Day 22 - June 1, 2023. Columbus, OH - Mt. Vernon, OH

I've been in Columbus once before - in about 2018 to watch the Women's Final Four.  I recall at that time that I was really impressed with the city - at least what I saw of it.  Not so much this time.  The parts we saw this time were a little more worn and rough around the edges.  Because we stayed in a downtown hotel last night, our vehicles were parked on the road and we pretty much queued up for a mass start.  No snack table until SAG 1.


I really don't like to ride in a group so I lingered and found excuses to stop along the way.  We got onto our first bikeway at about 1 mile and then paralleled an interstate for the next 3.5 miles; ugh.  But then we turned onto the beautiful Alum Creek Trail and followed it until a detour at 8.5 miles.  There were quite a few of these lovely bridges on this trail today.








Almost forgot to name today's trails - Interstate 670 Bikeway, Alum Creek Trail, Ohio to Erie Trail, County Line Schnock Trail, Westerville Bikeway, Towers Trail, Hoover Scenic Trail, Galena Brick Trail, Sandel Legacy Trail, Heart of Ohio Trail.  Whew - glad we have both cue sheets and the RWGPS app.

SAG stop 1 was at Hanby Park - a lovely little park popular with young families.

I'm guessing this body of water hidden behind the trees on our right was part of the Hoover Reservoir on Big Walnut Creek.  No chance of it being confused with the other Hoover Dam!


Past the town of Galena and on to the Galena Bike Trail.



Then on to the Heart of Ohio Trail.  Probably the most enjoyable one of the day for me.  At the SAG stop we had a nice chat with a gentleman who is on the board of the trail organization.  




The route was pretty flat all day, but I gotta say that it did get noticeably easier once we got past this point.  





As we were coming in to Mount Vernon, it was hard to miss this sight.


The Rastin Observation Tower at Ariel-Foundation Park.  "The observation tower is a steel, spiral staircase that coils around the tallest structure in Knox County, PPG's (a glass company) industrial smoke stack built in 1951.  The historical chimney served PPG from 1951 until its closing in 1979.  The tower is a remarkable 280 feet high, with the observation deck at 140 feet above 224 steps."  Great views of the surrounding area from up there.  Well worth the walk up!










Lots of other sculptures on the grounds of the old glass factory.







It was then a quick trip into Mount Vernon from there.  I bypassed the hotel and went right downtown to find the dog fountain.  I'm not a dog-lover, but how fun!




And back to the dogs for the evening show.







Mount Vernon, Ohio

Population 16,956 (2020).  The median household income in 2000 was $29,801.  The community was named after George Washington's estate.  Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) is from here.  The dog fountain was installed in 2019 as part of the downtown revitalization.  It features 18 cast aluminum sculptures of dogs circling a golden bone and was inspired by a similar dog fountain in Toronto.


Stats for the day:

Distance:  89.5 km / 55.6 miles

Elevation (Garmin):  371m up / 373m down.  1217' up / 1225' down.

Elevation (RWGPS):  434m up / 364m down.  1423' up / 1194' down.

Weather:  21C - 35C.  Another fabulous day.  Glad we're not climbing, though; too hot for that!  A significant headwind when we were away from the protection of the bike trail.




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