Grand Tour - Venice

If you have a gravel bike, yesterday's ride is something you might like to try!  About 3 miles of the 32 miles was gravel.  I rode on Township roads that were more like EXCELLENT bike trails, because they were so narrow.  I rode on County roads that were more like highways.  And I rode on state highway with very little shoulder and very courteous drivers. 

There are three places in Ohio that have been named Venice.  Two no longer exist, and the third is Venice Township in Seneca County.  There is no actual village or city named Venice that I could find. 

Venice, Italy is "the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs." - from Google, and from Wikipedia, "Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork. Venice is known for several important artistic movements—especially during the Renaissance period—has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

Although the city is facing some challenges (including an excessive number of tourists and problems caused by pollution, tide peaks and cruise ships sailing too close to buildings), Venice remains a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural centre, and has been ranked many times the most beautiful city in the world. It has been described by the Times Online as one of Europe's most romantic cities and by The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". 

Venice Township, Ohio, on the other hand, holds the small farming community of Attica.  There are two other named places in Venice Township, Caroline, and Carrothers.  

My route took me through Caroline, a couple of houses, but not as far south as Carrothers.  I also visited Celeryville and Willard. 

I parked at Myers Park on the west side of Attica, and headed west into a light wind.  I rode for two miles on County Road 56, with cornfields either side of the road.  

Then turned south onto  narrow, paved Township road 79. 

  A scant half-mile later, I headed southeast on County Road 12.   Arriving in Caroline, Google directed me to turn and ride down a gravel alley.  I kept going a few more blocks and then turned south on State Route 4, which had light traffic.  A few hundred feet later and I turned east onto a township road.  If you want to ride this ride, you could shortcut it by heading south on Route 4 out of Attica, ride directly to Caroline, and pick up the route here.  I headed southeast on County Road 35. 

Some of the paved township roads here are no wider than a bike path.  In fact, they are named "trails".  Be careful, there are tractors and heavy equipment occasionally on these roads.  But by and large, I was the only one using the road. 

I arrived at the Willard Marsh Wilderness area and was confronted by about 3 miles of gravel. I was riding a touring bike with 28 cm tires, and navigated it successfully, even if the ride was a little rough. 

When I got to New Philadelphia (this is marked as a town, but I only noticed a Toro dealer,) I thought I would turn left on a township road to avoid the state highway half a mile east.  Google maps showed that it rejoined the highway just south of Celeryville.  There was migrant worker housing along this road.  Celeryville is a "muck" area where vegetables are grown, including the Ohio home of Bolthouse farms.  However, half a mile down this road, the road petered out into a farm lane, and the guys working on tractors told me I could not get through.  I had to retrace my route back to highway  103. 

There was a little more traffic on the state route, but every single driver was courteous.  Some waited behind me until it was safe to pass. Very little paved shoulder on this road.  Celeryville passed by in a blink of an eye, and then I was in Willard.  I noticed a train engine and caboose in a city park as I passed through.  

Under a railroad overpass, that felt like a tunnel, then left onto a county road.  Very light traffic here.  Heading west toward Attica.  There was a place where the road inexplicably detoured north and then south over a railroad track that involved climbing up over the overpass and then down a hill to turn at the bottom, but generally, the road was straight and flat.  As I arrived back in Attica, I noticed the cemetary on the north side of the road had a sign with "Venice" on it, so I paused for a photo op.  One mile to go! 

(Edited to include video footage and map)