scoatw

https://www.ohiobikeways.net/index.htm . You could buy an Ohio Gazeteer and make your own route. I take mine to Kinkos and make color copies. They work real good. If it were me I'd just ride a straight line to Columbus taking backroads and making my way to Rt. 3. Ride to either Coshocton or Mt. Vernon. Spend the night and finish the ride. You'd have to really push it to do that in a day. Holmes county is pretty to ride. Once you get to Sunbury, you've got good backroads to ride. Big hills in Holmes and Knox counties. Licking county has big roller coasters and Deleware is mostly flat. Franklin county is traffic congested but easy to navigate if you know the roads.

strikeaholic

Hey guys! I finally got a bike to ride, since my project bike will be taking a lot longer and cost more than I had expected/hoped. It feels so good to be on two wheels again. It's my first fixed gear and I've only been riding it for a couple days, but i'm getting used to it and I really like it. Made it to class in record time yesterday with the new bike!

Here is a picture of it. I just got it a few days ago, but have made a few changes of painting some things myself. I still have more I hope to do to it in the near future.

crazyed27

Nice looking bike you have there! What was the price? I noticed that bikes on craigslist here in Columbus people want more for them than in the St Louis area. BTW I just moved to Columbus cool city.

strikeaholic

Hey thanks! I got this for $160, which was the lowest one I've seen in quite a while for how nice of condition it was in. Most of them are in the $300 area. Yeah, Columbus is a nice little city! What part of Columbus do you live in? I'm over in Grandview, which is only a few miles west of downtown.

ballistic

You can add me to the list once I buy a bike. Proving to be a rather difficult task.

I'm on the west side at the edge of Hilliard (I70 and Rome-Hilliard).

spwelton

Some horrible cell phone pics from today's ride to downtown and back on the Greenway

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strikeaholic

That's a cool shot of the river and downtown!

My friend told me about the shop Paradise Garage, which is in the short north, and I went there yesterday and it is a GREAT shop! Lots of products and very friendly people working there. Just wanted to let you guys know incase you haven't been there, you should check it out!

spwelton

Paradise Garage? Never been there, but I'll have to check it out now!

strikeaholic

Most definitely! It's in the short north on high in between 1st and 2nd. I was just there today and they installed my new chain, new cog, and handlebar tape for $10! I used to go to B1Bycycles, over on 4th and Long, but compared to Paradise Garage, they charge way too much.

Here is how it looks after getting the new goodies on it

ballistic

I met the owners of PG shortly after they opened. Really nice people.

mkeller234

Thank you for the advice. Splitting the trip into two days might be the way to go, it would be nice to take my time and enjoy the trip slowly if I wanted. Who knows what I may want to stop and explore on the way.

spwelton

Nice. I've been going to Baer wheels on high st. for all the little stuff and random parts I've needed.

MKahrl

From Canton you could make your way over to Navarre and pick up 62 heading south to Millersburg. Continue on Rt 62 and pick up the bike path in Brinkhaven and you'll have 20 miles of flat into Mount Vernon. 62 does not have a lot of traffic on it in Knox or Holmes County and the drivers are already on the alert for slow moving traffic because of all the Amish buggies.

The bike path does not continue southwest from Mount Vernon but the railroad right of way has been cleared and exists to Centerburg if you don't mind riding on hard packed cinders and ballast. Stay off Route 36 between Mount Vernon and Sunbury; it isn't safe for cars either. Plan a route that takes you through Hartford, Sunbury, Galena, and Westerville.

I second the notion of resting in Mount Vernon. My cousin twice tried to ride from Cleveland to Mount Vernon on route 3 as a teenager and both times the hills around Loudonville wore him out. Route 3 doesn't follow any river valleys, it just goes up and down hills.

MKahrl

I rode a section from Innis Park south where they are clearing trees. It would be a great deal more useful if they connected from Innis Park to the Easton Ball Fields. Its a distance of only 1/2 mile through the woods along the creek. The mayor told me four weeks ago that the plan was to connect the entire way by the end of the year.

scoatw

Believe it when you see it !

mkeller234

Great, thank you. I am going to use bikely to start planning my route. I found some maps of the bike trail I was talking about, looks like it is in Fredericksburg and broken into segments. I got a larger bag recently to carry anything I could need for a 2 day trip. How are the road surfaces, the widest tires I have are 28 and 32mm. I have been debating which to use. I thought about driving the whole thing first but that kind of takes some of the fun out of it.

rich2912

I'm in Powell and commute to work in Polaris daily.

I'm currently training for Pelatonia--hill repeats today.

Tsuru

Hey Rich! Welcome and sounds great! Have you joined up with Westerville Bike Club or Columbus Outdoor Pursuits? Some great weekend rides that will definitely get you ready!

rich2912

Thanks. I haven't joined either. I though about joining Columbus Outdoor Pursuits as part of riding TOSRV but something came up the weekend of the event. Are you a member of either?

Tsuru

I'm a member of Westerville & teamroll:, but the COP is great. Their website is chock full o' rides, you just show up and go!

gmonteith

I'm in Westerville.

thdave

Looking for some advice.

I'm camping with my family at Alum Creek State Park next weekend. Two things--I'd like to figure out a 1 to 2 hour bike ride with the family, with slow bikes. Dirt or paved paths. Also, I'd like to plan an early Sunday ride of ~2 hours with just me.

It would be nice to go to the campus of OSU, if it's not too far. Also, a restaurant or a nice picnic stopping point would be great to hear about.
Thanks.

mkeller234

I love going to Schmidt's any time I am in Columbus. Not sure how that works out with bikes but it could be worth a shot.

crazyed27

Man good price on the nice bike! Yeah most I have seen people want 250 plus for older bikes like that. I was looking for a fixed too, using craigslist and ended up buying from bikesdirect. I very happy with my Kilo TT. What bike shop do you normally go to for service and gear. There is a really cool mechanic at Handy bikes on 5th, close to campus. Everytime I go in there he takes good care of me and my bikes.

I'm just south of you in Franklinton. Do you ride any group rides?

strikeaholic

Yep, you're pretty close! I've never been to handy bikes. I've been going to Paradise Garage, in the short north, recently. I really like it there. A lot of products and great people working there. I've heard a bit about baer wheels down by campus, which i want to check out sometime. I haven't done any group rides or anything, I've been all kinds of busy lately since I've had the bike and I work 1am-5am, so my evenings are shot. A bunch of kids get together down on OSU campus at the Wexner Center on monday nights at 10pm and ride around for a couple of hours. I really want to get in on that, but I work at 1am so I can't really.