nickel, also known as the Ohio Tail of the Dragon which runs from Zanesville through the Marietta area, an incredible 62 miles of rural views amid awesome switchbacks, close turns, blind curves and quick-cresting hills.
Runners Glow
Runners GlowIf you’d rather have your feet on the ground, then don’t miss the latest national craze to hit the running circuit since the mud, zombie and color runs: the Electric Run. This year’s Ohio race is in Cleveland on Friday, June 20 starting at 9:30pm. Billed as a runner’s “Electric Wonderland,” the glowing, pulsating 5k course offers one million watts of light and sound. Runners are encouraged to light themselves up with LEDs, glow sticks, paint or in other creative ways. For info, registration and video of previous races go to electricrun.com/cleveland.
