Day 15: 58 Miles

Nashport, OH to Columbus, OH

This morning started much like yesterday. I packed up camp, ate some food and tried to get on the road as quickly as possible. Today went a bit smoother because my tent was not wet. I was on the road just before 9:00 AM and knew today would be an easy ride.

The elevation profile for today’s 58 miles showed just one hill and it was in the first mile of the ride. It took a couple miles to get out of the state park and after that I was back on a bike trail. This time the trail was paved instead of gravel, which made riding much easier. With no climbing, I was able to cruise along the path without much effort. About 15 miles into the day I looked up to see a marvel of modern engineering. That’s right, I was looking at the world’s largest basket.

The bike trail took me to about mile 25 and then I would be on country roads until I got into the city of Columbus. There was a strong storm system coming through the area and from what I could tell it was traveling east and slightly north. I was traveling west and slightly south and managed to get through the whole day without rain. There were a few moments when I thought the storm had caught me, but I always stayed right on the edge. It was interesting to be riding under blue skies while I could hear thunder and see lighting maybe a mile away. I had picked a few points along my route where I knew I could wait out the storm if it hit me, but luckily I did not have to stop.

Getting into Columbus was somewhat difficult. The roads quickly turned from country farm roads to highway overpasses without much notice. After a couple dicey roads I found a bike trail that took me right into town. Tonight I’m staying at a hotel in downtown Columbus. I’m going to cut this post short and try to check out one of the breweries that is by the hotel. Tomorrow I am going to take a rest day. I’ll be changing hotels to one on the outskirts of town, so at most I’ll need to do 8 miles to get there. The price for hotels in downtown Columbus doubled from tonight’s rate to the Friday night rate tomorrow. I decided the cheaper option outside of town would be better and also make it easier for the start of Saturday’s ride. When I start on Saturday I won’t have to fight my way through the city before a long ride.