I'll go the distance if it's worth it.

     

       Out of all of the bike trails I've been on these past couple of years, I have to say, the North Coast Inland Trail is my absolute favorite.  It starts in Elmore Ohio, and a good portion of it goes through wide open country, with cornfields surrounded by white fluffy clouds. 

      I rode on it last summer and it felt like a dream scene from the Movie "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang",  where they floated up into the clouds.  

     This trail is about 24 miles from end to end; which means to cover the entire route and make it back to the start would be almost 50 miles.  It's impossible to get the whole trail in on a typical day, including the drive time to get there and back, so we only rode 12 miles in, and then 12 miles back that day.  

     The memories of this beautiful trail made me desperate to see the second half, but I knew I had to drive almost an hour to Fremont Ohio to pick it up; and then there were the two or more hours it took to ride the trail it's self.

     We finally found a Sunday morning where we had some time and headed to Fremont.  I set my GPS for the trail and when we were finally in the middle of the town of Fremont, I was informed we were there.

                                       

        This was not a bike trail!!  I drove an hour for this?!?!  My riding buddy who knows all of the trails well explained to me we had to ride through town before we picked up the second part of the trail.  

     This made no sense to me.  We drove an hour to ride through town?? I could have done that in Toledo... I wasn't in the mood to ride the city streets; I wanted fluffy clouds!  He said if we wanted to experience the entire trail we had to ride through town.

     You know how stubborn us Scorpios are... I DID NOT want to ride on any stinking city streets; not today...

     As we drove a little further we arrived to the spot we ended last summer, and this was where we would continue on to finish the trail, but again... we had to go through town first...

         As "persistent" as I was being about riding in my "fluffy clouds" a suggestion was soon made that we just ride the half we did last time and forget about the second half.  I was tempted, but figured it was crazy to drive all that way only to do the same half, so I reluctantly gave in to riding through town. 
                                         

     

     As we were sharing the road with the cars, we saw bike trail signs along the way.  I think I may have grumbled once or twice that this is not a bike trail...  We were riding on a road without even a bike lane, with cracks and loose gravel everywhere...

    Before long we came to a quaint little neighborhood with a park in the middle of it.  This was closer, but still not a bike trail...

     Then I finally saw the sign for the "official"  bike trail ahead.  Could all of my patience have finally paid off?? 

     I believe it did, because we were now crossing the Blanchard River...
                             

 and the view was a far cry from the city streets I just left.

                           

          I found my white fluffy clouds and all was good again:)

       the rest of the trail was a lot like the many other nice trails I've been on, and it was well worth the ride to get there.

     One thing I'm starting to learn is, if you want to experience the good things in life; sometimes you  have to ride through traffic:)

Have a great day!!

Christine:)