Milford-Mansfield Ohio Tour 2008
Day 4 - Rustic Knolls Campground to Mansfield, Ohio
- [ Pre-Ride: Cardinal Greenway ]
- [ Day 1 ]
- [ Day 2 ]
- [ Day 3 ]
- [ Day 4 ]
Monday, October 6th, 2008
I got a fire going again before sunrise. We quickly got things packed up with the early morning light and headed out of the campground. We expected we might have to push our bicycles and trailers up the first hill of Keys Rd. but the climb was surprisingly easy compared to yesterday. It must have been the good night's rest that rejuvenated us.
We picked up US 36 / SR 3 and headed into Mount Vernon. We passed a small diner, Eloise's, but had to turn around since the smell of breakfast cooking early in the morning was irresistable. Eloise's was pretty small and non-descript, yet the food and service were excellent. After filling our bellies, we continued riding and picked up SR 13 out of Mount Vernon and then quickly turned onto Upper Fredericktown Road. We chose this route based on Dave G.'s experience. The road has low traffic flow and is relatively flat and easy rolling. We rolled along and soon got into Fredericktown where we then picked up SR 95 and headed on towards Butler and the Richland B&O trail.
The route remained easy and gently rolling. Near the Knox County - Richland County line we had a few, very few, sprinkles of rain - the only precipitation, such as it was, the entire trip.
Once in Butler, we stopped at a convenience store for some more coffee before picking up the B&O trail for the final leg into Mansfield. With skies still overcast with high clouds, we made our way through familiar territory, passing through the towns Butler, Bellville and Lexington.
Before passing through Lexington, we stopped off at Y-Not Cycling shop so I could get some new bicycling gloves. My pair were completely worn out after nearly 2400 miles of bicycle riding so far this year.
Outside of Lexington, we passed by some more pleasant scenery. The old farm off of Owens Road that I remember from back in my childhood was still there. Even with the overcast skies, the view from the trail was idyllic - red barn, hardwood trees just beginning to turn into their Fall colors and geese feeding in a field near a large pond. We peddled on and finally got to Dave G.'s house around 12:30 p.m. I quickly packed up my gear, cleaned up a bit, opened a beer and previewed with Dave G a lot of the pictures and videos taken from the trip. I left Mansfield and began my journey back to Colorado around 4 p.m.
Post-Script: with another successful tour under our belts, Dave, Gary and I are plotting our next tour. Two possibilities include the Adventure Cycling Association's Northern Tier route and the C&O Towpath - GAP trails from Washington D.C. to Pittsburg (and probably on to Mansfield).
Total miles ridden this day: 42.4
Total trip miles: 206.5
Trails ridden:
FYI: Trails may overlap each other
Videos
Entering Bellville
Leaving Bellville
Additional photographs
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