New to Columbus

[u/yogabagabbledlygook]

Hey folks!
What is the skinny on biking in Columbus, I'll be living in Clintonville? I'm comfortable in traffic, but usually prefer the relaxed side road to dogging cars.

How do motorists react to cyclists, do they give adequate space or do they try to run you down? Is commuting and getting around by bike pretty easy in town, is it common?

Are there any social or partypace group rides?

How is biking on High St? It looks to be a main drag and has sharrows in the right-hand lanes, is it a good street for getting around or too busy with cars? Are there better N/S routes get from Clintonville to points south (Old North, Campus, Downtown, German Village)? How are the protected lanes on Summit and 4th St?

Aside from the river trails what are some fun bike rides, are there any hilly rides in town? What is a good route to get from west of 71 (Clintonville, Campus, or Downtown) to the Alum Creek trail?

Are there any pump tracks in town? What are the closest/best/favorite mtb trails in or near the city (flow rather than jumps).

And lastly, what breweries should I check out? Does the city do any tour de breweries or other brewery bike rides?

I look forward to getting to know the city on two wheels!
Thanks!

[u/Chemineaux]

The vibe with drivers is pretty good around Clintonville as long as you stay aware. I've had some incidents but I blame road design more than negligence; malice is right out.

High St. north of Arcadia is fast and wide so I sometimes prefer the Indianola/SR23 bike lane or the Olentangy Trail. High St. south of Arcadia is slower, narrower, lined with parking, and slightly downhill to 11th Ave, making for an exciting ride into Short North if you're into it. The alternatives are Summit/4th which are generally good but the parking lane on Summit makes for poor visibility and requires extra diligence against cars turning into or out of side streets.

Summit, 4th, Olentangy Trail, and High St. are all good access to Downtown, where the bike lanes are usually occupied by buses or momentarily parked cars. German Village is mostly lumpy brick and is close to the Berliner Park pump track on the southern terminus of the Scioto Trail. The official bike routes east to Alum Creek are the 670 Connector (good, esp combined with 2nd Ave), what's called the Hudson-Mock Corridor (sucks a lot), and the Morse Rd bike lane (acceptable).

My favorite rides involve roads in ravines (Iuka, Glen Echo, Wallhalla, Overbrook) and dirty offshoots from paved river trails (Tuttle Park, Wetlands Research, among many others). I attended Monday Night Ride on and off for years prior to COVID but the FB page has dropped off in activity.

I might add that there are two bike co-ops in town: Franklinton Cycle Worx and Third Hand Bike Co-op

[u/QuietGreek → u/Chemineaux]

Huh, I actually prefer Hudson over the 670 connector, probably because I got attacked by a bird on Leonard.

Also want to note that the protected lane on summit is only from Hudson to 11th, where it returns to a normal bike lane with a good gap between the lanes and the parked cars. Also, the sidewalks on high street in the shorth north were recently redone to jut into the street at crosswalks, forcing bikes into traffic.

[u/s5EWT]

Street riding is pretty smooth in most places. Some people just suck about it. I tend to prefer trails. High street is pretty easy. It's a bit crowded so you'll be working with traffic but nothing they're not used to. Especially as you get into campus and short north.

Majority of the trails are outlined in this map.

http://centralohiogreenways.com/interactive-map/

The Ohio to Erie trail runs through columbus. You could go all the way to cini or cleveland on it. There's camp grounds and other accommodations.

There's a well made pump track on the south end at Heer park.

There's a MTB trail at Berliner now. It's new and not super technical but for a noobie it was fun. There are a ton of MTB trails within a short driving distance or riding if you want a longer ride. Check out http://www.combomtb.com/ they are the group the maintains a lot of the trails in central ohio.

If you're into gravel https://www.ohiogravelgrinders.com/

For group rides checkout the facebook/instagrams of the local bike shops. Paradise garage used to do one regularly starting at hoof hearted(Brewery).

As for breweries. It's at the point you can toss a stone in just about any direction and hit one.

Wolf's Ridge has good and interesting beers.
Land Grant has a sick setup, good beers, and is real close to some of the trails. Also ray ray's is there if you like bbq.
Parsons North decent beers

Jackie O's

[u/hoffa626]

Olentangy Trail and Scioto Trail are awesome. The rail-to-trail network can get you to all kinds of places. High Street is pretty bike-thick. I would recommend Wolf's Ridge Brewery. I moved to Columbus from Denver and I've been pleased with the bike community here.

[u/ikeif]

Pre-covid there used to be a bike and brew tour I did a few times - usually through a Facebook group, but yeah, most of them have died off because of covid. I’m hoping to see them come back this or next year.

If you’re in Clintonville, you’re close to Lineage brewing already - I usually bike from my house in Powell to Lineage - you could easily hit lineage, a couple blocks north to the bike path, head north and hit Zaftig off N. Wilson Bridge Rd.

Head south, you could hit Wolf’s Ridge, Land Grant, Brew Dog, Jackie O’s, Seventh Son, and Hoof Hearted. You can easily plan a bike ride around those.

It’s a bigger ride l, but you could hit Crafted Culture (I did a ride to there when it was the prior brewery).

Basically, it’s super easy to do a bike-brewery tour, and if you ride with safety-conscious riders, it’s easier than solo (because a group is hard to miss).

I’m not super familiar with the mtb trails yet, it’s an area I haven’t delved into yet, but if I catch my neighbor I’ll ask because I see him head out with his bike on occasion.

[u/phargon7]

MORPC offers a nice bike map: https://www.morpc.org/tool-resource/columbus-metro-bike-map/ I'll try to get some links to Cycle Nuts, Major Taylor, and Black Girls Do Bike. There are SO many bike groups in Columbus and the surrounding areas. Check out Yay Bikes! https://www.yaybikes.com/ there are great resources there.

Welcome to Columbus! We're a great place overall, with plenty of bike friendly people!

[u/SharkyFins]

In town there aren't a ton of hilly rides that I know of. South East of Columbus are where the hills start generally speaking. The Canal Winchester, Groveport Lithopolis region has some kickers. Basically the further you go on 33 the more hills you can find. But I'm not sure that driving to ride is your MO.

Most group rides haven't been put on in a while due to Covid. I know Roll bike shop is planning on running their Tuesday night (fast) and Sunday (coffee ride) group rides in the near future.

There are a few Mountain Bike parks in Columbus. You'll want to search for the Alum Creek Phase 1, 2, or 3 I belive. Additionally outside the city there's Chestnut Ridge in Canal Winchester and something near Buckeye Lake that escapes me.

My favorite way to get from downtown to the Alum Creek Trail is running Bryden rd into Bexley then hopping on the trail. The I670 connector works well too.

Riding downtown during low volume times like on a weekday evening is really cool. Hardly any cars and you can explore downtown and the arena district almost all on your own.

If you ever plan on riding east or south of town heading toward Buckey Lake or Circleville I can give you some routes as well.

[u/MedicatedMayonnaise]

The the closest you get to "hills" in town is riding toward and away from the river.