June 18 Columbus to Mt Vernon

 

We arrived in Mt. Vernon only to find that George Washington was not here.  But we are sure you knew that. 

We cycled 12 miles on the trail to reach our breakfast stop.  We knew that we picked a good place because it was packed with customers.  After a hardy breakfast we took an alternate route off the Ohio to Erie trail and went around Hoover Reservoir that is more than 10 miles long.  The nice thing about this route was that it was no longer than staying on the trail.  Mostly it was on urban trails and roads with little traffic. The only downside was that we were exposed to the gusty winds.  With 24 miles in, we were back on the trail and continuing to climb to its highest point, 1,285 feet.  While that may seem high, we reached this point over 3 days of cycling on 1 and 2 percent grades. We were easily able to cycle 12 mph most of the time.  After we crested the high point, our speed increased to 14-15 mph.  Near Mt. Vernon we saw lots of storm damage on the trails. We were told that 2 tornados had gone through here a few days earlier.

We celebrated our day’s ride with a stop at a frozen custard shop (the first of the trip) and indulged in a cool treat.

 

Pictures

Map

Northbound Trip Map


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