Bike Aboard with BikeCLE

HEY CLEVELANDERS! To kick off this week, here’s a quick reminder and an announcement:

1. This Thursday is the Friends of the Hunger Network Celebrity Bartender Happy Hour. From 5:30pm – 7:30pm at Eddy’s and Iggy’s, join them for happy hour specials and to purchase discounted tickets to the second upcoming Hunger Network :Rolling on the River event on Friday, September 30th.
2. The first ever Downtown Cleveland Patio Week begins today and runs thru Sunday, September 18th. Patio Week features an array of $30 3-course dinner options and a $15 lunch options. Click here for participating restaurants and menus. Think Downtown Restaurant Week, just outside!

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A few Saturdays ago, I met up with my friends at BikeCLE to enjoy the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad’s Bike Aboard program. It allows cyclists to bike the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail in one direction and ride the train in the other.

I found my way to the Boston Mill Train Depot for to board the train. If you’ve gone skiing at Boston Mill Brandywine, you’ve been seconds away from this train station.

That’s where I found the lovely Anne from BikeCLE!

Anne had gathered a group of about ten folks for our group, but there were many more people jumping on the train with their bikes:

My bike boarded the train before I did.

But we eventually found our way into the passenger cabin:

The train ride went quick since I was chatting it up with some of the folks in our group. One of those people were Dean – someone on his own weight loss journey to healthy living. Dean writes a blog called Thirty Minutes Daily, which is inspired by his mission to do some physical activity every single day for at least 30 minutes. Dean’s lost 100 pounds since the beginning of the year. He’s doing a great job keeping his 30 minute a day promise!

Six and a half miles later down the Cuyahoga Valley train, we arrived at Indigo Lake:

We jumped off the train, waited patiently for our bikes and – after a quick brownie break c/o yours truly via The Chubby Cook – we were on our way back to Boston Mill!

We didn’t get too far before coming up on Szalay’s Farm:

Szalay’s features freshly picked fruits and veggies, as well as locally made treats.

Sweet corn is picked fresh every day during corn season.

After a nice stop enjoying samples of some amazing plums and obsessing over corn nuts, we got to some serious pedaling with the ten or so of us riding the towpath trail. It was a beautiful day and many Clevelanders were taking advantage of the Bike Aboard program as the trail was busy that afternoon. It was an easy ride back to Boston Mill – 6.5 miles done and done!

Head on over to this YouTube video to check out fellow Bike Aboard participant @ToddJEmery’s pictures of this Bike Aboard get together!

LONG STORY SHORT: Not only is BikeCLE embracing urban biking, they are doing a great job at encouraging Clevelanders to get out to our region’s more natural areas with their bikes. I loved getting to know some new people while spending more time on my new found toy. Many thanks to BikeCLE for organizing this fun, free gathering!