Road closed doesn’t mean us!

September 16, 2023

We tried to get an early start out of Columbus to avoid the traffic this morning. After a few short miles moved on to bicycle trails, which we were on for the rest of the day.

There is a history of Rhona and I ignoring “Road Closed” signs, believing that they don’t actually refer to cyclists. In only a few instances has ignoring the signs really proved to be a problem. Once while cycling through a construction zone in Quebec, a French speaking construction supervisor took strong offense at our walking through the area and reprimanded Rhona. I continued slogging ahead pushing the tandem while Rhona profusely apologized in English while I slogged on ahead. It was one of her finest moments. Today we encountered one of those circumstances, as there was a sign indicating the trail was closed because the bridge was out, but it did not identify an alternate detour.

They even emphasized the message with spray paint on the trail itself.

We decided to slog on ahead, and once again were rewarded as we were able to wheel the bikes on the construction road through the stream bed itself.

After we left through the north east side of Columbus, we went for more than 20 miles on the Alum Creek Trail. The trail repeatedly crossed the stream over some interesting bridges, and with a lot of curves through a forest area, which was very interesting riding. Once we left the urban area, we were back out on Ohio farmland trails, which sometimes were so straight you could possibly see ahead for two or more miles.

We are spending the night at an Air B&B in Mount Vernon, Ohio. As we cycled into the town, we recognized a distinctive smokestack, and some sculptures. Belatedly Rhona and I remembered that we have been here before and in fact we had walked up the smokestack. That is one of the benefits of getting older, you can enjoy the same experience more than once, because you forget that you did it before, similar to reading the same book over and over and enjoying it each time.

Even I could not forget, having seen that particular sculpture before.

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 209 miles (336 km)

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