Recap: Buffalo Ridge Explorer
Quick stats
11 cyclists
2 cyclists turned around at different points
37 miles / 3950 ft climbing
Mid 30’s to upper 50’s
Sunny for most of the day
Headwind for a lot of the ride
A lighthouse at the top of the hill.
Snacks in Killbuck
The Legends of Music Barn
Helmick Covered Bridge
No mechanicals
Barkers
Lots of horses and cows
Matt Kretchmar shared a 54 mile route (soon to be posted) that was too much for our group to tackle, so a 44 mile route (also to be posted) and a 37 mile route (by Tim Cristy) were developed.
We parked at the River View Community Park and Swimming Pool located at 236 Park Dr, Warsaw, Ohio 43844 for the ride. Plenty of parking near the fields in the back. We headed out on the 37 mile route.
Route has great gravel sections and a LOT of climbing. Roads were a mix of mushy gravel and fresh scatter gravel.
Temps were in the 30’s at the start and once the sun came out it shot into the upper 50’s. Between the headwinds and the hill climbing it was a tough ride.
We stopped in Killbuck at the soon to be closed IGA, The Legends of Music Barn (see more below), and the gas station in Clark. We also passed a LIGHTHOUSE at the top of a big climb sitting in the front yard.
The Legends of Music Barn
As we headed into Clark we saw a yellow barn covered with murals. As I slowed down I saw some of the bikes in front of the barn so we pulled over. A little door, about half normal height was open so we peeked in. There were more murals inside on the entrance walls. I walked outside to take pictures of the murals on the outside and wondered where everyone disappeared to. I headed back inside and heard laughter. I opened a door and in the main room was an amazing sight. A man, who we learned was Ruston Baker, famous for his murals and his music, was leading a tour of the various artifacts and musical instruments in the room. He played some music on the piano and sampled his CD with his music then explained that over $1 million dollars of guitars are on display in his barn. An amazing place to visit and we were lucky that he was showing a couple of people the barn, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to visit this gem.
