Knox County Bicycle Challenge
2003 KCBC Leader's Report - By Gary Schmidt
It was a very soggy morning for this year's KCBC, held on September 27. It rained hard enough to quench the spirits of all but the hardiest cyclists this year. A friend of mine called it the "First Timer's Curse", and since I was taking over the ride from Dick Seebode, I should not have expected it to be any different.
Anyhow, for those who were brave enough to come out, the rain stopped around 10AM, and by noon, we had a pretty nice day for riding through the beautiful hills of Knox, Coshocton, and southern Holmes counties. This year we tried something new, and hired some bluegrass musicians from Fredricktown for the lunch stop in Nellie. According to my wife (who helped serve lunch), they were a big hit!
I have always loved the part of this ride that goes through the Kokosing River Valley along Route 715, which is right after the lunch stop in Nellie. My bride and I got to unwind at the White Oak Inn (on SR-715) later that day, and I was able to do my favorite part of this ride in the late afternoon fall sun; it was beautiful! Up until now, I have always enjoyed these rides as a participant. I never realized the amount of time it takes to plan and organize a ride like this. So if anyone asks you to help them with a ride next year, please consider giving a little back to COP, the organization makes these rides possible.
Here's looking forward to a dry KCBC 2004!