As I mentioned yesterday, tribute to veterans were present in many of the towns I passed through. Very, very nice.
After about an hour into today’s ride, I happened to come upon this great railroad bed made into a trail. Only issue was after about a mile from Lure City, it just stopped. Had to U-turn back to route. I double checked, no sign that the trail ended “down the road”. But it was part of the great first 20 miles or so. The next 20 miles were the miles that tested my tenacity. Back county roads. Old rough asphalt, chip sealed stretches, gravel stretches and packed dirt stretches. But that was nothing compared to some of the grades. So steep that I actually needed to walk the bicycle up. A first for me.
But on those back roads I was blessed with some beautiful vistas of Ohio.
Yes – now in West Virginia at Wheeling. But, alas, no “Welcome to West Virginia” on US-40; The National Road that “Built the Nation”. Wheeling was at one time a thriving town at the cross-roads of transportation routes and manufacturing. It has fallen into disrepair but there are many signs of it being revitalized. A golfing RV trip to visit in 5 years or so might be in the works to see how it looks.
I’ll be doing some re-cooping here with Diane. Upon looking at the route I can tell I am officially into the Appalachians. Unfortunately, they are not like the Rockies that I am used to where at the base of a mountain pass a sign lets the cycler know the distance to the summit, usually between 6 to 12 miles. With that knowledge, I could pace myself to the top knowing the other side is pretty much downhill. Not with the Appalachians. Up-down, up-down, up-down. And the ups and downs are varied in lengths and grades. I’ll need to make definite adjustment to my cycling when I hit the trail again.