Day 21 - May 31, 2023. Xenia, OH - Columbus, OH

Another day that was pretty much all bike trail(s) - Little Miami Scenic Trail, Prairie Grass Trail, Ohio to Erie Trail, Ohio Bicycle Route 1, Roberts Pass Trail, Camp Chase Trail, Darby Creek Trail, Hilltop Connector, Lower Scioto Greenway.  Again - a nice break from traffic, but not really very many scenic moments.

A few miles in we passed Xenia Station.

then came to this intersection with a plethora of bicycle route choices (green signs).


Chose the Miami Erie Trail (which I don't think was even on my earlier list) on our way to London at about 32 miles.  But first a bit of the scenery along the way.  Lots of trees again, but not as much shade as yesterday.  Evidence of agriculture beyond the fringes of the trail.




First SAG stop in South Charleston.



Even though many of the trails we've been on appear to be rail trails, much of today's route seemed to be on the rail line right-of-way with active rail service still ongoing.


In to London on a bit of a detour off the trail and into town.  A lovely old Madison County courthouse and War Memorial.










Some Main Street artifacts.



SAG 2 was in the Darby Creek Trail parking lot near the confluence of Little Darby Creek and Big Darby Creek.






Eventually - into the burbs of Columbus.  We crossed this bridge over some 4-lane highway and I thought - oh good..... another fabulous bike trail system to get into a big city.  But things went a bit downhill after that.  Not terribly scenic, and some spots that were a bit unsavoury.  But - some nice spots as well.









I took some time looking around the grounds of the old courthouse and then carried on to the hotel.  Our hotel is right downtown so they had to get creative with the parking for our vehicles.












Not sure where these signs were, but glad someone posted them on Cluster.




A few of us met Mary D. for drinks and then she joined us for dinner.  Nice to catch up and see the network of people who know each other from various previous tours.


Columbus, Ohio.

Population 907,971 (2022).  The metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million.  Columbus is the capital of the state of Ohio, and is the 14th most populous city in the country.  It is the second most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago.  The city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers and was named for Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.  As of 2018 the city has the largest expat Bhutanese - Nepali population in the world.  The Ohio Stadium, on the OSU campus is the 7th largest non-racing stadium in the world.    


Stats for the day:

Distance:  98.0 km / 60.9 miles

Elevation (Garmin):  259m up / 311m down.  850' up / 1021' down.

Elevation (RWGPS):  380m up / 432m down.  1246' up / 1417' down.

Weather:  18C - 34C.  Another beautiful sunny day.  The bike path today was less in the shade, so felt the heat a bit more.  A bit of wind, though, so it helped to cool a bit.  




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