The 37th annual Roscoe Ramble ride was held the Saturday/Sunday of August 13 and 14. A total of 107 registered for this annual trek from one of two starting points, Canal Fulton or Kidron, to our Saturday night objective, the historic canal-era town of Roscoe Village located in Coshocton, Ohio. A large number of the people that rode this year were returnees from previous years.
The ABC riding contingent included Tom Wilson, Bob Whittington, Randy Austin, Heidi Emhoff, Dan and Tina Maddock, Michelle Kautz, Beth Hale, Lori Box. Tom Gaydos, Mike Nelson, Gail Micsko, Dana Kalchof, Nancy Buchanan, Rich Elliot, Richard and Mike Mausser, and Robert and Brenda Kropp.
The ride was a great success due to the participation of the many volunteers from ABC.Ernie Hall created the brochure used to advertise the ride. Lori Box handled distribution of brochures to surrounding bike clubs and bike shops and served as the point person for registrations. Judy Birt handled registration of the riders and assignment of available hotel space. Eric Schultz, Bob Whittington, Bob Iden, and Pat Smith coordinated to paint road arrows over 150 miles and did a great job. We only lost Tom Wilson for a short distance.Jim Birt and Bob Iden handled luggage transport, and managed to have a lost baggage rate that was just slightly better than Slovenian Airlines. Bill and Brenda Greathouse, Judy Birt, Dana Kalchof and Barb Pratt handled SAG over the two day ride.
Blll and Brenda Greathouse brought with them everyone in their family except the dog. Then Tom Wilson brought the dog. Beauregard, who served as the first ever ride mascot, got to ride in the luggage truck with Jim Birt and Bob Iden. We found that dogs really do like trucks. Members of our surrounding clubs such as Stark County Bike Club, Lake Erie Wheelmen, Medina Bike Club, Toledo Area Bicyclists (TAB), and Cleveland Touring Club attended the ride. Representing other states were riders from 8 different states.
At the registration sites, ride participants were treated to a our first ever complimentary “Roscoe Ramble” souvenir water bottle that was filled with emergency air to be used when following Amish buggies. Shortly after starting, riders stopped at the Paint Township fire station, where Todd Lendon of the Fire Department treated them to homemade Amish pastries, including the traditional “gobs”. Lunch was held under shady trees at the Amish farm of the Miller-Yoder family in Charm, where many were entertained by the antics of the young Amish children. The morning was an easy ride under overcast clouds, keeping conditions ideal. A couple riders enjoyed a short race with some boys in a buggy (the bikes won this time). Breakdowns were few, but we had the first ever assault of a bike rider when one of our participants was injured by a B-B shot by a 7 year-old on the side of the road. The rider was treated and released after a short trip to the emergency room, and was so devoted to riding that she insisted on finishing the ride on Saturday and Sunday, which she accomplished.
This year was also the first ever Roscoe Ramble beer giveaway, when riders arriving on the north side of Coshocton were greeted by an unknown cyclist from south Cleveland who was offering free beer out of his panniers to all riders passing by. Most declined the beer and opted instead for the complimentary ice cream cone at Medbury Market in Roscoe Village. Edgar Rapp from TAB decided to try out his new Linskey frame by riding up legendary Hill street that runs west out of Roscoe Village. At the hotel, two massage therapists treated many of the arriving cyclists. Due to limited availability of hotel rooms this year, our participants were scattered amongst 6 different hotels plus a camping site. Vans transported many tired riders to Grace United Methodist Church for the dinner fare which consisted of 2 different types of lasagna as well as homemade pies and cakes. Brenda Greathouse took many pictures of the crowd during dinner when everyone’s mouth was full. These will be posted on the ABC website. Dave McKinley of ABC and Edmund Grace from Stark County Bike Club were last-minute attendees to the dinner. Jim Birt served as emcee at the feast and names were drawn “blindly” by Nancy Buchanan, who did so by keeping her glasses off. Bob Forney of Bellevue was recognized as being our first ever octogenarian on Roscoe Ramble. Many riders and SAG drivers adjourned to establishments in Roscoe Village after dinner for a pleasant evening.
Saturday night was stormy and Heidi Emhoff claimed 3 different thunderstorms roared through the campground, but the worst was over by daybreak on Sunday.
Most people departed on Sunday with one eye to the sky as it was threatening most of the day. Some brief downpours were endured, but some riders, such as Rich Elliot, felt that Sunday was ideally cool and included a favorable tailwind coming out of the south. Judy Birt, Gail Micsko, and Lori Box served up a medley of fresh fruit at Killbuck Community Park. After this stop, many riders rode the 15 mile paved stretch of the Holmes County bikeway, which almost everyone enjoyed. Some, such as Dan and Tina Maddock, took an alternate road route. Nancy Buchanan flatted out 1 mile from the end of the bikeway and was assisted by our designated sweepman, Bob Iden. Other SAG needs were minimal despite the threat of rain. Some completely lucked out during one brief downpour by being at lunch at the Apple Creek UM church. Everyone was in by 3:30 pm.
A GPS file of the 2 day ride was created and posted on the ABC website to allow those lucky riders with GPS’s to download the map file to their device prior to the weekend.
It was a very successful ride and many compliments were handed out by the returning riders. Special recognition needs to go out to Bill and Brenda Greathouse who handled the B-B incident extremely well. The injured rider’s husband referred to Bill as his “personal” SAG by the end of Saturday, which was a great compliment to Bill’s attention to them in their time of need. It was also nice to see so many of the ABC jerseys in attendance for the ride. I even had some outsiders ask where they could buy one of our jerseys because it’s such an attractive design.
Next year, we will be holding our 38th version of the ride the weekend of August 11-12, 2012. “Those that know” are aware that the best hotel accommodations go to those that register first, although we will be able to offer more hotel rooms at our primary hotel for next year. Registrations will open in January. In addition, we will need ABC members to do route painters, sag, luggage, advertising/promoting, and other activities for the ride, so please contact me if you have any interest in participating.
“We want to be your new favorite ride”
Check out the photos on Facebook
Article submitted by Jim and Judy Birt, 2011 Roscoe Ramble Co-Ride Directors
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