On a near daily basis, provided the weather is agreeable, you can count on finding Knox residents Bill and Julie Rogers riding their bicycles somewhere along the trail system in Clarion or Venango counties.
“We hit them all. We’ll go down to Emlenton and then we’ll go in the other direction,” said Julie Rogers, 72, early Wednesday afternoon.
On this day, as they were pedaling on the West End portion of the trail in Oil City, they had no reservations when it came to talking about everything riding the trails does for them. So, in turn, they always seek to reciprocate either by “promoting them” to anyone willing to listen or by volunteering to “spruce them up and clearing the brush.”
They said the trails are a boon to the local economy, as people from many parts of the nation are drawn to the area to use them and, in turn, contribute to the local economies.
Any trail town, Bill Rogers said, “needs three things: restaurants, ice cream stands and a brewpub or winery.”
His wife said it is clear to her that Sweet Basil, a restaurant in Shippenville, has benefited by the trail’s presence, as has Leonardo’s and Trails to Ales in Franklin.
In addition — and perhaps more important — 71-year-old Bill Rogers said, riding bikes on the trails with his wife helps maintain his health as doing so “keeps my legs going.”