Barberton Municipal Court Judge Todd McKenney and his wife, Summit County Councilwoman Bethany McKenney, started biking together again during the pandemic and now plan biking trips on trails throughout Northeast Ohio.
The couple’s life motto? “Eat your fruit in season,” which means to make the most out of every opportunity.
And the two seem to be doing just that.
“Biking is something we love to do together,” said Councilwoman McKenney. “It’s great exercise and it is so good to feel the wind in your hair. And it’s just something we enjoy doing as a couple, as we get to be outside, enjoying nature together.”
“Amen,” concurred Judge McKenney.
The couple recently incorporated METRO on their biking trip to Cleveland.
“We rode into Cleveland [on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway], spent the night, and then caught the METRO Northcoast Express home,” said Judge McKenney. “We had so much fun and it was cost effective; because we were on bikes, we never paid for parking!”
The McKenneys loved exploring downtown Cleveland via bike, venturing to the lakefront, Tower City, and the West Side Market.
The couple has no problem utilizing METRO in all the right ways, highlighting some of their most useful bus stop locations.
“When we ride the Towpath from downtown Akron into the Valley, we like to take the #28 bus (Merriman Rd.) to the Transit Center because, we have to confess, it means we don’t have to ride uphill on the Towpath out of the Valley,” Councilwoman McKenney shared. “We always carry one-day passes with us to make sure we are ready!”
Judge McKenney, on the other hand, has a favorite stop of his own.
“My favorite stop is at 2nd and Tuscarawas Ave in Barberton, where I catch the #8 or #14 bus to get to downtown Akron,” he shared. “I am usually placing my bike on the front rack and then it is a short ride to where I need to go from the Transit Center.”
The McKenneys both have roots in Summit County. The Councilwoman grew up in Green and Judge McKenney grew up in, and with family continuing to live in, New Franklin.
Judge McKenney’s grandfather, the late Robert O. McKenney, worked for the Akron Transportation Company as a trolley car driver and then as a bus driver before he retired in the late 1960’s. Bob walked to the Kenmore bus barns from his family home on Lewis Street in Summit Lake.
Between biking, walking, and utilizing public transit, The McKenneys inspire a healthy and active mindset across Summit County.
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