One Cyclist's Photographic Trek Through the Rust Belt

When Ken Ashton first participated in the Tour of the Scioto River Valley, he joined about 8,000 cyclists in the two-day Ohio trek from Columbus to Portsmouth and back. That was in 1991; Ashton’s been back almost 30 times. Some others have him beat by decades. The Tour, which started as a father-and-son ride in 1962, is one of the oldest rides in America. There are cyclists in their 70s who still make the journey.

The 212-mile trip is an annual event; this year’s Tour is this weekend, May 20-21. Since the ‘90s, the number of cyclists who make the trip has dipped. (Perhaps a consequence of the Tour’s reputation for always falling on rainy days.) But Ashton says the most striking changes have taken place in Portsmouth, the destination. Crowds of residents used to greet the mob of cyclists as they crossed a bridge over the Scioto River into town, he says. Now, no one shows.