Centerburg to Southwest Columbus - Wednesday, August 5th, 2020

 A Navigation Nightmare

One of the biggest challenges of this adventure has been following the trail. In some areas, the trail is clearly marked and easy to navigate. In others, it is extremely challenging. Despite coming with multiple maps and a book published about the Ohio to Erie Canal, it was probably inevitable that the navigator (me) would get it wrong at some point. Today was the day.

We were trying to travel the Alum Creek Trail picture in red on the image to the left. In some places, the trail was not clearly marked. We missed the trail going into Westerville. We regrouped there, and headed south, knowing that we could pick up the trail just south of going under I-270. I even stopped at a sign directing us to the trail but didn't trust the sign. I knew we needed to be traveling in a southwest direction, and the sign was encouraging us to go east. 

In light of my misjudgment, Bill traveled all the way down Route 3 for several miles into downtown Columbus (highlighted in yellow). You can see from the map that it is a straighter shot, but obviously a much more dangerous one. The route included several stretches of bike lanes, but they were often filled with road debris, gravel and glass.

The trail was well-marked in downtown Columbus, making navigation easy. We were able to hook up with the Scioto Greenway Trail. At one point, Bill had to choose to follow the trail to the right or the left. He chose to go right, which ended up being a spur into the community of Grandview Heights. He gave me a call and I was able to pick him up in a beautiful neighborhood of luxurious homes. We logged an additional 41 miles.

I want to give a shout-out to the communities who install these signs along the path in their jurisdiction. I'm looking forward to the day that all of the paths have such clear directions for riders to follow.