Finally...found a way through

Monday, February 18, 2013
Because it was President’s Day, I was off.  Holly wasn’t and didn’t want to be bothered by me, which would have been hard if I’d stayed home…so I decided to take another road trip for ‘Tour Ohio’ mapping.

I returned to East Palestine and then followed a different route down towards Wellsville hoping the roads I’d checked out on google map would be more appropriate for cycling.  As I approached Irondale, I again ran into the issue that had thwarted me on my last try.  The roads were simply not conducive to road bikes and after spending an hour looking at alternatives and talking to the locals, I was no closer to figuring this portion the course out.  I was sitting in Irondale and looking at CH 55, which looked narrow, steep and pitted, but which also might go in the direction I needed.  I was out of time since I needed to get home with enough daylight to ride the bike to Dan’s and pick up the Honda, so if this failed, I was screwed.  I headed up.

Though it was as I said, it wasn’t so bad that I excluded it.  As I climbed, it got marginally better and when I crested the little mountain and drove north towards the point where my course had dead-ended, I could see this was the solution.  It would take me several miles out of the way, but when you’re planning on riding over 1,000 miles, it’s a pretty insignificant hiccup.  I drove home elated because I now had a decent course that would cover the first 230 miles of my ride and take me to Martin’s Ferry.  John and I would pick it up there in two weeks and try to get it south and west to Cincinnati.

I got home about 4 p.m. and with barely enough time to get to Dan’s in daylight.  It was about forty degrees, which is very manageable, but the wind was blowing strong out of the east…the direction I was headed.  That, and Chardon is all uphill.  I wasn’t unhappy about these conditions since they provided an excellent workout, but I was concerned that it would add 10-15 minutes to the ride and put me in the dark.  I considered shorter courses to his place, but elected to take the long route…and push.

It didn’t matter.  The wind was relentless and probably around 20 mph.  I knew I’d be rolling in at dusk, and did.  My feet were frozen blocks and it took most of the return drive with the heater blowing hard to thaw them out.  The Honda’s brakes were working smoothly again though, and I’d found my Northwest Passage and gotten in a killer ride.  Life was good.

Bike duration:  One hour and 50 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1550.