Sunday afternoon we finished the rides for the Summit Metro Parks Bike Spree (see previous post).  We finished with two sections of the Bike and Hike Trail, one of the oldest “rails to trails” in the US.  The Bike and Hike Trail runs for 34 miles following the course of the old Akron, Bedford, and Cleveland Railroad.  The Bike and Hike Trail runs from Stow to The Emerald Necklace of Cleveland Metro Parks.

Because we had already done three of trails as part of the Spree, we only had to do two sections of the Bike and Hike Trail, so we rode from Silver Springs to Brandywine Falls.  This is a pretty, shaded ride with an asphalt trail.  It is mostly flat, but has some hills close to the Falls and over Interstates 8 and 271.  The trail is well-used but people are generally considerate of trail rules – staying to the right and staying in a single line.

My legs were a little tired after the ride on Saturday, but kept up our average and finished the 18 miles in one hour and 22 minutes (really a little less because I forgot to pause the app when we were hiking around the Falls).  After the ride we went to Swenson’s for milkshakes and sandwiches.  Swenson’s milkshakes are the best around, and even though I had burned lots of calories – I only had a small.  Yum!