Petrek pedals 650 miles from Ohio to his parents' home in Smyrna, OH

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Petrek pedals 650 miles from Ohio to his parents' home in Smyrna
Smyrna Clayton Sun Times
Powell, OH - Retired from the Air Force, Curtiss Petrek, a Smyrna High and U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, recently traveled by bicycle from his home in Ohio to visit his parents in Smyrna months before his 60th birthday.

He just wanted to see if he could do it.

Curtiss Petrek, son of Duke and Petee Petrek of Smyrna, recently bicycled from his home in Ohio to visit his parents in Smyrna – a rambling journey that covered about 650 miles.

The graduate of Smyrna High School and the U.S. Air Force Academy has retired after 30 years of active duty in the Air Force. He began as an aviator and flew B52 bombers, B1 bombers, B2 Stealth bombers and the Boeing E4 National Operations Center. He rose through the ranks to Vice Wing Commander of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. His final assignment before retiring from active duty was serving as the Commander of the Air Force ROTC Unit at The Ohio State University.

Now 59, Curtiss said he wanted to go on the bicycle journey to prove something to himself.

“I had done some of these trips 10 to 15 years ago, usually on a mountain bike, but I hadn’t done one in while,” he said. “I’ll be turning 60 in February, and I wanted to get out on my own and have a good time.”

He chose a recumbent bike that is low to ground with a seat with a back, and the pedals out in front instead of below the seat.

“The front wheel is only 16 inches and the back is 20 inches, so it looks a little unusual,” he said.

To prepare, he went on several shorter trips.

“I have several different bikes, but I stopped riding the other types. Each weekend, three to four months prior to the trip, I would do a 40-to-50 mile ride,” he said.


He started Aug. 26 from his home in Powell, near Columbus, Ohio, and arrived in Smyrna on Sept. 1, averaging about 95 miles a day. He wasn’t looking for the most direct route, but one where he could use more trails and more lightly-traveled roads.

He started out heading northeast to Holmes County, Ohio, the county with the largest Amish population in the country. On his second day, he reached Pittsburgh. Then he took the Great Allegheny Passage trail to Cumberland, Maryland the next two days.

On his fifth day, he rode on the old C&O Canal tow path, and then on the sixth day ...


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