Folks on Spokes
Gulf Shores, Alabama

2016 Ohio Rally

2016 Fall Rally Update #2

Are you getting excited about the Fall Rally yet? Joanne and Warren Dowling, our friends Bill and Deb Flower, and Peter and I visited Xenia, Ohio during a rainy, cool week in May. We stayed at the Fall Rally Campground (Frontier Campground) and looked over the trails.

The campground will work well. The campsites are all close together, the bathrooms and laundry room are spartan but clean, and there is space for inside meetings and outside campfires. The cabins are older and also spartan, so bring what you can to make it more comfortable. (See photos of campground.) The owner had two requests. First, we have taken up most of his available spaces. He is turning other reservations away for that week. His concern is that we will not show and he will be out the money. I assured him that we are responsible people, and that most or all of us with reservations would be there. If something came up, the camper would call and let him know. He asks that you please do that as soon as you could. Secondly, he is used to large groups having a leader that assigns campsites. He is concerned that someone will not be able to back into their space, or will be too far from the bathroom. Because of that, he gave me a listing of the reservations for that week and what spaces they are in. (Note that this was in May, so if you made changes in your reservations after that, it will not show. Also cabins are not in the listings, just RV sites.) Please check your assigned site (Again see the photo below) and check against the campground map at http://www.frontiercamping.com/site-map.html. If you have a problem, find someone in our group who is staying the same nights as you and arrange with them to switch sites. We looked over all the sites, and all were large enough for any of our rigs, and there were no trees that should cause any problems with back in sites. The campground area where we are staying is pretty close to the bathroom for all sites.

We sampled the trails and all are wide, paved, and smooth. We checked for places to start rides that had plenty of parking and bathrooms. We checked for towns for mid-points in rides, or end points in rides, that would have picnic areas, snack shops (like ice cream!) and/or enough restaurants to handle 50+ riders. We also tried to find rides that would give us options in the ride to allow us to break up into smaller groups. If you've looked at the Miami Valley Bikeways Guide Map, you will see there are many possible rides. With the information we found, we put together 7 possible rides. Some have only picnic possiblities, and others have restaurant, picnic or snack choices. All but one are near our campground and Xenia. We also found an interesting ride in Dayton, on a different type of trail. And some of you may even have more ideas of places to explore! I won't add these possible rides onto this note, but if you want to see them, send me an email at bmeyerink@comcast.net and I'll send them to you. I'll plan to come to Fall Rally with printed copies for all. Hope everyone's summer is going well. See you in September!

2016 Fall Rally Update #1

Hello FOS!

We hope all our FOS friends are starting summer with beautiful weather and some extra time to relax and enjoy it. We've been busy since arriving home the first of April getting the yard cleaned up and things caught up around the house. Now we can enjoy the nicest months of the year in Northern Michigan.

We have a wonderful design for our Fall Rally T Shirts to share with you. As you know, we have a great rally planned for the Miami Valley Bikeways in Zenia, Ohio September 17-26. Frontier Valley Campground will be our gathering site. They still have room for more so if you have not made reservations and you are planning to attend we would love for you to join us. At this point we have 54 reservations, so come and enjoy the good times with FOS friends. Information for the campground: Frontier Campground, 9580 Collett Road, Waynesville, Ohio 45068, Phone: 937-488-1127.

Please let us know if you would like to order t shirts by August 1. You do not need to pay for them until Rally. The t shirts will be like the ones we had for the PA Rally....quick dry fabric. Short sleeve shirts are $15. each; long sleeve shirts are $19. each. You may respond to Ducklakers@aol.com with your order. Don't forget to send your size, color choice and short or long sleeve. The shirt design (front and back) and color choices are included in this email.

Enjoy your summer and keep pedaling!

Beth and Carl Pearce

Rally Dates: September 17, arrival, September 26, departure.

Location: Frontier Campground in Waynesville, Ohio.

Campground: Full hook up, approx. $32.00 per night (price is dependent upon the number of rally attendees), includes use of The Lodge which has kitchen facilities, fireplace and gathering area. This would serve as a backup for evening campfires in case of inclement weather. The campground also has cabins for rent and tent sites, should anyone want to "tent camp". Phone number for the campground: 937-488-1127.

We will be riding the Miami Valley Trail system which has about 360 miles of paved trails. You can access information at miamivalleytrails.org. You can also order a map of the trails on this web site, one per couple free. There are many other attractions in the area which we believe you will enjoy.

Dan Back has gathered lots of information about things to do and see in the Fall Rally area.

Peter and Betty Meyerink have volunteered to schedule a trip to the area this summer to "check it out". Thank you Peter and Betty! We do not have anyone in our FOS group who lives in the area so this will be a "no host" Rally. It will be fun for all, we promise! Information on T-shirts will be coming at a later date.

If you have further questions call Beth at 231-714-2658 or Carl at 231-714-2382.

You will need to call to make reservations: 937-488-1127. Mention FOLKS on SPOKES Rally, reserved by Beth and Carl Pearce.

Attendees - as of 20 March

Don and Sherry Anderson
Dan and Sue Back
Sue Barton
Steve and Linda Camarigg
Terry and Linda Christensen
Malcolm and Molly Clasper
Del and Jan Clubine
Jim and Karen Diehm
Warren and JoAnn Dowling
Dave and Donna Driver
Darrold and Nancy Folz
Morrie and Mary Frisbee
Ardie Griffin and Kim
Frank and Kris Hamilton
Howard and Andy Hendrix
Bernie and Sue Hickman
Parker and Edyth Jenkins
Claudia Kennedy
Larry and Phyllis Mehler
Peter and Betty Meyerink
Bruce and Bobbi Miller
Gary and Kathy Miller
Carl and Beth Pearce
Dorothy Porterfield
Rusty and Karen Robbins
Larry and Shary Schmies
Scott and Carol Sener
Bob Strader
Dave and Kathy Suess