Rainy Trail

Tuesday

Distance Travelled via bicycle today: 5km
Distance Travelled via bicycle TOTAL:  173km

Today, we left East Forks, Ohio and headed north to Pennsylvania. It was a fairly long drive and took most of the day. We made it to the campsite and we have internet - yeah!! So Rod doesn't have to drive me to McDonald's to update my blog. :-D

It was late when we arrived and we only had a little bit of daylight but Audrey and I managed to get in 5km of biking.

Wednesday

Distance Travelled via bicycle today: 30km
Distance Travelled via bicycle TOTAL:  203km

Today, our luck of sunny skies and great weather ran out. It rained through much of the night and ALL day. Audrey and I packed up our bikes and headed out onto the trail. It pretty much rained the entire time we were cycling. We went 30km along a rail trail (converted railroad track into trail path) from Rock City, OH to Ashtabula, OH. We are staying in Erin, PA but we backtracked a bit to cycle that part of the route.

Audrey and I are following a mapped trail of one (there are MANY) routes that fugitives used to make their way from the states via the Underground Railroad to Canada. It has been mapped out by the Cycling Association and is called the FREEDOM TRAIL. The Freedom Trail not only follows one of the routes along the Underground Railroad, it travels by numerous historical points of interest that are connected to the Underground Railroad.  As we cycle, we often stop at the museums, historical homes, etc. Today while cycling, the rail trail had these small boards with different stories about local people who were a part of the Underground Railroad in this area. We could ride along the trail and then along the way we could stop and read different information. Today's ride was enjoyable but would have been so much nicer if the weather co-operated. :-D By the time we are finished, Audrey and I hope to have cycled over 300km, through 5 different states (Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York) and into Canada and along the Niagara Trail.  

One of the stories we read about today was about the Hubbard family. After Audrey and I reached Ashtabula, Rod met up with us up, we went to the historical landmark Hubbard home which is in Ashtabula.

Colonel Hubbard was in the military during the War of 1812 (interesting). He purchased land along Lake Erie, where some other members of his family had settled. His family were also abolitionists.  Hubbard continued the tradition and he and his wife helped fugitive slaves get safe passage across the lake into Canada. The video link below shows the Hubbard house and talks about slaves running from the house silently at night to awaiting row boats to take fugitives to awaiting boats. This may have happened but the Hubbard's actually built an underground tunnel from their barn to the water's edge to make the final trek to Lake Erie easier and safer. Ashtabula is able to say that no fugitives were ever caught in their community. All that arrived there - made it to Freedom.

(Click here for more info about the Hubbard House:http://www.hubbardhouseugrrmuseum.org/about.htm)

(Click here for a short video about the Hubbard House: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xC7Vrf_CA)

As always, while cycling, there is time for reflection about things I have learned along this journey. When we were in Buxton, I bought one of the Dear Canada books about the Underground Railroad. The series is written as a journal and is about different young girls in different time periods in Canadian history. During the story, Julie May and her family are running from the south. One night, they are sleeping in the forest and it starts to rain, and then snow a little!!
(click here to see info about the book: http://www.scholastic.ca/dearcanada/books/adesperateroad.htm)

I was thinking about it while I was riding today in the rain. Audrey and I were out riding in the rain for about 3 hours. We were wearing waterproof jackets and were dressed for the weather. However, the times we stopped to read the Underground Railroad boards, it got chilly. It wasn't the most pleasant ride today but it made me think about Julie May and others who had to STAY out in the rain/snow and at the end of 3 hours didn't get to go inside to a warm drink, food, and a change of clothes. We didn't mind our rainy ride today because the 'discomfort' of the rain was going to end and we knew it. But what kind of toll would take take on you if you had to remain out in the rain - all day, all night - without food and a waterproof jacket. Audrey and I chatted a bit about it when I told her what I was thinking. She said it made her think back to the museum we went to in New Albany: Ordinary People - Extraordinary Courage. Yes, they did have courage that was extraordinary. I really can't think of too many things in our modern day life that would challenge our courage as much as this group of people's courage was for so long of a time until they reached Freedom. 

Tomorrow, we head to the tip of New York and will cycle back here towards Pennsylvania.


Sunset in East Forks, Ohio