Day 6: Millersburg to Mount Vernon 70km
Monday, May 15
Cloudy in the morning and a sunny afternoon. 23C
This morning we broke the mold. After preparing oatmeal in our room we decided to take a look at the hotel’s breakfast offering. Somehow the scrambled eggs and sausages were calling to us, so we had our first hotel breakfast and packed our oatmeal for later.
The trail was only a short, downhill roll away from the hotel and we were back on the Holmes County Trail (HCT) in minutes. There was a long straightaway for a couple of miles and we followed along beside Killbuck Creek into the town of Killbuck. Leaving town however, were surprised that the signs had us going back on the highway. We rode the next 5 miles along the quiet and curvy hwy 520. The road traced the valley bottom, but there were some rolling hills that kept our legs pumping. Arriving in Glenmont, we were happy to see that we’d be rejoining the HCT (We later learned that a brigde is out on the trail, resulting in the lengthy detour). At the access point in Glenmont there were a few picnic tables, a gazebo and a port-a-potty. All good omens of things to come. It was here that we ate our oatmeal.
Excited to be off of the road and back on the placid trail through the woods, we set off. Immediately we noticed that we were riding uphill. Uphill climbs rarely exceed a 4 percent grade on rail trails because trains can’t traverse anything steeper than that. Sometimes these grades are almost imperceptible on a bike. Through experience we have learned that when our speed drops and our legs are still pumping away, we are going uphill. This is what we noticed here. No big deal, and still better than riding on the road. I even said that I could pedal like this all day. Well, we climbed uphill for 6km before finally cresting an even steeper peak. We had just climbed over Baddow Pass. At this point we were thankful for our second breakfast!
Like the saying goes, what goes up, must come down and we enjoyed an equally long and relatively gentle descent on the other side of Baddow Pass. Now we were in another county and riding on the Mohican Valley Trail (MVT). Our next point of interest was the Bridge of Dreams – the longest pedestrian-only covered bridge in Ohio.
We stopped for lunch before crossing the bridge at another well appointed rest stop. After our trail-side picnic we crossed the bridge over the Mohican River with still another 20 miles to go. We broke the afternoon ride first into 10km sections and then 5km as our legs waned. Apples, bananas and chocolate was the fuel we used to keep our strength up and slowly, but surely we inched closer to our destination. In Gambier at our final stop we were greeted by a woman on a recumbent bicycle. She asked where we were headed and where were we from. We started chatting and she announced that she is a host for Warm Showers – a network of reciprocating, cyclist friendly, free accommodations. She offered us a place to stay and recommended some local spots. We’d already booked a room, but we’ll be following up on the bakery she mentioned. The three of us rode together for a ways on the trail before we pulled away. She was in no rush to get home and we were making our final push on a long ride. Our spirits were lifted sufficiently and we forgot all about our tired legs as we made our way into Mount Vernon. Once again our hotel was close to the trail and the grocery store just down the road! Tomorrow we will be arriving in Columbus.
eimajeyn 