The Ohio to Erie Trail: the road from Columbus to London

This is a brief description of the bicycle ride I took with my buddy Sam a couple of weeks back. I didn't find a lot online describing this leg of the Ohio to Erie bike trail, so I wanted to make some notes for my future use and that of other riders.

Equipment: We rode mountain bikes with chromoly frames and aluminum rims. Mine is a 5-year-old Diamondback with front shocks. Sam’s was a 20-year-old Ross, stiff frame.

The Ohio to Erie Trail
The first thing you should know is that the Ohio to Erie trail, which stretches from the Ohio River to Lake Erie (hence the name), is a 325 mile, limited access, paved trail for bikes, skaters, equestrians and peds that is supposed to be about 70 percent complete.

Much of the trail is built on train tracks. Other parts run the path of the old Erie Canal. (I believe this is called the Towpath trail, stretching north of Columbus, though I haven't ridden this section yet. You may recall that donkeys and horses towed boats along the canal, hence this name.

Context
As I understand it, there are trails like this webbing the whole US. I would like very much to ride cross country with my son, Ulysses, one day.

Starting at 64 King
64 King is the address and home to our friends, the Landing Place community. LP is an intentional Christian community like the one in which my wife Becky and I live - Vineyard Central.


Sam and I left at about 7 a.m. on a cold Saturday morning. Heading west from the intersection of High Street and King, near Ohio State University Campus, we rode about a mile to the Olentangy River. A bike path, with several dead ends, eventually leads to the Scioto river. From there, we opted to take 40 West - West Broad Street from Downtown. The trail may continue a bit here, but we were not certain how far. Part of it, a bridge, was being torn down. I'd be very interested in any info anyone has on this leg of the trail. Earlier we ran into a section that was closed by barbed wire and chain link fence. Why is this? Strange. At the Scioto River we encountered a full scale replica (surprisingly small) of the Santa Maria. Many homeless sleeping at the riverbank, too.



We travelled 40 West for about 8 miles to the intersection of I-270, the city's beltway. This part was a lot of sidewalk riding. Pretty flat. Lots of places to eat or use the bathroom.

Just before I-270, we dropped south on Georgesville Road - highway riding, limited berm. Drivers were reasonable and got over for us, but I don't like narrow, 1 foot shoulders. It gets rural at this point. We took Georgesville Road to Aikire Road and headed Southwest to Georgesville.

***If you break down – On Georgesville Road, just south of 40W, there's a Meijer. We picked up a tire there when Sam’s innertube began to bulge through the sidewall. From now on we’ll carry spares, but Meijer is a godsend. Next closest places for civilization and bike parts are London and Columbus.

**Bring extra water – even on a cold day (50 degrees) we drank a lot and could have had more if we had been carrying it.

Georgesville was unremarkable. We hitched a ride for part of this because the road was a two lane highway. We came this route, btw, because we were searching for the trail between downtown Columbus and Lily Chapel. It doesn't exist here yet, as far as I can tell.

Aikire Road leads to Lily Chapel. It becomes Lily Chapel-Georgesville Road. Train tracks run parallel to this road. Will that be the trail one day? Any readers with advice on this, please comment.

In the town of Lily Chapel, which looks very small and quiet to me - lots of farms, not much industry - we proceeded towards the large grain silo (some sort of tall, cyclidrical structure, anyway) that marks the center of town. We headed straight past the cross road that leads to the towers and on to CR-103/Wilson Road. We made a right on Wilson and headed toward and then past a radio tower. Just past the tower is the trailhead of the Lily Chapel trail.


The Lily Chapel to London Trail
This is a very difficult stretch. I'd guess it's 12 miles long. All of it is gravel, which makes any sort of travel very difficult. We spent a lot of energy grinding rocks and moving very slowly. There are no amenities except beautiful scenery and peace. Bring extra water for this stretch. Private residences don't appear until you're a couple of miles from London.



We arrived in London at 5 p.m. It's a quick left off the trail and then the first right on 665 (the Lily Chapel trail runs roughly parallel to 665) We were dazed from the long ride and took a left at first. Our minds played tricks on us. There's plenty of good food and stops in this town, when you take the right turn. We ate at Ronetti's, a fine little Italian place with big pizzas and reasonably priced beer.

45-50 Miles at 10 hours. Slow going. We slept really well at the end of the day.

Just a short poem

I see now
My soul
As a city
Thick with change
And every old quarter
In her first trappings
Of spring
Remains in the fullness
And still of the new day
And the shadows of my new life
Are cast upon the grain of the old
It’s all there
And will be
I’m all that I’ve ever been
And am

(Some thoughts on all the previous selves I've ever been...)

Steve

The Reenactment of Mary Ellen's birth

Ok, so our friend Mary Ellen is our new housemate. She moved in to the newly constructed room in our basement just a few days ago.

Anyway, when she got here, she brought with her a picture from her birth - her mom and dad and a baby Mary E. -- she's 25 now. Well, as you can see, Mary Ellen and her sister Janet are the spitting image of their parents and Beck and I have a baby, so we can reenact the birth!

Here is the first test shots...the original, the performance by Mary E and her sister and the photoshopped result.

- Steve

Uly in his Misfits outfit

It's homemade, as all good punk gear should be.

You stones you rocks you worse than sensless things

Please join me in boycotting disposable diapers.

Forget that cloth is easier, cheaper and greener -- disposables hold nothing very well.

Let's put the disposable diaper manufacturers out of business...send them back to constructing North Korean swimwear or whatever else they make.

I recall a certain 18th Century Frenchman deriding the so-called prophalactics of his day, saying that they were, "...gossamer against infection, steel against love."

Yup, Pampers keeps the little ones just as clean.

Electric bikes and baby

Check back in a couple of days for a description of the ride. We made it about 50 miles to London, OH.

In the meanwhile, check out this film:

An Electric Bicycle conversion

Landing Place to VC part 1: The only way to imagine the unimaginable is to do it

Just woke up after 4.5 hrs sleep and I'm having a hard enough time navigating the kitchen at our sister community, Landing Place, much less an amorphous bike trail.

See, we know that there's a solid, unbroken bike trail between Loveland a Xenia - 50 miles. I rode that with Oster last year. (I should say we crash landed in Xenia because our equipment and bodies were at their limit.) We know how to get from Loveland to Norwood, and we are told the trail continues to London, OH. The only thing is, this site appears to not have been updated since 2004, noting that stretches of this section will be finished by 2005 or 2006. What's up with that??

So, we made a cruder map from the already crude maps on their site, using Google maps to assist. I think we'll find our way. We depart shortly. It's now 6:30am.

- Steve

A Letter on Pregnancy...Two Months Too Late!

Dear Patient Blog Readers,

I am proud to say that I am finally posting after two full years of blatant blogger delinquincy! The last post I made was about preparing for our wedding. Okay, so I've been busy...but, no more excuses! I, BECKY, am posting this letter that I wrote to my friend Stella - who lives in sunny San Francisco - two months ago, but never got around to sending until after baby was born. I would like to start blogging regularly along with my partner in crime if at all possible. So... I'm asking you to hold me accountable for this. In other words, if I see you on a regular basis, bug me about writing so that I occasionally do so. Sorry for the long hiatus. I hope you enjoy this discourse on pregnancy...

Hey, Stella,

How is life treating you in beautiful San Francisco? I'm working a short-term temp assignment in downtown Cincy today, and had some extra time to email. Upon purging my account of old junk, I realized that I really needed to say hey to you.
Believe it or not, baby is due in 4 days! I have this big, full-grown human being rumblin' in my huge belly. I do love being pregnant, but I must say that I'm ready to have this little guy. We've decided to name him Ulysses Jonas Novotni. His nickname will be Uly. I can already tell you that he is a thoughtful, contemplative person - a thinker - but he also likes to play games and tricks. When I play with him, for example, he always waits before responding, and will trick me and others into thinking that he is not going to respond. He's so funny! And he's big. The midwives think he may already be eight pounds.
It really is a lot of work to take care of a baby in your belly. (As I'm sure it will also be when he's out) I must share: Every day (if I even have time to do all of these things) I have to: take prenatal vitamins, keep my feet up, drink a gallon of water ( I try but can't), do Kegels, perineal massage, slow breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, stretching and prenatal exercises, interaction with bebe, lots of nutritious foods - especially protein, calcium and iron, clean and get baby stuff ready, sometimes work, have a life and walk, walk walk...
It's cool, but sometimes tiring. I can't sleep on my back or stomach at all. I have to use a wedge pillow to sleep in a semi-reclined position or on my side (preferably the left side due to blood flow to the baby). I weigh 185 pounds, mostly in my huge belly, so I actually waddle instead of walking. My ankles and hands are very swollen, and two of my right fingers are numb most of the time.
On a practical and spiritual level, pregnancy has changed my life. It has taught me how people are supposed to live to be healthy. It's an amazing and beautiful gift. Some of this wisdom is related to physical health. Eating smaller meals throughout the day, for example, instead of big traditional meals, is one thing that pregnancy necessitates due to the fact that the stomach of a pregnant woman has less room because of the pressure from the uterus. How often have you heard that it's good to drink tons of water? Lots of water in pregnancy is important for circulation (pregnant women actually have 50% more blood in their bodies), fetal temperature, amniotic fluid volume and more. Walking is the best exercise known to woman - pregnant or not. No alcohol or caffeine is generally a good rule to follow during pregnancy. (Yeah, technically, I could have alcohol now that I'm in my third tri-mester, but I try to limit my consumption to a minimal amount.) The jury's still out on caffeine, but research has shown that it is likely to cause birth defects in some capacity. So, I feel like pregnancy has taught me what I normally should be doing to take care of myself. I actually feel a lot better doing these things too, which is no surprise.
Emotionally, pregnancy has done wonders for me. I'm hardly ever upset or anxious. Other women I know say that they were the same way during pregnancy due to the hormonal shift. However, more interestingly, pregnant women have to avoid stress or stressful environments for the health of their babies. So this helps with this state of mind and actually shows me how I should normally be mentally.
The breath of life. Breathing - This is the foundation and beginning of life. I can't wait to hear my son take his first breath. Pregnancy teaches women how to breath to relieve stress. This can be achieved through slow breathing techniques or meditation. Practicing breathing has cut down on my stress and anxiety levels tremendously. Simple, basic things: water, movement, breathing, simplicity. How cool.
But that's not all. Getting pregnant has forced Steve and I to settle for less crap and clean up our personal and financial affairs. No, we don't care to get in the middle of family disputes. Yes, we will actually pay our bills on time and settle our debts once and for all. Yeah, dishes get washed every day now. In pregnancy, they call this the nesting instinct - that is - the tendancy to get your nest in order. Steve is nesting these days just as much as I am. He built a taller fence in our backyard so the dog wouldn't scale it anymore. He shampooed the living room area rug that we got for free off of Craig's List. He waters the outdoor plants and weeds the garden. He built an undergroud composting system where we can compost both food and (yuck) pet waste. He's getting more regular work from CityBeat.

Humility (a mammalian trait) is superior to subterfuge (reptilian)

We, as a species, must evolve if we are to survive.

These things:

Agression, hostility, war, hierarchy, lies, superstition

These are reptilian brain things that lie deep within our skulls. And they harm us more than they serve us.

Science, I'll wager, is the most important thing children should learn, after compassion and kindness. Certainly before religion. Look at what our so called Christian nation has wrought onto this planet. Religion, without the humility that education brings is a perverse monster and it perverts god into a sword.

We are the chief terrorists led by a tin plated despot.

But maybe asking how we help these people evolve is nobler than asking how we depose them.

Steve

Czars, Sam and Angela and Griswolds

Sunday was a tremendously beautiful day that started off with me in a tremendously bad mood.

We were on our way to Jay and Stacey Czars place for brunch, which I've gathered is a regular thing over at their home on Sundays, and were running late. Get the baby out the door. Grab a contribution to the brunch. (Stacey said not to worry too much, but I never cared for arriving empty handed.) Wow, it's 10 minutes 'till we're supposed to be there and the place is 15 minutes away. Art show in the way - SR 561 is blocked off. Alternate route and I'm so friggin mad! And why? It's a gorgeous, warm, sunny Sunday and I'm eating with friends, riding with other friends, and taking it easy the whole day long. What's the mad crazy rush?

It was all me. Nobody else was that kind of rushed. What is that neurotic node in my brain? It's a mystery, I told Beck, which all the great mysteries are. Internal, I mean.

Jay and Stacey have a lovely home, a large apartment with natural light aplenty, overlooking the Ohio River. Panoramic, big picture views. Four video monitors at one desk for video work, internet and whatever else Jay works on. (I bet Stacey has a laptop and a separate work area, but I didn't ask.

They cooked food like pros. Wow. Fine dining including Jay's gently assembled alcoholic drinks that you can down on a Sunday morning without feeling like a wino, Stacey's crepes (I think. Whatever they were, they were awesome.) and nice company. It was a real pleasure to reconnect with our old friends and introduce them to the baby. We also met Joy, a chemist who works on the Blues Fest, Jan, who is Jay Kalagayan's fiance, and Sara, who digs Sarah Vowell. (Sorry for these limited biographies. They were cool folks and more than these collections of words can express.) Good conversation on Ira Glass' recent visit on Writer's weekend and how the best question for Glass came from a homeless woman down at Inktank.

Sam and Angela and I ride 20 miles on the Miami trail (a rails to trails run) from south of Milford up to Branch Hill Road in Loveland. I'm practicing for the 100 miles to Columbus.

Beck and I spent the eveining with the Griswolds and their super kids. Relaxed and fun evening. Everyone had that same, wow I'm tired and hardly ready for the new week vibe. Sara G. verbalized this and was our overworked representative. Jeremiah is working on a stack of cool, post modern fiction (or at least one book) and we shared some parenting discussion over drinks.

Beck and I slept at 9:30 and here I am, 2am, up again. Trying to make the best of it. I think I might have one friend, Mark Flannigan, who I could call this late, but I don't know. Is it too late, Mark?

- Steve