February arrived and we were beyond excited to finally have a day with warm enough weather to ride. It was around 40 when we left the house and the high for the day ended up around 70 degrees. PERFECT riding weather!
Over the winter, we made another bucket for Edgar that was equipped with the MIK rack system. This bucket attached to the rear rack on my Verve. The thought was that we now had a bucket for Edgar that fit each mounting system we had and any future bike we might acquire would most likely have one or the other. This, indeed did end up happening, but that is for a future post.
Anyway, we decided that we would take both buckets on this ride to make sure that both worked as intended. The plan was to ride the entire length of the Columbus Riverwalk Bike Trail from north to south. It was a fantastic ride!
This trail is beautiful regardless of what time of year you ride it. The northernmost point of the trail is above the dam for Lake Oliver in northern Columbus. There is a marina about 1/4 mile from the trailhead and that is where we park when we start here. The official southern trailhead is located inside Ft. Benning, but if you are not inclined to ride into the base, you can make the loop that we did that takes you through a small RV park just south of Columbus just where Ft. Benning begins.
Even though this was February, there was still green foliage all around and we could feel the fast approach of Spring.
This trail has a few covered bridges and riding the northern section takes you up and over the dam/spillway with beautiful views of the rapids on the other side.
When you ride this route, you will pass the water treatment plant on the southern portion of the ride. You will then come to a right hand turn that takes you alongside the Oxbow Creek Golf Course on the left and the river on your right. Beyond the golf course there is the Columbus City Dog Park and then the Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center.
At the learning center, you will be faced with a decision on route choice. You can follow the trail across South Lumpkin Road and head into Ft. Benning. This is a very nice long trail that runs the entire outer circumference of Ft. Benning and brings you back to South Lumpkin Road. Or, you can continue past the learning center on the trail and continue heading south to the end of the trail branch that will take you to the RV park.
This day, we chose to take the second option and continue through the wilderness on the trail less traveled to the RV park. This part of the trail is only a few miles and is not as well maintained as the rest of the Riverwalk Trail. It is an interesting ride, though. We passed many warning signs about alligators in the waters, so Edgar was not allowed out of the bucket during the snack break in this area.
Once we made it to the end of the trail, we rode it in reverse to get back to the truck. Both of Edgar’s buckets worked perfectly and we throughly enjoyed finally being able to get back on the bikes again.
If you are looking for a 30 mile ride on a paved trail that winds along a river and through beautiful tree canopies and covered bridges, this ride is one you should check out if you are in the area.
Ride with GPS Route
Below is the embed data for our actual ride we did that day. Our Ride with GPS profile will show you our other rides if you want more details on those they are in the profile above.
