Day 4

October 7, 2021:

It had rained overnight. I heard it in the early hours of the morning before the sun had risen. From the looks of it, rather hard too, since the sealed asphalt of the trail was covered in large puddles of water. The tent had fared a lot better, and I was thankful for the roof that had been over my head. I saw a few passing cyclists while I packed my bags, and I got underway swiftly. I needed to use the restroom, and wanted to reach town to facilitate that.

London was still a few miles away. My tires sprayed up thousands of little droplets from the trail, bouncing off my rain pants and the backside of my rain jacket. My triangle frame bike bag blocked a lot of it from reaching my frontside. For some reason, the biggest puddles were all on the south side of the trail, and I’m not sure why. I stuck to the drier parts when I could.

As I went, I tried to avoid the numerous buckeyes littering the ground. Each time one of my tires would go over one, it was like going over a particularly vicious speed bump. Feeling sweat build above my brow, I would lean over sideways, press my helmet to my forehead, and let out a torrent of sweat that had accumulated there. Releasing it in this way was a preventative measure to keep it from running into my eyes.

Reaching London, I took a small detour from the trail into town. I stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and pick up a few sweets for breakfast. I got a KitKat, Oreos, and two strawberry Poptarts. From there, I headed downtown, where I stopped at the London Coffee Peddler which I had seen on the map the evening before. Inside, I met Kate, who helped me out by refilling my bottles. I ordered a cinnamon muffin, warmed up, which helped stave off the cold of that overcast, rainy morning. Kate talked about other cyclists who had passed through in the other direction earlier that morning on a cross country trip. I signed a logbook to show I had passed through. She took a picture of me to post on their Facebook page.

Mama sent me a text congratulating me about meeting so many nice people, but warned me that while the overwhelming majority of people are good, some are bad and may try to take advantage of me, or worse. This was a message echoed by Kate. I understand, and I will be careful. But my general philosophy here is not to close up just because there is some evil in the world. I may get stung by this at some point, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. Talking with people on the trail will be a significant part of this trip.

Leaving London, I noticed towering cumulus clouds to the south, some with dark, rain-filled underbellies. A bit of a south wind picked up, helping me along towards Columbus, but signalled the arrival of the front. I pushed on, noticing that whenever I stopped for even a minute, the rain would catch up to me and drops would start to fall. On the way, I passed a couple doing the OTET the other way.

Eventually, the rain did catch me. I put on my ski goggles to prevent the drops from getting in my eyes. They’re definitely a luxury item, but I feel they’re worth having. Soon, the skyscrapers of Columbus could be seen on the horizon and the rural landscape fell away, the path running through warehouse districts, homeless encampments, and highway underpasses. The smell of marijuana wafted unpleasantly through the air, encouraging me to get to downtown.

I entered via the Scioto Mile, a riverfront promenade trail that led me into the heart of the city under the overcast sky. The city buildings loomed above me, the biggest since Dayton, or perhaps Cincinnati. Hungry, I decided to search for a steakhouse. I doubled back, towards the stadium, and found Ted’s Montana Grill. I chose it because the restaurant looked classy, but it was right next to a Jimmy John’s, so I figured it wouldn’t necessarily be as expensive or pretentious as, say, a Ruth’s Chris steakhouse.

I parked my bike outside, unlocked, and selected a seat at the bar where I could keep an eye on it. Turns out Ted’s is known for offering bison meat alongside traditional entrees. I decided to be a little adventurous and try the bison ribeye, having had a good experience with bison burgers in the past. I ordered it with garlic mash and a garden salad with a basil vinaigrette. I also got a glass of wine from Paso Robles to remind me of CA. The steak was delicious, but tasted *exactly* like beef, so much so that I actually asked a waitress if they had in fact given me the right thing (they had). No complaints from me; it was a delicious meal. I called Dada afterwards to tell him all about it.

I stopped at a convenience store up the street to buy an envelope and stamp to send Dada’s insurance card home (I had accidentally taken it with me after my covid test last week). From there, I went to LeVeque tower, the large white stone building in the Columbus skyline. I inquired inside if there was any way I could get to the top of the tower. While the view wouldn’t be as impressive as it would be on a clear day, I wanted to spend my time in Columbus well. I was directed first to an employee at the hotel inside, who didn’t know, then to the security guard. The guard called the building manager to ask, but unfortunately they’ve stopped offering tours or letting people up there. That was ok. I ended up talking to the guard – Zachariah – if there were any other buildings he knew of in town that I could go up. He told me about the city hall, but that was only a few stories high and not worth my time. I asked him if there were any places in Columbus he could recommend, and he mentioned the Franklin Park Conservatory, a large green space in the east of town. I told Zachariah about my trip, and he was quite interested. He said it reminded him of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, one of his favorite movies (that I’ll now have to watch). He laughed a lot, and told me about his brother, a NASA employee in Texas. I told Zach he should reach out and say hi to his brother, with whom he hadn’t spoken to recently. Zach was a nice guy. I got a picture with him before I left LeVeque tower.

I turned east on Broad St, stopping only at a Chase bank ATM to withdraw some cash before reaching Franklin Park Conservatory. It was a nice space, and I could imagine playing ultimate frisbee with some friends on its large lawns. Having eaten already, I didn’t stop for a picnic though, and decided to head out of town, interested in getting far enough from Columbus to find a decent place to camp.

The trail took me alongside Alum Creek, then past John Glenn international airport to Gahanna, where I scored Chipotle for dinner. I continued east, finding a secluded place to make camp and eat dinner. I was up pretty late, just relaxing in my tent, playing a few games of computer hearts on my phone before it ran out of battery.