Michael Coleman, the mayor of Columbus, is a bike advocate, and has promoted the trail system here in Columbus. There has been construction on the Alum Creek trail, with attempts made to link the various 'pieces' of the trail into one, complete path. This is actually a small piece of a much larger project: the Ohio to Erie trail, an ambitious bike trail that will eventually link Cincinnati with Cleveland, going through Columbus. Gotta do that whole ride someday when it's complete.....with my son!
The Alum Creek trail, once finished, would be a personal boon, as it would allow me to make my commute off the road entirely. This would delight me and my wife, who tends to fret about my safety on the roads. I'm sure the cars travelling on narrow Cassady and Sunbury would approve as well.
I hadn't checked out for some time a certain stretch of the path I understood to be under construction, and so this afternoon I enjoyed the beautiful day by spending a couple of hours on my 'horse' doing some reconnaisance. I took off from home and wended my way by street and path, passing the impressive campus of Ohio Dominican University until I came to the southern terminus of the extension:
I was duly impressed! There are some beautiful stretches of trail, including a couple of well-designed, new walking bridges over Alum Creek, which looked lovely on this fall day.
I rather enjoyed this plaque, commemorating Edward Franklin Honton, an engineer and visionary who is one of the forces behind the birth of the Ohio to Erie bike trail. God bless folks like Mr. Honton, whose life and work make available such public spaces.
I do love bike commuting, as my friends know. One tweeted me this photo the other day (thanks Travis), which I think is 'spot on':
I try my best to use the commuting method that runs on my fat.....It's the best fuel going.
