Chicago to NYC – Day Nine

Friday, October 4, 2019

Start: Columbus, Ohio
End: Zanesville, Ohio
Mileage today/cumulative: 77 / 489
Elevation Ascended today/cumulative: 1,883′ / 7,687′
Weather: Sunny, 52° at start; Partly cloudy, 62º at finish; Winds: blowing us all over the damn place
Flat tires (entire group) day/cumulative: 0 / 1

There were smiles everywhere when we rolled out for Day Nine. Was it because we were riding to Zanesville, Ohio? I don’t think so. Was it because we couldn’t wait to ride 77 miles after enjoying two nights in Columbus? Surely not. Everyone was in great spirits because the temperature dropped 40 degrees overnight and autumn had finally arrived. It came just in time because some of us, myself included, were getting very, very grumpy with the extreme heat.

The ride started on the Olentangy Trail and took us past The Ohio State University campus. We rode on a designated “bike boulevard” and the paths were beautiful on a crisp fall morning. After leaving Columbus, we eventually found ourselves on a long, wooded bike path that led us into Newark, Ohio for a quick lunch stop at Subway. Newark appeared to be another midwest town desperately hanging on and probably losing the battle.

We hopped on another bike path leaving Newark. This one was unique with operating rails to our right and all of the railroad crossing arms to our left. As we rode along, a train came alongside us (there was a short chainlink fence separating us from the moving train approximately 10′ away). The train created a draft, “pulling” us along for about four miles. Because we were protected from the train on the right and the railroad crossing arms were all stopping traffic on our left side, we were able to zoom unimpeded for about four miles. Drivers waiting at the crossing arms must have been surprised to see cyclists flying in front of them as the train rolled on.

We rode quite a while on the T. J. Evans Trail, a beautiful rails-to-trails bike path. It includes the Gallman Road Bridge, a rare Columbia Bridge Works Whipple truss bridge that was built in 1887. It was relocated and rehabilitated in 2002.

Along the same path, we saw the iconic Longaberger Company’s old corporate headquarters, a building that takes the shape of the company’s biggest seller, the “Medium Market Basket”. The Longaberger Company was an American manufacturer and distributor of handcrafted maple wood baskets. The seven-story building opened in 1997. The basket handles weigh almost 150 tons and can be heated during cold weather to prevent ice damage. Unfortunately, Longaberger ceased operations in 2018 and the building is currently for sale.  If you’ve ever wanted to own a 180,000 sq. ft. basket building in Ohio, this is your chance.

After the basket building sighting, it was on to the final push into Zanesville. We knew we had entered the Appalachian Plateau region when the roads began to roll up and down. Day Ten will have a lot more hills as we get further into eastern Ohio.