Day 1
5/13/2003
I woke up, not quite on time, for my first day of bike touring. I loaded the bike and gear in the back of my pickup truck and headed for Pittsburgh, which was the meeting point. Since there would be an hour's drive, I passed a McDonalds on the way, and stopped for one last cup of civilized coffee. The cashier gave me some looks while I was transitioning the Drive-Thru; I wondered what she would tell her coworkers when I left, "There was some guy in spandex shorts in a truck, paying for his Extra Value Meal from a Ziplock bag, with an odd looking bike strapped to a 2x4 in the back of his truck. Oh my God!".
We departed Pittsburgh as a five-some: Jim, David, Nathan, Denise, and me. Jim is a 60-ish engineer, about 6'-2", and most of that legs. David in his 20's, is a linguist from Canada, and will serve as the guide for the group. He has done the trip before and knows where all the campsites, trails, and ice cream stands are. Denise in her 20's, is also linguist like David, and has people skills on the verge of being gregarious. Nathan is in his early 20's, and is a Political Science major. Although he is a good hiker, he is new to cycling.
After a good bit of bungee strapping, gear shifting, and bike checks, we were off on the journey. We crossed the 40th Street Bridge, and then took the trail near the Allegheny River downtown. The path is paved with crushed limestone, and I wondered how waterproof my newly-devised panniers would be as we made our way through last night's puddles. Note for next time: use splashguards!
We went from trails to road a few times, because the trail route is not complete. The trail offered lower grades, but more tire drag due to the limestone. Avoiding the steep grades seemed worth it alone, plus we could stick together and talk.
After about 20 miles, Nathan started to lag behind. We stopped for lunch in Oakdale and rested a good bit. We asked Nathan to decide if he could go on. He thought about it over the meal, and then opted to head back. It was probably the right decision, because there were some punishing hills near Steubenville.
David was the best hill climber, I could hang with him for some of the hills, but Denise and Jim tended to lag. I dialed in their work rates based on my heart rate monitor and speed. We stayed together when my HR was around 130, and Jim climbed all steep hills at four mph.
Jim's road skills deserve comment. He is carrying a lot of weight in his trike, so traveling uphill is tough. On the way down, he lets it rip, sometimes pushing the barrier between Bold and Insane. From the back, the trike looks like a low wheel chair with 2 orange pennants hanging off the sides. Jim had no reservations to ride in the car lane, stop on the shoulder of a busy 55 mph (meaning 70 mph actual), or park in the middle of the road while we discussed the next move.
New Alexandria was very scenic. Everything was on a hill, just like Pittsburgh, except that there were cows grazing on 30 degree inclines rather than houses. The spectacular late-evening sun cast an orange light and long shadows.
I had another inspirational moment - one with an image that was permanently burning into my memory. I was at the back of the group, riding west on RT 151. The sun was before us; bathing everything in orange brilliance, save for the three cycling shadows ahead. "This is perfect", I thought. A blink or two of the eye later, I saw an advertisement that sort of put a fly in the ointment. A blue and yellow sign advertised "Lightening Rods by Dr Boom!". That pretty much ended the mental recording.
Day 2
Day 2 draws to a close as I write this. We are at the Salt Fork State Park, about 70 miles east of Columbus, Ohio. We broke camp when everyone was awake. There was no rush with only 50 miles to go. It is trying to rain, just enough to make you worry about a soggy sleeping bag, but the weather was supposed to be, and was, good for riding. The plan was to avoid the busy RT 22 and stay on the back-roads. That proved to be very hilly and time-consuming, and we opted for the freeway.
Within a mile, the four lane road reduced to two lanes. Near this point, I saw a house that made me sick. It was an 1800's brick farmhouse, with a barn in the other side of the road. My first impression was "That house looks just like mine!" As I got closer, it was apparent that the entire building had been gutted of its doors, windows, and woodwork. Only the brick frame remained, with some of it haphazardly removed to help haul out the front door. What also stuck me was how close the barn and house were to the road. That farm may have been the reason the first muddy lane was made in the first place; it outlasted its original purpose, and is now in ruins.
David wanted to ride ahead and keep his rhythm. I could hang with him most of the time, but the others could not take the hills as fast. I told him I would sheep dog the others in case they got a flat or ran out of gas. Denise was the one to watch, not because she was the only girl on the trip, but rather, she had the oldest bike, and was pedaling an extra 50% of her normal weight. My bike and luggage were only 30% of my weight; David and Jim were also in that range.
I picked older architectural sites to observe while waiting for the others - usually at the top of a hill, in the shade where I could get a drink while waiting to spy the orange of Jim's orange flag, and Denise's orange shirt rounding the last bend. There was an old brick church at the top of one hill near Smyrna, with Gothic windows, just like those in the painting of the pitchfork-holding farmer and his wife. Those windows were in sad shape; and whoever last painted them was rushed and did not scrape the over runs from the glass. The handmade bricks were made before the use of Portland cement - the same type as are in my house; more like pottery than masonry.
An interesting story presented itself as I stood there resting, holding my front wheel with my knees and sipping some water. Two adjoined outhouses behind the church, marked 'Boys' and 'Girls', each looked like single occupancy units, but there was a slab of plywood nailed in between. Was that needed to shield the view when the doors opened? The plywood being a new material, was the original privacy device recently replaced? I could have been an anthropologist and done more research but I kept on riding.
Dinner at the Salt Fork Camp was on the verge of maniacal; we filled our bellies with a vengeance. We were going to have pasta for dinner, but ended up without sauce. Not to worry; a can of chili beans was drummed up, and along with a fresh tomato and pepper, a decent meal resulted.
The night was rainy. As a rookie camper, I kept waking up to look for floods coming into the tent. I did OK, and woke up dry. My friends asked how I would sleep on the hard ground like that. My answer was, and proved to be, that after 70 miles on the bike, a picnic table looks inviting to a tired biker.
Day 3
We broke camp leisurely, expecting to only cover 50 miles this day. It turned out, unfortunately, that we really needed to go about 70, and we would get caught in the rain. I cannot gripe about the misjudged distance, as I could have easily looked at a map myself and judged the distance.
Part of the estimation discrepancy was the distance to Zanesville. We were all going to meet there so we could all ride at our own pace. This turned out to cause some delays as we gathered everyone. In the future I will propose that any group, especially one of very different climbing abilities, stay within sight of each other. The riders can also draft each other while close, and are available to help with mechanical problems. Plus, it can be tough to self-diagnose when you are starting to show signs of dehydration; a co-rider can keep you in line.
It started to rain, thunder, and lightning as we approached Hebron, Ohio. I later saw a newspaper that Heron, Israel was the site of a Homicide Bombing that very day.
There is a question that you need to ask yourself constantly in those situations: "What are we going to do next?" We were wet, had lost track of fellow rider Jim since Zanesville, and were riding on some fairly busy roads. We all agreed to get a hotel room and dry out.
Appearing on the horizon was the dry oasis in our wet desert, "Gangster Pizza." Not unfortunately next door was a beer distributor; things were beginning to look up. The delivery guy at the pizza shop, who curiously left his car idling the entire time we were there, gave good directions to the nearest hotel. We decided we would check in, and call for the food (and beer!) rather than carry it. As we headed off to the hotel, I saw why the delivery guy's car peel out of the lot like he was chased by Godzilla. The Columbus Drag Races were in town, perhaps he was inspired.
The food, pizza and conversation that night were excellent, but I must take a moment to categorize some of the odd body markings I had at the end of the day. First were the black marks the chain and gear grease left on my legs. I had four of them, and was by far the most oiled up of the group. Secondly, I had some really funny tan lines on the back of my hands. My gloves have an adjustable Velcro strap on the back, with a bit of an opening in between. I did not put sunscreen in there, who would have thought? The result was two Stigmata-like red sunburn circles on the back of my hands. We were just past Easter, and kind of heading toward the Bible Belt, I did not think much more down those lines.
Day 4
We met a local rider, Jeff, the next morning at the hotel. Jeff led us out of town at 15 miles per hour, a lot faster than the 10 or 11 we were averaging before. He did not have any gear on his bike, but he weighed about 220 pounds, and plowed a big hole in the air for us to follow.
There were 40 or 50 riders that meet us near the city limits; it was good to see a big group like that on a Friday afternoon, and Jim was in there somewhere. Denise, David and I had a few beers left over from the night before. We had ambitiously ordered more than we needed, and fell asleep early like tired lightweights should have. We felt rebellious, and broke one open, just as Jeff started addressing the group. We were pointed out; of course, I hid the beer in my water holder so as not to look like a total drunkard in front of the group.
Our arrival in the Columbus was pretty big; there were belly dancers on the steps to welcome us! What a town!! As is turns out, our arrival was adjacent to the City Cultural Celebration, not too bad a deal as we had an even bigger audience and a good supply of curry chicken.
That really is the end of the interesting stuff. I have purposely omitted the stupid rental car stories and body aches, as they tend not to have entertainment value. I will do this ride again in a few months; so let me know if you want to hear about it.
Hi! I just got all the pictures off of my digital camera last night but haven't
had time to organize them and e-mail them. Here's a summary of the Columbus
reception and my ride back, though:
We passed out shortly after dark in our motel room in Buckeye Lake and woke up
late. I turned on my cell phone to find multiple messages from Bubba, who it
turned out was just down the road in the Burger King drinking coffee. We
pondered the breakfast buffet at Duke's Travel Plaza before settling on all the
free donuts we could eat in the motel lobby.
Bubba talked with us about bikes for a long time while we gathered our stuff,
and then led us off on a high-speed ride into Columbus. Other people have
remarked on this too but it sure is nice having a huge guy in front of you
riding at 16-17mph to keep the wind off! Highway 40 was decent until we got to
Reynoldsburg, where it turns into the unbroken stretch of dead and decaying
motels and malls that I remembered from my last trip. Fortunately we had 30
other bikes with us and the traffic was light, which sadly wasn't the case on my
way back out of town.
At city hall we found ourselves fairly close to a Culture Festival, totally
unrelated to our event, but which provided us with a ready supply of delicious
food. Some bike messengers showed up to say hi, including Michelle, who lives
with a friend of mine in Columbus and whose old band Memento Mori used to play
Pittsburgh a lot. We hung out and talked for a while (Denise was admiring her
hot pink fixed-gear bike and matching helmet) until we got pulled away for photo
opportunities and speeches. (not my favorite things, but I endured them)
Rosemarie's story was sad but also inspirational - I'm a real sap for stories
about the restorative powers of cycling. We talked to Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessy,
the council member who rode her bike with us the whole way in, for a long time
after the ceremony, which was great. I wish we had more people like her on our
council here in Pittsburgh!
After the event Jim got picked up by a bike shop which offered to store and tune up his trike.
He then went to meet with some customers from his bike business, and we hung around the culture
festival trying to find a rental car for Mike and Denise. Eventually we headed
up to the Blue Nile and ordered more Ethiopian food than we could eat (since
we'd been snacking all afternoon already), then went across the street to get
ice cream at the convenience store (one of the nice things about Ohio).
Unfortunately Jim didn't manage to get a hold of us until after the meal. I put
my stuff back on my bike and rode off while Denise and Jim dismembered their
bikes and gear in preparation for their drive back.
Still in Columbus, I pulled up to my friends' house and sat around on the couch playing with their
cats, watching a movie, and catching up with people on the phone until 11 or so
... there was a show I really wanted to see but I couldn't face the prospect of heading off to
a smoky bar until 2 AM so I just went to sleep.
On Saturday, I had fun record shopping and eating food in Columbus with my
friend Dennis and a friend of his from Athens, then took off at 5:30PM planning
to camp on the edge of town somewhere, preferably after seeing a drive-in movie.
Of course, it promptly started raining as soon as I left, and I had to endure
the ride out of town on East Main Street soaking wet. At one point, I hit a
pothole that was full of water, my left-side panniers both fell off, and then a
bus drove by and threw a huge wave of water in my face. Argh! As soon as I
left the city limits, though, it started to let up.
I made the mistake of asking the people at the drive-in if I could camp there
after seeing the movie. Of course, they said no. But I found a better place
further down the road (after briefly considering camping in a pet cemetery -
something I still want to do just so I can tell people I did it!). I ended up
doing 21 miles that evening which put me well within 2 days' ride of Pittsburgh.
My goal was to find the exact distance door-to-door from Columbus to Pittsburgh,
on the shortest possible route. I wanted to see if I could do it in two days,
but I didn't really want to push myself too much, which is why I left Saturday
afternoon. As it turned out, it's 195 miles from my friends' house in
Clintonville to my girlfriend's house in East Allegheny (adjacent to Pittsburgh). Not bad!
On Sunday I did 101 miles, ending up in Cadiz, where I talked to some nice old people in the
city's RV park who let me pitch my tent under a tree on their site. I ate a
nice breakfast in the first diner I saw the next day and then rode on 22 (which
was nice and flat ... sorry, Jim) until Wintersville, OH, where it started looking
like more of a freeway than I'd like to be on. 22A started out nice but quickly
deteriorated into a repeat of East Main Street, except with hills. Drivers in
Steubenville, OH almost at stateline, seem to be the worst of anywhere I
encountered - they either don't know how to pass you, or they pass way too close.
I couldn't get out of that stupid town fast enough.
I kept going down, and then further down, culminating in a 9% downhill which
dropped me into downtown Steubenville, such as it is. The bridge crossing over the massive Ohio River into West Virginia was easy and I breathed a sigh of relief, unfortunately tainted
with the foul smell of an asphalt factory. I figured I'd be in Pittsburgh by 4
PM and actually ended up getting there by 3, at which point I rolled my bike
into the courtyard in the Penn Brewery, started drinking beer, and ended up
talking to an older man in the midst of writing a play, who told me about riding
his bike to St. Louis, and a whole lot of other long tours he'd done, and all
the great touring bikes he'd owned, and so on... It seemed like a fitting end
to a great tour.
THX 4 U!!!
Hello Jim I enjoyed reading about your adventures crossing the US. Your question as to the 95 year old rider from Chicago, his name is Clair Duckham, he lived in Ohio for many many years and recently moved to Chicago. He has been a very active rider. Up to about 5 years ago he was still riding his ordinary ( high wheel bicycle ). Bicyclists don't grow old they just pedal away. Safe pedaling wishes, and the wind at your back. Best regards Carey Williams
Here's Denise Hill on her Columbus reception experience:
Location: the back seat of a rental car, en route to Pittsburgh.
well, we made it! this morning Dave, Mike and I woke up in our motel room, climbed past empty pizza boxes and beer bottles and wandered out to the front office, where they serve coffee and donuts 24-7. we waited for Bubba Jeff there.
he arrived soon thereafter, and we hung out and played with Mike's heart rate monitor and talked about bikes, riding them, etc. finally we located Jim, who was staying at a motel not too far away, and we packed and left.
on the ride out to meet Jim the sky was opaque white, but it was kind to us and the sun came out soon enough. we 5 continued on to a parking lot just at the city limits, where we met the rest of our velocade. there were a LOT of people there! tandems, recumbents, etc. it looked like 2 or 3 dozen had come out to meet us. we met Fred, Jim's leg-mate to Indianapolis. talk about a cool dad: he even pulled his son out of school for the 2nd half of the day to come ride on the back end of his tandem.
City Council member Maryellen O'Shaughnessy was there to meet us, along with many members of various central Ohio bike clubs. Mike, Dave and I polished off the rest of the previous night's beer, and took our pictures with the "Welcome to Columbus" sign. Bubba Jeff spoke to everyone about why we were all here today. clearly, the man's spoken to groups before; he was really motivating to listen to.
we all circled the parking lot and took the right lane all the way to the city center. it was like a Critical Mass ride there were so many of us! our reception in Pgh was great, but there we rode down a relatively hidden trail to the ceremony; here, we were in full view for the whole 8 miles to City Hall. we even managed to pick someone up on the way; a guy in a suit saw us going by and thought it looked like fun, so he jumped on his bike to catch up! go commuters!
at City Hall, we had our ceremony (see the photos at http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/Columbus). not far away, the city's Cultural Festival was going on, so we were happy to sample all kinds of foods from Africa and Asia, among others. we hung around there for a while, enjoying the brilliant weather. Mike found us a rental car for cheap, so we piled our stuff in it, and Dave and I rode to the Blue Nile for Ethiopian food. it's amazing how fast you are when your bike is 35 lbs lighter!
the Ethiopian meal was great; if you've never had it, do yourself a favor. it's delish. after our meal, we walked over to get ice cream. then we took off our wheels, said goodbye to Dave (who's riding back home, and I'm jealous) and headed east.
whew! I don't know what I'm going to do to follow that much physical activity! I'll have to find the time to go on daily 50 mile rides. at least on Sunday, it's Pedal Pittsburgh, an annual ride around the city's neighborhoods. I'm leading the 25-mile route, which should be fun. there'll be over 2000 riders there.
ok, last time, the numbers:
total bike problems on this ride: NONE!
remaining hills: about 0
total mayors collected: 3 down...
best of luck and best of weather to everyone on the rest of this relay ride! we make it happen!
Jim Muellner, David Huggins-Daines, Denise Hill and Mike Costarell rode in from Pittsburgh to Columbus to the grand celebration that Columbus Communications Director, Dan Trevas, and RAAM racer, Jeff Stephens, powered together for them. The City Council's Public Service and Transportation Committee Chairwoman, Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, rode the last eight miles in with probably 40 other members of the Central Ohio cycling community to the City Hall celebration. There renowned public speaker, Rosemarie Rosetti http://www.RosemarieSpeaks.com , was on hand with city city officials to welcome them. Fred Kirchner was also on hand with his son. He and Jim Muellner of Just Two Bikes http://justtwobikes.com continue on to Indianapolis this week.
To see the great pictures and Dan and Jim's reports, go to:
http://www.bikeroute.com/NationalMayorsRide/Columbus
News Flash: In addition to all the excitement that awaits our riders in Santa Cruz at the 2nd annual Santa Cruz NBG Bike Fest, Prince Lawsha http://princelawsha.com tells us he is going to play in the US! For the NBG again!! At our Festival http://nbg.bikeroute.com/Events/Festival
Yahooo this is all to exciting!! WoW WOW!!
btw: If you want to become a rider, we need you!! Go to http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php , to find out how!!
btw2: We have pictures from the Pittsburgh to Columbus leg on line at http://nbg.bikeroute.com/gallery/2003Mayors
btw3: If you want to see who these cyclists are, go to http://nbg.bikeroute.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios .
HI Everyone: I seems funny to be alone, but last night I opted for a motel and must say it was wonderful.
Would like to comment on the love of cars in this area. Every small town yard is filled with run down cars. Even the space between them is filled with junked road building equipment. Huge water tanks, that were most likely used to bring water to the different road building projects. One fellow sitting on his porch who waved at me was as round as one of the tanks he was guarding, or saving for the next project. The tanks all had extensive rust holes in them that made them useless.
I wondered if these folks who collected these cars or old equipment saw them as a blight on the landscape. Perhaps after time they did not see them anymore, unlike a new traveler like myself. The country where these junkers are, is usually very nice and I feel bad for the people who live here.
The little town of Hebron where I stayed has the quiet charm of a small town. The center, or close to it has the required ice cream shop. Of course I had to stop and sample one.
As I was looking around for a motel, I asked a local where one might be and he directed me to one a couple miles away near the freeway. Luckily his daughter pointed out the one just three blocks away that has been there for 45 years. Funny how we forget the old and lean to the new and car oriented locations.
For this bike greenway to succeed, it is going to have to encourage the local older establishments to welcome bikers. It could in time revive some of the older city cores that seems to be forgotten. Sometimes as we bike through a city you see an abandoned old building that would make an excellent rest stop to get out of the sun or rain. Instead we see signs that say, keep out, no trespassing. With the clean, healthful attitude of my fellow bikers, it would be an asset to have them stop in any community.
Well time is passing and I am sure my camping mates are just about ready to roll up their gear so should I.
Have to mention the grass cutting. Some yards are enormous. Once I saw a yard with three riding lawn mowers going at the same time. What with the cost of the gas, the mowers and the effort they could buy a bike for every kid in the area. Limiting myself to cutting grass is one of my fears. I am more into more flowers and trees and less grass.
The other thing I have been looking for is an old couple sitting on the porch so I could ask when is breakfast, lunch or dinner being served. They must all be working or in Florida. No luck so far.
Saw a young boy waiting for his mom or dad to pick him up in a car. Told him if he had a bike could he be home already! He did not seem to comprehend that as an option,. Sad.
The National Trail Raceway is just outside of Kirkersville. Lots of race activity.
On the the way into town I saw a little yellow Mighty Midget for sale. They were built in Akron, Ohio in the 50's. There is a steep hill in Akron and if the car could make it up that hill it passed inspection. Polly Spaulding came out to talk to me about the car. It can go 30 or 40 mph max., but they usually only drive it 10 mph in the local parades. They want $4,000 for it, so I suggested that since they are going to Florida they might trade it for one of my Dual Recumbents. I doubt that will happen what with all the car people around here.
Just talked to David and discovered I must have been a bad influence on the group as they also stayed at a motel.
Hope they enjoyed their rest as I did.
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See the end of this message for our riders bios and pictures:
Here is Day 2 from Jim Muellner and then David Huggins-Daines who are riding with Denise Hill and Mike Costarell from Pittsburgh to Columbus.
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Hi Everyone: Can hardly believe where the time has gone. My style of biking is definitely different than the group. I want to stop at a restaurant, they stop at a grocery store. A loaf of bread, a can of beans and a bag of chips, BQ no less and they have the makings for a unique sandwich. David offered me one last night and it was good.
They, or at least David and Mike think nothing of biking 5 miles into a park, were my thought is the shortest distance possibly.
Last night we stayed at Salt Lick park, a very nice place, showers, even a washer and dryer. The dryer came in handy as it rained quite hard and most of my things got wet. Need more training on how to set up my tent. Everyone else seems to have the routine mastered, that is why I am at a small local motel tonight, $20, I could not pass it up. The little lady who is running has been doing it for 45 years.
It is not paradise, but it is dry.
Yesterday we saw a pretty doe, jumping through some grain in high graceful leaps. When she thought she was safe she stopped, but you could clearly see her perked ears sticking out over the grain. Need to mention the butterflies again. When we started they were yellow with black trim, now they are black with yellow trim, maybe the coal mining has effected them. The Cardinals who sing to us are also a deeper red, and the females have a red accent that is different than MN. It is always a pleasure to see and hear them.
Today I saw a group of barn swallows and they were beautiful as they swooped along the road in front of us. What was sad for me is years ago I had a barn on my property with lots of swallows, one day we tore it down, so they moved to the house to build their nests. Foolishly I knocked that down as well. They moved somewhere else. My yard is quiet now, no swallows to eat the insects that bite me when I go out -- my punishment for being so selfish. The swallows would gladly have eateb the insects for me.
Earlier, today when we're getting going, as I went to shave at our fancy bathroom, this cute little skunk was walking along the road on his or her daily rounds of the camp ground. I was really close but it did not seem startled, thankfully. It definitely could have ruined my day. The hills did that on their own. I cannot believe just how many hills from hell there are.
I cannot quite figure David out. Very organized, he knows where we are at all times. He gives good directions and is willing to take suggestions. A great guy just like Mike and Denise, he told me at the start of Tuesday that about halfway it starts to get less hilly. Later on after many hills, however, I ask when do we get to the level part, then he told me there are no level roads in Ohio.
Then there is his judgement of distance. We were going to a town for a great bakery, first he said it's about 10 miles, later on he upped it to 15. Then after having biked about 5 miles a road sign said 23 miles. Maybe it is his strategy not to dishearten us too bad. He does have the route down to a science. We just have to coach him on the distances.
All in all it has been a great day. Skin sun burnt, muscles burning and feet aching, but face wearing a big smile, we made it one more day.
Denise has been getting stronger everyday. At the beginning I could pretty well keep up with her, but now I usually see her from the back a ways ahead of me. I ask David to take a picture of her from the back at a distance as I usually see her. She has been a joy to be with. She even mentioned that she might do more riding if things worked out.
Right now I am on my way to my dry room and some ZZZZZZZ's.
Love to you all, even you Martin, Jim
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Here's David, relieved that he's been able to keep the team together:
I think the other riders may be a bit fed up with my habit of underestimating distances by now! This was supposed to be a 55-60 mile day, which turned into 70, mainly because I completely forgot how far it was from Zanesville to Hebron.
As usual, Zanesville is a magnet for trouble. Something about the unnatural Y-Bridge and the end of Route 666... I had arranged for us all to meet at "a bakery on Main Street". Turns out that the bakery is on Market Street, and it's closed. I waited for a while, then went up to the place where Main splits off of Market, where I found Denise, then we rode back and forth across downtown Zanesville for an hour looking for Mike and Jim, who, it turned out, had crossed to the other side of the Y-Bridge.
Jim had arranged to meet us in Hebron, but I still wanted to meet everyone at the top of the last hill. I did the 20 miles without stopping and started to worry about the other riders. After 15 minutes or so, Jim rolled up and said he'd be going on to the nearest motel. I waited until 6PM and decided to head back to find Denise and Mike, who it turns out, were only two hills back.
For the record, there are exactly five hills between the point at which it looks like Ohio is getting flat (on US 40 in Gratiot) and the point at which it actually gets flat (in Jacksontown). Coming off the last hill, we saw a huge mass of rain and lightning heading our way. It was dark too.
On S. High Strert in Hebron (pronounced Hee-Brawn) we faced a stark choice: right on Canal Road to the KOA or left to I-70 and a potential motel. Denise's quote: "I don't know what a KOA is, but does it have a roof?" So we took the motel option. As we rounded the bend, a sign appeared in the distance. Could it be true? BEER ... PIZZA ... yes indeed.
Within an hour we found ourselves in a dry motel room eating a huge pizza and drinking Sierra Nevada ($6.99 a six pack, delivered ... hooray for Ohio!)
Today we have an easy 30 miles or so into Columbus. I'm trying to decide whether I should just turn around and head back tonight which will guarantee me getting back to Pgh by Sunday.
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btw: If you want to become a rider, we need you!! Go to http://NationalBicycleGreenway.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/getstarted.php , to find out how!!
btw2: We have pictures from the DC to Pittsburgh leg on line at http://nbg.bikeroute.com/gallery/2003Mayors
btw3: If you want to see who these cyclists are, go to http://nbg.bikeroute.com/Events/Mayors_Ride/bios
Hi Everyone: Can hardly believe where the time has gone. My style of biking is definitely different than the group. I want to stop at a restaurant, they stop at a grocery store. A loaf of bread, a can of beans and a bag of chips, BQ no less and they have the makings for a unique sandwich. David offered me one last night and it was good.
They, or at least David and Mike think nothing of biking 5 miles into a park, were my thought is the shortest distance possibly.
Last night we stayed at Salt Lick park, a very nice place, showers, even a washer and dryer. The dryer came in handy as it rained quite hard and most of my things got wet. Need more training on how to set up my tent. Everyone else seems to have the routine mastered, that is why I am at a small local motel tonight, $20, I could not pass it up. The little lady who is running has been doing it for 45 years.
It is not paradise, but it is dry.
Yesterday we saw a pretty doe, jumping through some grain in high graceful leaps. When she thought she was safe she stopped, but you could clearly see her perked ears sticking out over the grain. Need to mention the butterflies again. When we started they were yellow with black trim, now they are black with yellow trim, maybe the coal mining has effected them. The Cardinals who sing to us are also a deeper red, and the females have a red accent that is different than MN. It is always a pleasure to see and hear them.
Today I saw a group of barn swallows and they were beautiful as they swooped along the road in front of us. What was sad for me is years ago I had a barn on my property with lots of swallows, one day we tore it down, so they moved to the house to build their nests. Foolishly I knocked that down as well. They moved somewhere else. My yard is quiet now, no swallows to eat the insects that bite me when I go out -- my punishment for being so selfish. The swallows would gladly have eateb the insects for me.
Earlier, today when we're getting going, as I went to shave at our fancy bathroom, this cute little skunk was walking along the road on his or her daily rounds of the camp ground. I was really close but it did not seem startled, thankfully. It definitely could have ruined my day. The hills did that on their own. I cannot believe just how many hills from hell there are.
I cannot quite figure David out. Very organized, he knows where we are at all times. He gives good directions and is willing to take suggestions. A great guy just like Mike and Denise, he told me at the start of Tuesday that about halfway it starts to get less hilly. Later on after many hills, however, I ask when do we get to the level part, then he told me there are no level roads in Ohio.
Then there is his judgement of distance. We were going to a town for a great bakery, first he said it's about 10 miles, later on he upped it to 15. Then after having biked about 5 miles a road sign said 23 miles. Maybe it is his strategy not to dishearten us too bad. He does have the route down to a science. We just have to coach him on the distances.
All in all it has been a great day. Skin sun burnt, muscles burning and feet aching, but face wearing a big smile, we made it one more day.
Denise has been getting stronger everyday. At the beginning I could pretty well keep up with her, but now I usually see her from the back a ways ahead of me. I ask David to take a picture of her from the back at a distance as I usually see her. She has been a joy to be with. She even mentioned that she might do more riding if things worked out.
Right now I am on my way to my dry room and some ZZZZZZZ's.
Love to you all, even you Martin, Jim
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May 15, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dan Trevas
645-8520
or
dftrevas@columbus.gov
COAST-TO-COAST CYCLISTS BLITZ COLUMBUS
Mayor and City Council Join Effort to form nationwide bike trail
COLUMBUS - Avid cyclists are crossing Columbus as part of a nationwide relay
to gain support for a coast-to-coast system of interconnected bikable roads
and paths.
The riders began May 2 in Washington, D.C., and will arrive in Columbus on
Friday, May 16. City Councilmember Maryellen O'Shaughnessy and more than 20
other local cyclists are to meet the national relay riders on the city's
east edge at 1 p.m. and ride to City Hall.
At 2:30 p.m. at the Front Street entrance to City Hall, O'Shaughnessy will
present the riders with a proclamation from Mayor Michael B. Coleman
declaring the city's support for this effort and highlight the work of the
Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks to open 165 miles of
interconnected bike trails throughout Franklin County.
O'Shaughnessy will be joined by Columbus relay rider Jeff Stephens and
Rosemarie Rossetti, a Gahanna resident, a handicapped cyclist. The trio will
send Fred Kirchner, a member of the Central Ohio Bicycle Advocacy Coalition
and Columbus Outdoor Pursuits off to continue the relay to Indianapolis.
Rossetti, who carried the 2002 Winter Olympic torch through parts of Central
Ohio, was paralyzed in 1998 when a tree weighing 3 ? tons fell on her while
she was riding her bicycle.
WHAT: Proclaiming the City of Columbus' support for a coast-to-coast bike
trail.
WHO: City Councilmember Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, handicapped cyclist
Rosemarie Rossetti and cyclists riding in the National Bicycle Greenway
Mayor's Ride
WHEN: 2:30 p.m., Friday, May 16, 2002
WHERE: Columbus City Hall, Front Street Plaza
Several members of the Columbus Outdoor Pursuits will be escorting
O'Shaughnessy and the relay riders downtown. The riders meet at 1 p.m. at
the closed BJ's Warehouse parking lot at the intersection of Main Street and
McNaughton Road in Reynoldsburg.
-30-
Having ridden thru a lot of the towns and terrain of which David speaks about below, I can fully appreciate his frustration. Southeastern Ohio is one obnoxious hill after another with no grand vistas to reward you for your efforts, only up and down more of the same. Unlike a mountain pass that just keeps ascending, a rhythm for your breathing or pedaling is impossible to establish where hills are prevalent, as, like riding much of the Pacific Coast, most of your attention is focused on your bike and gear selection. Ugh, it is for this reason that while there are always more cars to contend with, I have always preferred old US and even state highways (I even preferred Interstate 10 thru Texas) because at least the roads are graded to cut through the hills and not perpetually up and over them. This explains why old 22 is making sense for our riders right now!
Martin Krieg
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today we covered only 52 miles, but there were a lot more hills. I had some unpleasant memories of highway 22 (the main road that cuts diagonally from Steubenville to I-70 in Cambridge, which we've been roughly following the whole way) so I had made up a route on back roads (some of them "old 22") that stayed off of it as much as possible.
After climbing the last of a huge series of gratuitous hills on the way into Cadiz (pronounced "caddiss"), Jim pointed to 22 (visible in a cutout below us) and pointed out that while it might have a lot of traffic, it was also clearly a lot more well-graded. Being stubborn and accustomed to hills (as well as obsessed by maps) I refused to admit my mistake until we finally got back on 22 past Cadiz and I realized it was really not a bad road at all.
I think my dislike of 22 stems from being seriously dehydrated last time I rode this stretch - tricked into thinking there would be water at the "rest area" past Piedmont, I didn't bother to ask for a top-up at the ice cream shop in town.
Another advantage to staying on a main road is that it's easier for everyone to follow their own pace, since you don't have to stop and regroup at every crossroads to figure out which way to go. I tend to get irate when my touring rhythm (go for an hour, stop, go, stop) gets disturbed and I'm sure I'm not alone.
We had a pizza lunch in Cadiz, which I found to be a confusing little town. Browns memorabilia was everywhere in the pizza shop, and after all we were in Ohio, and yet it seems like every other person was wearing a Steelers shirt, including the cashier at the pizza place! Talk about a house divided... I also noticed, much to my dismay, that the radio was playing a Pittsburgh station. I always like to watch for little signs that I've entered or left the "orbit" of a particular city, and clearly we were, in some sense, still in Pittsburgh.
After lunch, we stopped twice, both times at places I'd been before, so I'll let Denise and Jim fill you in on them. After a long flat stretch (first of the day) we arrived at Salt Fork State Park, just outside Cambridge, in need of showers. The campground didn't disappoint, but beware - the milepost at the park gate LIES! It's actually 4 annoying, uphill miles to the campsites.
At dinner, we tried unsuccessfully to come up with a menu, until Denise declared "okay, let's just put about 10000 calories on the table and start eating". Then it got dark and started raining, so we went to sleep.
Tomorrow we are basically following one road all day, which should make for some pleasant riding. The hills come to an end about 3/4 of the way through, and I fully intend to wait at the top of the last one in triumph and point out the beginning of Flat, Boring Ohio to the rest of the group.
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At 3:06 PM -0700 5/14/03, Wayne Proechel wrote:
Martin,
I am enjoying the daily updates and reports of the relay so much I'm afraid someone might break in and arrest me!!
I wish I were able to ride the relay. Oh well, I love what all those people are doing. I met Jim Muellner at his shop last summer and he really is a neat guy. I hope I get to see him again this year in Santa Cruz.
GREAT JOB MARTIN!!!! You will have your star in heaven
Wayne Proechel
Salinas
We got off to a fairly unpromising start - it was still barely raining when I got up and it looked like there was certainly more to come. After collecting the members of our expedition around 9:30, we rolled out through Bloomfield, through some gratuitous alleyways (I wanted to check on my house once before leaving) and across the river to get back on a trail.
We had a nice (slow!) cruise along the north shore of the Allegheny, pausing at the new stadiums for a photo op. At this point, we had to get over the West End Bridge, which, conveniently enough, is also currently a detour for I-279 and has no shoulder.
Being the fearless city rider that I am, I figured it would be okay just to get on the street that runs up to the bridge and go... which might have been a better idea without 30 pounds of gear and 4 other riders! It wasn't quite the Critical Mass like scenario that I'd imagined .. or ... maybe it was! The crowning irony was that there was a nice, wide sidewalk next to us the whole time, with a ramp and everything, just out of reach on the other side of a *!@# Jersey Barrier. But we made it.
We had one big hill and a few small ones to go over before getting on the next stretch of trail. Actually, I think this whole day was a bit of a shock for the DC riders, since despite our best route-planning efforts, we spent about half of the day on roads, and roads tend to contain hills, especially in Western Pennsylvania! Though I found myself grumbling frequently about the snail's pace at which everybody else travelled, especially uphill, I also have to thank them for saving my knees on what is my first long ride since last September. I'll have the whole ride back to Pittsburgh to go fast and far.. maybe I'll try to do it in two days? (yeah, right)
We rode on the Panhandle Trail, and roads paralleling it, all the way to Ohio - at the other end of it, in Weirton, WV, there was a brochure posted with a map of a proposed network of trails all over eastern Ohio and western PA ... we've got a long way to go!
We only managed to get lost once, getting into Weirton from the trail head. Since we otherwise followed exactly the same route I'd already ridden, we didn't bother looking at maps until the very end (trying to figure out how much further we had to go). I remember telling the other riders that I don't remember the road out of Burgettstown being paved the whole way - I kept expecting to go down a hill and wipe out on soft gravel. Instead, the pavement kept getting nicer and nicer... and then we found out why, after nearly running into a mound of hot asphalt being pushed around by a surprisingly stoic paving crew. Worse than loose gravel, we had to push our bikes through a foot-wide shoulder of muck until the road was cool enough to ride on...
The final count: 68 miles, one dead deer, two scary bridges, 9.5 mph (!!!)
Today, we're all so looking forward to riding 50 miles of hills, hills, and more hills. Builds character, I say.
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Hi Everyone:
More on emotions. Here I am sleeping in my van at 5AM and it is raining again. I don't have to describe where my feeling were. Thoughts like, maybe I could be a sag wagon for the rest of the group, maybe I should just go back to Minn. But once I woke up completely and walked over to Einstein's Bagel, had
coffee and a power bagel, life started to change. It even started to stop raining. Went to Denise's and sat on her swing and read the "New York Times" and enjoyed my last cup of coffee in a styrofoam cup, a sin among this group.
Believe it or not it really did stop raining by the time we left. Our group had grown to 5, Denise, Mike, David, Nathen and I. Not bad with David also having done a ton of work planning out our route.
While there is a schedule, it sort of floated between 8 and 10AM. Having done rides with older groups it was very interesting the casual way of youth. I was worried about having everything ready, while everyone else did not start loading their bikes until minutes before we left. The casual loading method reminded me of a ragtag group with tires, tied on top of floppily folded jackets and other clothes. Making sure to use lots of use of bungy cords. And every time they loaded it seemed different.
However at each stop I was impressed. They may appear ragtag to the untrained eye, but at camp they had hot food, coffee, utensils, wash water, scouring pads, you name it. Not only that but they knew exactly where, in what I sometimes saw as confusion, the items were! Impressive. Lesson learned, never judge a book by its cover. Lastly they are fun and courteous to this old codger.
David is an excellent leader and claims to be leading us up the most gentle hills. My feeling is they are hills from hell. But we made them all and the minute we were flying down the other side the ride up was almost forgotten.
Saw a wild turkey fly across the road one day, but can't remember which, sorry.
Today was worm day. All over the road, they were really pretty with the yellow strips down the length of their bodies. They had black heads and were over an inch long. Poor things were confused or had lots of girl friends. Some were crossing to the right, some left, some straight ahead. I wonder what they will turn into. They are lucky as no birds seem to eat them, maybe they tickle going down.
Today we also went into West Virginia, some of the scenes were right out of little Abner. Several cars parked in front all with one or more flat tires or up on blocks. They love their kids as every yard had an assortment of plastic swings, play houses, slides and lots of plastic ducks, geese and flowers. One house even had a real looking deer with the shoot areas clearly marked for hunters.
The route was a combination of trails and roads, some very busy, some narrow, but everyone looked out for the other and it was overall a pleasant ride for day one.
Wednesday morning:
Our camp site at Friendship Park is overlooking the lake, has a couple of tables. Believe it or not today is the first day we have been able to sit in the sun, letting the dew dry off our tents before packing them as we enjoy a cup of coffee, thanks to Mike having all the necessary items in his ragtag bag of tricks. I'm even more impressed.
The trees are just finished budding and last night was cold, we all agreed. But now it is sunny and warm and I am going to pack and try to get ahead of my youthful companions. I was reminded yesterday, as I watched these bikers fly up the hills, that there is maniac in youth. It is with great joy that I watch them do things like this. It is definitely challenging as we age. Fly when you can as it does go away.
Over and out, Jim
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location: Friendship Park, Jefferson Co., Ohio
hot damn. long day. Mike, David, Jim, Nathan and I started from my house at 9ish, and we rode out of the city on some trails, some roads. fortunately, David has done this trip before, so we were in good hands. we had to cross the West End Bridge, which is currently part of a detour for I-279. that was a bit scary, but it was mercifully short.
the first 3 or 4 hours of riding we were fighting a head wind, which was very frustrating and I was wishing I was down low like Jim; it all seems to go right over him on that trike. he's also incredibly fast going downhill; I can usually pass him climbing uphill, but he just flies past me on the decent and disappears into a little ball with orange flags flapping behind.
from then on out, the day was all about hills, no, UNDULATIONS. many of them. (Ora Sue, as much as we miss your company, for your sake I'm glad you're missing out on these lil' "knuckles.") at the tops though, the views of the valleys were lovely, and we were hitting them at sunset, so the shadows were super-long across the grass.
just before our last long long gradual hill of the day we stopped for ice cream (yeay!). then we rode up and up 4 or 500 vertical feet, which, after everything else today, didn't feel so bad at all.
68 miles beyond my house, we climbed our last hill and found our camp in Friendship Park, overlooking a reservoir. we scarfed down everything in sight with any caloric value and rolled into bed (tent).
the numbers:
states crossed though: 3 (PA, WV, OH)
scary highways: 2 miles worth
Dave's max speed of the day: 36 mph
Jim's max speed of the day: 38 mph
bike problems: n0ne!
mornings with true sunshine since DC: 1, today
off to climb more hills,
Jim, Dave, Mike, Denise
ps: I should mention, our traveling 'pardner Nathan was falling behind us earlier in the day, and as he didn't want to slow us down or be a burden, he decided it was best to turn around early rather than later. I was sorry to see him go, but I'm glad for his sake, because the hills were a bit unforgiving.
I wanted to keep him in the daily updates and spin adventure tales about him the whole way, like "the time Nathan found a bag of gold doubloons," or "the time he rolled over a beehive and the bees chased him for half a mile."
and now, a word from Mike:
I had a moment that was very special today. there are images in your life that you will remember forever; you can almost feel them being indelibly burned into your brain. I was at the back of the group, riding W on rt 151 into Alexandria. the sun was before us, bathing everything in orange brilliance, save for the 3 cycling shadows ahead. "this is perfect," I reflected.
no sooner did I have that thought than I saw an advertisement that sort of put a fly in the ointment: a blue and yellow sign advertising "LIGHTENING RODS, BY DR. BOOM!"
end of recording.
At 4:20 PM -0400 5/13/03, OraSue Mckinnon wrote:
Hey, Martin- It's Ora Sue here, missing the trail and wanting to wish the
Pittsburgh to Ohio group the best.... and one thing I learned on the DC>PGH
leg was that you never know what the best will turn out to be!!!! Anyhow,
please give the group my best wishes and pass on that I'm jealous of the
fun I know they'll have. I'll be looking forward to their trip reports.
Jim, eat an ice cream, chicken leg, pizza and beer for me.... I didn't eat
enough , believe it or not, I lost weight. God, how I love biking. Take
care, all. Ora Sue
I have to give credit to the good writing that occurred on the previous leg; the oratory of Denise, Jim, and Ora Sue certainly inspired me to slam down some words tonight.
I prepped the bike today, and am learning that it takes about 10 hours more than you think it does to strap all the gear on the first time. But I am an engineer, so I should know better, at least that there is usually trouble the first time you go through something.
Panniers (bike carry bags for the inactive!) were the first option, but the ones I bought kept hitting my left foot no matter where they were on the rack. I of course had a better idea. The epiphany occurred at the hiking store last week; they had these big yellow water-proof bags with grommets that were only $10 each, and way bigger than the panniers. I could put one on top of the rack, then some on the sides like saddle bags. Plus, my sleeping bag and tent fit into them like they were custom made. It was cheap and simple, just the way I like it. I bought 3 and raced home.
All the racing home was in vain, though: I of course waited until the night before the ride to mount them. The aluminum from some old windows became the frame, held together with some trusty rivets.There was some grief and rework, but they are done now, and may be the best set on the road. After they came together, and I was sure that they would not eat any spokes, I got sorta proud. As I was sweeping up the scrap bits of aluminum, I thought, "People are going to like these! They are cheap, they look cool, and anyone can make them!" ! I hope we ride by every camp in Ohio, so all trekkers can admire them!!! This is a great moment in adventure travel, first came the Iliad, the Odyssey; now Mike's Panniers!!!!
I snapped back to reality, staring at the wall, telling myself to wait until the trip is over, and THEN commence the back-slapping. I nodded, then got the broom working again.