Day 3; Sure, climbing a tower sounded like a good idea when I planned this trip

May 9, 2023

I was ready to depart early this morning, and I knew the local coffee shop in town opened at 6:00, so I checked myself out of the hotel, and my wheels were rolling by 7:00a. Not even five minutes later I stopped into Broken Grounds coffee shop for a breakfast sandwich and got to talking with the owner. About 45 minutes later, we ended our chat and I hit the road. If you pass through Millersburg, you should really stop and chat with her - she’s a bundle of energy, and the two of us talking together? It was tough to leave but I had miles to ride.

It’s tough to beat this view of main street

I linked up with the Holmes County trail for the first 8 miles of the day’s ride. I didn’t see any horse & buggys but boy, did I see evidence of horses. You know, what they leave behind (no pun intended on the word “behind”). The reason why you never want to follow the horses in a parade? Let’s just say it was best to “serpentine” and not ride a straight path through the evidence.

Once in the town of Killbuck the trail ended and it routed on the streets. VERY little traffic. In the 7 or so miles to Glenmont I think only 3 vehicles passed me and maybe 6 more that were headed in the opposite direction. The views were very nice and reminded me of a century I used to ride in PA every year - the Taxing Metric Century.

Suns out so you can see my shadow don’t-cha-know!

Off my right hand you can see generous farmland

Rolling through Danville I chat with another cyclist who camped in the primitive campground the previous evening. This grizzled fellow and I swapped stories about the GAP/C&O, 1x11setups, bike packing bags vs panniers, old-school camping. I guess I was a chatterbox today in a way. No wonder I got into the hotel later than I estimated - I was talking all day!

In Howard you ride through this arch made of stone; the villagers who live here tell you it’s quite well known

I started feeling fatigue around 25 miles into today’s roughly 44 journey. I don’t normally get that tired but I realized I did 110 over the course of the previous two days and didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before. Combine that with a lack of food on today’s ride and it took a toll on me. Once the miles to my destination hit single digits, I went straight to the hotel in Mt Vernon to inquire if check in was available, and it was.

This train’s on display in the village of Gambier; it was downhill for me so I passed in ninth gear

Showered, washed garments in the sick, hung them to dry, and then I went out to one of the attractions I wanted to see on this trip - the Ariel Foundation park. This is a former site of a 1,000,000 SqFt PPG glass plant. In 2013, it was converted into a park. The highlight for me was to climb the observation tower made out of an old smokestack.

For the record I would like to state my remaining miles are 178

Um, climbing this seemed like a good idea when I planned this trip

The park was only about a mile walk from the hotel. A mile there, a mile through the park, and a mile back. Couldn’t be that difficult. I definitely felt the climb in the legs. After that, I retreated back to the hotel room to take a short nap and then went out in search of food. Not much open around dinner time on Tuesday night in Mt Vernon so I grabbed a sub from Cosmic Dave’s along with a lemonade and felt better. I didn’t really feel hungry but MAN did I wolf down that sun and French fries.

Climbing the spiral staircase to the top you keep turnin’; but once there you see the whole town of Mt Vernon

The towers are four stories tall so that should showcase the sheer size of this place

Weather looks to be a little less than 50F as I depart so I’ll have my fleece ready to go. And while I’m not normally and over-packer there are definitely clothing items I can see myself not wearing this trip. So I’ll look at that when I return home.

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Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 174 miles (280 km)

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Marc Y.Man, I just missed you at Broken Grounds! I had stopped in to get a coffee right before 7am. Probably was leaving right as you were coming down. You are right the owner is great and a bundle of energy. Enjoy the rest of your trip. There are definitely more food options along the coming parts of the trail. Next "limited" stretch would be south of Columbus to about Cedarville.
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11 months ago

Paul MulveyTo Marc Y.Rats! That would have been the third time someone recognized me from this journal or YouTube. I would have loved to chat with you for a bit.
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11 months ago