Thursday, May 20, 2010
Today was a tough day. Very tough, actually. I think it was perhaps the most climbing we have done on this trip (or at least the most climbing we have done in a very long time). We didn’t just climb up hills today. We climbed up mountains. 
My body is very, very tired. The hills/mountains started two miles outside of town and really didn’t stop until we arrived in Elkins. Fun.
We had our lunch stop in Weston, WV. It was an interesting town. During our lunch stop, we walked to see the local asylum.
It was enormous. Apparently it was built during the civil war and just closed down in 1994. It was actually a little creepy… 
After lunch, we headed back out in an attempt to conquer the Appalachian Mountains. As we were traveling up yet another one of the CRAZY mountains that West Virginia decided to throw in our faces, we passed a woman working construction on the side of the road (she was manning one of those “slow/stop” signs before construction started). When we arrived at her post, we were incredibly tired, as we had probably already been climbing for about 4-5 miles and we were 70 miles in to our daily ride. Here is a quick recap of my conversation with her (as I was very slowly crawling by on my bike):
Me: “Hi.”
Construction woman: “Hi.”
Me: “Any idea when we’ll see a downhill?”
Construction woman: “Um…” (pause) “You’re in West Virginia.”
Awesome lady. Thanks for the encouragement. You just squashed what little motivation and positive thoughts I had left…
After more climbing and more mountains and even more climbing, we arrived in Elkins. Only six miles longer than we were originally told. I am very tired. And very sore. But I am incredibly proud of what we did today. We successfully conquered the Appalachians (or at least part of them). We’ll head out to beat them again tomorrow, too. And we will not be defeated.
End of the fiftieth day. And it was mountainous.
It was a Mexican-style breakfast. I had the most amazing huevos rancheros I have ever had. I was completely stuffed afterwards. I tried to take a little nap on the bench before heading out to start our ride. 
While I was afraid that the excess breakfast food might upset my stomach during the ride, it was just the thing I needed to power me through some of the hills that we were going to have to face.
One more state down, two more to go. I was very distraught that I did not find the Ohio state sign, however. (If you remember, we did not find the Ohio sign on the way in to the state.) I guess the Ohio state sign was directly on the opposite side of the West Virginia sign. Who would have thought? Obviously not me. But Jeff managed to snap a shot of it, so I’m going to steal it from him and pretending that I took it. Don’t tell anyone, ok?
This was the start of a rails-to-trails bike path that we were going to take part of the way to Elkins. 
We were very deceived by the trail, though. We were under the impression that the bike trail would be paved. We were wrong. Very wrong. The trail turned out to be gravel and dirt. It actually reminded me of some of the roads we were on at the beginning of the ride. Who knew our road bikes would get so much off-roading experience?!?
The fields seem more lush and greener. The scenery is much more pleasant on the eyes. 
And the topography is like a completely different place – lots and lots of hills. Some hills were pretty brutal. But the good thing about a hill is that (usually) for every ascent, there is a descent waiting on the other side (although it opposite is also true, unfortunately…). 
While this may not seem so bad, while traveling down some of the massive Southwestern Ohio hills, you can get going pretty quickly. Thus, the rain drops no longer feel like rain drops; they feel like bullets pelting you from every direction. Not a very pleasant experience. 
This was perhaps the most annoying part of the day. The rain would start. We would ride on for a while, hoping that it was just a short shower. However, at some point, we would realize the rain was going to continue for a while and we would stop to put on our rain jackets. Then we would take off again. Literally within the next couple of minutes, the rain would inevitably stop. We would start burning up from wearing our jackets (they are pretty much like wearing a plastic bag), but would leave them on for a bit with the expectation that the rain would start again. But it wouldn’t. So we would stop and take our jackets off and then start on our way again. Literally within the next couple of minutes, the rain would inevitably start again. Then the above process would repeat itself. So we found ourselves with a dilemma: leave the jacket on, swelter in the heat, and avoid rain, or leave the jacket off and get drenched by the rain. Tough decision… 
Then we all biked down to the State House. It was pretty cool to see so many people biking. 
We closed down High Street. And, perhaps more exciting, I got lots of free stuff. I like free stuff.
It was fun. We all hung out in the parking garage beforehand to hide ourselves from the crowd gathering outside of Meiling Hall (and to hide from the drizzling rain outside). 
At the designated time, we all rode in to our event, amidst lots of cheering and clapping. We felt pretty special. We had a few brief speeches (it was starting to rain harder) and then went inside for an informational fair and small group discussion with some local high school students.
And, although the weather looked incredibly ominous in the morning, Mother Nature actually decided to be nice to us today and keep the storms up north.
It was so much fun. It reminded me of when we were little and we would go biking together around Findlay. She did an amazing job and we had a great time together. 
Although the route wasn’t that well marked, I helped organize the Solidarity Ride for the past two years, so I had a pretty good idea of where we were supposed to be going. The “20-mile route” actually only ended up being about 14 miles (not sure what happened there…), but it was enough for us.
She switches the helmet to the correct orientation.
It was lots of fun. The theme of the party was “Sunglasses and hats.” I proudly wore my new, AMAZING sunglasses and yellow cowboy hat. 
I wasn’t that great at bowling, but at least I didn’t get last. We had lots of fun. 
Lindsay is one of my best friends from high school. We had an amazing time at the wedding and the reception. And Lindsay looked absolutely gorgeous, like I knew she would. 
Although it eventually became a little monotonous, it really was quite gorgeous. 
We were surrounded by trees, which kept the temperature a little cooler than we had imagined. And, to make things even better, I had an awesome new riding partner for the day. 
While quite a few of the other riders were in a hurry to get back to Columbus, I had no need to rush. The person I was most excited to see was already there! 
Mike and I had lots of fun on our way up north.
Just prior to departing to continue down the trail, he serenaded us to an Elvis tune. Amazing. We also were highly entertained watching a foot-long dog being walked on a 12-foot leash. 
In the minute we were watching the dog, he tripped over his leash at least three times. Only in Corbin…
It was great to know where I was going and not have to rely solely on the white spray paint on the road. We rode in to town and immediately celebrated at one of my favorite places in town – Jeni’s! 
There’s nothing better than finishing up a century ride with incredibly delicious ice cream. Yummy.
