Licking County Bicycle Club

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Lake Hope Gravel Loop
By: Ken Apacki, 3/26/09

It was a cloudy day in March 2009 when a group of four Licking County Bicycle Club members took on the challenges of hills and gravel in the Zaleski State Forest. Mike and Kaye Smith had scouted the route a couple weeks before and guided Eddie McKee and Ken Apacki on the forest and township and county roads in the hills of southern Ohio. We started out chilled, but ended shedding layers and enjoying some sunshine four hours later.

We started at the Hope Furnace and got our heart rates up to maximum in the first mile. Then it was down into a 4-mile long valley on King Hollow Trail and Rockcamp Road. Mike didn’t want us to get soft on him, so we took a two mile diversion where we climbed back to the same elevation of the initial ridge. Then after returning to the valley floor, we began to climb to a ridge that we stayed on for 2.5 miles. The trees were still bare so we could see the Blackhand Sandstone cliffs that faced the ridges and contained the valleys. We had our lunch on a rock outcrop overlooking Raccoon Creek. Does every county have a Raccoon Creek?

We arrived back at the Lake Hope State Park and climbed for 2.5 miles to a long rolling ridge that we stayed on for 5 miles. On this ridge we reached our highest point of 1066 ft. Then it was downhill to the finish. Three of us were almost spent and were willing to walk three or four of the hills to avoid injuring ourselves. But we enjoyed the loop and will do it again soon to see how our strength is improving.

Mike Smith rode the same roads again the following Saturday as part of the Athens Bicycle Club’s “Gravel Rouser Classic. Mike reported that our portion of the race route was the most scenic and interesting. You can tell who was not worn out.

Loop statistics:
Total distance = 24.4 miles (12 miles ascending, 12 miles descending)
Minimum elevation = 600ft.
Maximum elevation = 1100ft.
Cumulative climbing = 3,080ft.
Steepest grade = 14%