I didn’t sleep so great last night. The humidity was oppressive, and the neighbors were making a lot of noise…very late. However, I did get to see some fireflies!
In the middle of the night it started raining. That meant the rainfly door had to be closed. Even more uncomfortable. There was a fair amount of thunder and lightning. Around 5:40, it really came down. Since I could feel a few drops from the rainfly into my tent, I packed my quilt away. I wasn’t using it anyway.
I looked at the forecast. It said it would stop by 8:00. I packed everything up inside my tent, and even ate my breakfast. At about 7:15 it seemed to be lessening. I got my rain gear on, and started packing stuff onto Wanda.
I was ready to go at 7:45, and it wasn’t raining! I had to backtrack about 2 1/2 miles to where I could access the Moonville Rail Trail. I was, of course, concerned about flooding on the trail, but the alternative would have added about 7 miles to an already 60+ mile day. When I got to the turn, I saw the sign for the Moonville tunnel. It said it was 2.6 miles (on the gravel road) to the trailhead parking. I decided to take the road as I was not confident the trail would be rideable. That may or may not have been a mistake. The road was good (hilly), until I came to this.
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| Ruh roh! |
At first it was only about 6 inches deep. But, after the high spot, and into the trees, it got deeper…much deeper! It was up to my thighs! I carried Wanda (she helped by floating a bit) as much as I could. The whole time I was saying, “We got this, Wanda! I can see the road ahead! Just a little further!” We made it to the other side! The tunnel trailhead was just up the hill (this is why the trail might have been better…it might have been high enough).
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| This tree had called on the trestle and I could go under it. |
There was one more tunnel. I think they call it the King Tunnel.
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| It didn’t have a name on it. |
I finished the trail. Now it was time for some road riding. The hills from yesterday continued today. Mostly short, but a few pretty steep ones. Soon I was coming into Athens. I rode on the river trail past Ohio University and this big dome arena.
I knew there was a Kroger just off the trail. I headed for it to get a snack. But then, I saw a Tim Horton’s! I went there instead!
Back on the trail, near the end there was another obstacle of a downed tree. This one was a little harder to get through. I had to lay Wanda down, push myself through, then pull her through.
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| Not an easy one! |
The trail ended, and I was back on the road. There was a sign ahead saying the road was closed. Fortunately, it’s Sunday, so if it was for road work, they wouldn’t be working. Plus, Ben had told me he had been able to get through all the closures in Ohio. Soon I came to it.
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| Mostly it was just muddy. |
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| My cleats got a little dunked up, but otherwise, we made it through. |
We had to keep going because we had to get to this road.
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| It’s Bethany’s road! |
Continually thinking about roads by creeks/rivers, the next turn had me looking at the route to see if it would be better to stay on the highway. On the route, both were paved. One was on one side of the creek, and the route was on the other. I stayed on the route. Well, it wasn’t paved, but it was okay. I came to where I was supposed to get on the Athens/Belpre Rail Trail. It looked a lot like the lesser improved part of the Moonville Trail. It ran directly parallel to the gravel road. It would be higher, but could also have downed trees. I chose the gravel road. One reason was because I had already seen a vehicle on it, so I knew it was passable.
I came up to these people pulling a couple of poles. A truck had already turned around. I went ahead. The couple let me go through.
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| Another obstacle cleared! |
Further down the road there was another big puddle. I decided to try and ride it. It got a little splooshy deep at the end, but Wanda and I made it through. Then it was just some mud. We made it through that too.
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| Not the puddle, but how’s this for lakefront property? |
I was back on the route when the route rejoined the road from the trail. The forecast had called for rain at about 2:00. Right on schedule, a thunderstorm and heavy rain joined the party. Since I was already soaked from the humidity, I didn’t bother to put my rain gear back on. I wasn’t cold.
It lasted not too long. Then the sun came out. Now it was roasting hot, and so humid! I just kept counting down the miles. I was really gunning for a Marathon station that wasn’t too many more miles. It was heaven when I saw it! A big bottle of Gatorade and an oatmeal crème cookie, and I was ready to finish the last 10 miles!
In Belpre, my last Ohio town, I rode down along the Ohio River.
The route came around to the bridge over to…State #11, West Virginia!
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| Don’t you like my creative “11”? |
I was in a hurry to get to my hotel because I was meeting Dana McKnight, the guy who got the GAWR accepted onto Bikepacking.com, for dinner. Sure enough, just as I got to my room, I got a text from him asking if I was in Parkersburg yet. We made our plans for dinner, and I got to work on my chores. Shower…check! Laundry…check! Charging…check! Drying my tent…check (well, it’s still drying), and lubing poor Wanda’s chain too.
Dana and his wife, Robin, picked me up at 6:30. We went to a Mexican restaurant. We had a great dinner, but even more than that, it was great to get to talk to him in person! It is no small feat to get a route onto Bikepacking.com. He’s put so much work into it, and continues to update it.
So, even though there were a number of obstacles today, overall, the day was good, and it finished great!
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