Day 47 New Philadelphia OH to Steubenville OH

Stats: mileage: 59; total climb: 4877 ft; total mileage: 2139

The trip to Steubenville was going to be long, so we left at the crack of dawn. Of course this is getting later and later since sunrise here was at 6:37 AM. No more of those 5:30 AM escapes. But the highlight this morning was NO humidity.
So we set out on a 20 mile ride to Bowerston to ride on the Conotton Creek Trail. It was an up and down the hills adventure as you can tell from our total climbing number. Our tired legs tell us that we climbed almost a mile today, but the scenery was enjoyable.
After a breakfast stop n Bowerston, we found the trail which is 11 miles long, goes through Scio, and ends in Jewett. It is all paved and very well maintained.
The trail is a former railroad bed and runs along the Columbus and Ohio River RR-now the Ohio Central. There is a great little ice cream stop in Scio, and a covered bridge.


During our ride down the trail Paul was hoping for a perfect shot of a passing coal train. Not only did he not see a train, the tunnel was closed up too.
We pedaled along through the HILLY countryside and at 48 miles, we found ourselves with the choice of going forward or backtracking over 5 miles. A road that was once paved was now in total disrepair and 5 extra miles plus whatever the readjusted route would add to our total was too much. Besides it was only 3 miles to the main road. Paul drew the short straw (this is the fairy tale part of the adventure) and got to push the tandem up the hill.
In spite of the unplanned off bike experience, this walk through the woods on a hot summer day was unexpectedly refreshing. Then we reached CR 22A, pavement and a truck/cheese sign. The downhill was steep but not as steep or long as the uphill on the other side of the creek. On to RT 43 with all the traffic made the memories of this quiet shady road worth the effort.