Popcorn 100 bike tour goes east
MARION — The 35th OhioHealth Marion Popcorn Festival 100 Bicycle Tour is going east this year, traveling the rural roads of Marion, Morrow and Delaware counties along the Whetstone River and Alum Creek watersheds.
“Last year’s tour was a big success. We had 225 riders traveling the westward route,” said Jeff Youngs of his first year as the tour’s director. In 2014, riders traveled through western Marion, Union and Logan counties, with the 100-mile route traversing High Point near Mad River Mountain, which at over 1,400 feet above sea level is Ohio’s highest peak.
“We got lots of good feedback from riders, who traveled from throughout the Midwest to participate. But riders who do tours regularly want something different, so we decided to change it up this year.”
Staggered start
Youngs says the Popcorn 100, like all tours, is all about fun and exploring roads less traveled with friends and family.
“It’s really a social gathering,” he said. “We really try to make it an enjoyable ride for first-time riders. Oh, there will always be friends, guys that have rode together for years trying to maintain a pace, and try and drop each other. But it’s not a race. We’d like everyone to ride at their own pace. We just ask that you follow the rules of the road, and we require helmets.”
The tour features a staggered start, with riders leaving McKinley Park as early as 6:30 a.m. and as late as 8:30 a.m. to avoid a mass of riders flowing onto the roads all at once. Youngs chose bright neon green route markers this year to differentiate from the many other bike routes laid out in Morrow County, a popular destination for cyclists.
The routes have been evolving to avoid road repairs, which go on continuously by state and county crews throughout the summer and are the bane of any bike tour director.
“We had the route pass over a cool, old steel bridge, but a grain truck took it out a couple weeks ago. Last year, I was riding a route we had marked just before the tour date and found road crews had covered our arrows with road seal. I had 10 miles to remark the day before the tour, but we got it done,” Youngs said.
Maps will be provided on the morning of the tour, but the arrow markers should keep riders rolling in the right direction without the need to check the map, Youngs said.
Various loops
Coming up with new, scenic routes on lightly traveled roads is Youngs’ labor of love. He primarily discovers out-of-the-way roads on his training rides, like Old Ohio 10 (Worthington-Newhaven Road), featured on this year’s tour.
“Once you are out there, you feel like you’ve left Ohio. It was the first federally funded highway in the country, and a part of the underground railroad. The road is dotted by beautiful old brick homes. People traveling the underground route would take it from New Haven to Oberlin, and once slaves reached Oberlin, an abolitionist hotbed, they were considered ‘free,’” Youngs said.
The 25-mile out-and-back route travels east from McKinley Park through the Chateau Estates neighborhood to Marion-Edison Road before turning south, following Riffle Creek before crossing the Olentangy River on Cardington Road. Riders will then turn south on Claridon-Ashley Road before finding the turnaround marker on Newmans-Cardington Road at about the 13-mile mark.
Riders on the 35-mile route will continue east another six miles to Cardington for lunch before turning back to retrace the miles back to Marion. The 62-mile loop follows the same route out of town, with an additional southeastern loop that will take riders through Westfield and Ashley in Delaware County, roughly following the west branch of Alum Creek along Ashley Road before swinging northeast on Worthington-New Haven Road.
Riders will take a meandering route of several county roads before turning westward on Ohio 529 into Cardington.
Cardington will host the main lunch stop at the American Legion Community Park for the 35-, 62- and 100-mile routes, as well as the last food stop for the 100-mile riders returning through town. Dexter’s Subway will be providing lunch, and Honey Stinger will provide organic gels and energy bars at food stops along the routes.
“We got the Fret Mashers, a local bluegrass duo, to entertain riders at Cardington Park,” Youngs said. “I think riders will enjoy them. I’d really like add more music to the tour, so next year we may add more, like folk music at the start or finish.”
For those diehard riders who enjoyed the lung searing climb up Corkscrew Hill on last year’s tour of Logan County, this year’s 100-mile route will feature a long, steady 30-mile climb from Alum Creek (just north of the reservoir at mile 30) to Candlewood Lake in Morrow County at 1,250 feet above sea level.
“For the shorter routes, we try and keep it flat for the casual riders,” Youngs said. “But for the 100, I look for rolling hills to over some variety and challenge for the more experienced riders. People think going east from Marion is a pretty flat route, especially if you’re driving a car.
“But Mount Gilead is basically a town on a hill. This year’s route is pretty flat through Leonardsburg (just east of Delaware Lake at about mile 30), but from that point it’s a gradual climb. You really feel it on a bicycle, especially on the return loop past Candlewood Lake. It’s a nice downhill on the turn from there.”
Next year’s Popcorn 100 will swing north through Wyandot and Crawford counties on routes following the Sandusky River Valley that Youngs recently discovered while training with the Mid-Ohio Velo Sport bike club.
“We keep trying to find roads people don’t ride, and it’s really beautiful riding up there,” he said.
Online pre-tour registration is $15, and closes Wednesday. Day-of-tour registration at McKinley Park is $20 and closes at 8:30 a.m. Riders may start at 6:30 a.m. All riders are asked to be on the road by 8:30 a.m. Visit www.thepopcorn100.com for details.
jsmiller@gannett.com
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Special section
The Marion Star will publish a preview of next week’s Popcorn Festival on Wednesday. It will include a schedule of events, photos and a writer’s memories from his first festival.