I "prepositioned myself on Friday night. Since I am out of Dayton, Ohio I really did not want to try an do it all Saturday morning. Registration was easy at the Hyatt. There were vendors selling shirts, jackets, mirrors, etc. I found a great place south a few miles in Grove City, the Red Roof Inn, to sleep a few hours.
I was on the road by 7am on Saturday.
The ride out of Columbus was quite.
29 miles later I was eating food in Circleville, Gatorade, breakfast bars, a banana, and water.
At mile 50, I reach Chillicothe. They had a band playing to entertain us. The baked potato and sour cream hit the spot, along with the sandwich, pasta salad, and of course, more Gatorade. I met a nice couple from Pennsylvania, he was a high school shop teacher, she was the librarian.
Though you could ride your bike up the steep hill to the shelter house at Lake White State Park, just south of Waverly, most riders parked down below and walked up the 3 flights of stairs. At mile 75, this was a little painful but I was again so hungry I eagerly went. Another banana, bagel, breakfast bars, and yes, you guessed it, Gatorade. Six miles away from Portsmouth, I hit a rock. The compression caused the tube to pop! 10 minutes later I was up and rolling again. I was into Portsmouth at 4:30, about 7 1/2 hours of bike time, with about 2 hours of stopping to eat and rest. I headed for Tracy Park. They had music playing. I just hit the grass, and rested for awhile. I was going to get settled at Portsmouth High School gymnasium and go out and eat but I ran into a problem. When I went to unpack, my spare tube was missing. I had left it on my dresser at home. I was forced to go out, back to Tracy Park to catch a bike repair vendor. I was paranoid, I bought two tubes! I grabbed a hot dog at the park. Back to the gym, lights were out at 9pm. Lights were back on at 5am the next day.
Sunday started with a free donut and coffee at Crispie Cream at 6am. As I headed out, the red taillights on the bikes on the deserted streets was sight to see. So was the Scioto River views as I left the city. It was in the 50s so my jacket was very necessary. It did not come off until mile 80, late into the afternoon. That's when the headwind became very apparent. Head down, on the low bar, I pushed thru the wind. I really need to join a bike club and learn how to ride in groups. They were doing the best that day, moving much faster than me, running solo. The food at the 3 stops was the same, and just great. There was music at Chillicothe again, a street musician, with a keyboard and amp mounted to a bike! Due to the wind, I didn't get in to Columbus till 5:30 pm, a long day.
I must admit, there were some serious traffic situations. Most roads had a berm to ride but on state route 104, south of Waverly, the berm was about 3 inches, the cars were lined up next to us, and it was very tight. That was about 10 miles out of 106, not that bad. In Columbus, on Lockbourne Road, it was crowded. Finally, the construction overpass on High Street was just plain dangerous. That should be gone next year.
later
justBill
