I love that area around southern Cuyahoga County/northern Summit County.  Incredibly scenic.  In high school we did a "bicycle retreat" all around the CVNP and it was amazing--I wish I had taken a camera.  I also wish I had been in better shape because I was not at all ready for all of that riding and probably would have enjoyed it much more!

I've ridden the whole paved trail between Cincinnati and Columbus.  The areas in the flat land were actually more scenic than the hills along the Little Miami, because the rail bed was elevated above the surrounding plains and there was a lot more to look at. 

 

The woods in Ohio are a lot more pleasant to hike and bike in the summer, as opposed to the South, because the insects tend to be less intense and encounters with poisonous snakes are very rare.  Snakes of all kinds are all over the place in the south and it's annoying having to constantly look out for them or getting startled by one that scurries out of the way. 

SE Ohio is legendary for its dirt bike riding. We have the gnarliest, most technical, snottiest trails and races in the lower 48. When any American hare scrambles or enduro racer hears the word "Ohio", they aren't thinking of some cornfield. They think of torture, mud, hills with no run at them whatsoever, months of wear to a bike in one race and barely being able to fit through the trees. Only Hawaii has a more legendary rep, but of course it's a lot harder to get there than here. West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennesse's terrain is somewhat like ours, but you don't get the sheer amount of ruggedness, wealth of nasty water features and ridiculously steep, short hill runs that drive people insane. They have a lot more powerline runs and ski resort-type stuff.

GCrites80s, you should write the promo brochures for Ohio Motocross!

 

Almost 30 years ago when I was 15-17 I had a Honda XR100, my neighbor Tony had a Honda CR80, another friend up the road named Judah had a Yamaha YZ80 and his dad had a Husqvarna 250. I had the only four-stroke bike among them, so they would kick my ass in acceleration, but I'd be the one giving them rides back to their houses to go get a gas can with the oil mixed in to refuel their screechy bikes. They'd also be ones getting the cops called on them because their bikes were so friggin' loud. I can still smell the mix of burnt oil-gas.

 

Each spring and summer, when we weren't building dirt bike tracks through the woods between our houses in Geauga County, we were racing on them. In the fall we played football (or smear the q----), and in the winter we built bobsled/luge runs down into the Chagrin River valley. And I only broke one bone (my ankle) in that whole time!

 

Stuck in Ohio? I think not! I couldn't imagine having more fun as a teenager -- oh and did I mention our pool and the late-night parties in our barn?

People used to ride with blown-out muffler packing on their two-strokes a lot in the old days. That's pretty irresponsible today. Stock XRs have a muffler that looks like a maze inside that doesn't wear out. If you got a loud silencer for it, you could eliminate everyone's hearing in a 100-yard radius permanently with that thing.

I am technically stuck here because there wasn't anything job wise in my home town. But I think I am pretty content with where I am at. It is nice to be able to live in the city here and the parks and communities are very nice in Cincinnati. Having lived in a couple of major cities, I do wish there was better public transportation. I will be honest, I hate driving. I like biking and walking. I do a whole lot of driving here.