The Rest of Day 5 and Day 6

Going through Bridgeport and Clarksburg wasn't the most pleasant of sections, what with heavy traffic and drivers who didn't seem willing to do much to accommodate bicyclists. There was a lot of walking of the bike, which put me behind schedule. Fortunately, after Clarksburg, things got much better. The weather was decent, and the shoulder was almost the size of an extra lane of traffic! Sadly, the need to walk my bike put me at a place where I couldn't stop by to visit the students I was student teaching for this year. I thought it would have been fun to see how they were doing, but such is life.

Worrying that I wouldn't make it to West Union, I stopped to grab dinner at a gas station (I've been doing a lot of that, as it's fast and on the way). The weather was looking a bit worse, and as I sat there, several people warned me that I should be seeking shelter as a storm with "quarter inch hail and winds up to 60 mph" was about 10 minutes out of town. The attendants at the gas station were very friendly and suggested that I stay at the gas station and even move my bicycle inside as necessary. I sat outside, eating and waiting for said storm. After a light splattering of rain, the clouds broke up. So far I've had a very good time of the weather with a few exceptions like my light fog.

I was still a ways from where I'd hoped to end, so I set off for West Union again, figuring that even if I didn't make it, the local environment was good for rolling off the side of a road and throwing up camp. I was in luck though, with light uphills and long, light downhills that gave me excellent time. The weather was funny, with the sun shining even as it was raining, although I didn't mind the rain - the weather was warm and it helped keep me cool with the wind drying me out fairly quickly. It was pretty!

I got into West Union, ate a fast dinner and then headed a bit down the rail trail. It was paved for a bit, but I'd been warned that it got rocky and puddle filled quickly. After about a mile down the path, I came across a shelter and latrine setup for campers. Setting up my tent under the shelter, I could keep off the rain fly and set out some gear to dry a bit. Over the night, there was some fairly intense lighting and thunder, but only a little rain.

Today (Day 6) saw me on the rail trail again. After following it for a while, I decided that, while scenic, it wasn't the best setup for a bicycle. Maybe I will come back sometime to hike it... Getting back onto US 50, I had great weather and lots and lots of downhills - the kind I like most (looooong, shallow ones where you just pedal lightly and zip along at a great clip.) This section of US 50 was really biker friendly. There were several day trippers who I ran into and chatted with briefly on the route. Very friendly folks.

The next story reinforces that West Virginians, and especially teachers are a great group! During on of my downhill cruises, a car pulled over in front of me, and a woman got out. When I stopped, she first said she wished she had a cold drink to give me, and mentioned that she and her husband had seen me yesterday. Apparently, they take in hikers on the American Discovery trail and the occasional bicyclist, giving them a place to stay for the night. They had been outbound from their homes the night before which was the only reason they didn't offer me a place when they saw me. We chatted for a while and it turns out that she was another retired teacher! 4 days in WV traveling (only 2 of them, full days) and I had one offer of a place to stay and one apology for not giving me a place to stay. Both from retired teachers - What a great state :)

I was planning to take two days to reach Athens Ohio to stay with my sister, but the weather was great and the trip was mostly downhill. Making great time, I decided to see how close I could get , and managed to get there with an hour or two of sunlight left. A shower and laundry and I feel like a human being once again!

Tomorrow will be spent as a day of recovery. I've pushed around 525 miles in the last 6 days by my estimate, giving me an average of nearly 90 miles per day. Way ahead of schedule, I'll take the day or so to let any damage get a chance to heal. The last thing I want is to hurt something when the trip is going so well. At 525 miles, I should be around 1/7 of the way finished with my trip!

As one final note: I've been amused by the number of other characters I've heard about or seen on this trip. The world must have far more than we normally see. Two stories come immediately to mind: A gas station attendant told me about a man who stopped by a few days before me, with a cross made out of 2x4s. He had it set up like a dolly, so that he could tilt and roll it. Apparently he was walking from Illinois to Maine, or some other good distance, carrying it. I didn't talk to him or see him, so I didn't get the full story.

The other person that comes to mind, I actually ran across. A day or two back, I was pedaling up a tough hill when up ahead of me, I suddenly saw a giant globe rolling towards me. Me first thought was wondering how I was going to dodge the renegade decoration from in front of somebody's building, but then I saw a man walking next to it, pushing it along. As I passed him, I noticed he had a dog with him, and a website written on the globe. Being on the hill, I didn't stop, but the memory stayed in my head and I finally managed to look him up. The man's website is http://www.worldguy.org/. Apparently, he has walked for over a thousand miles with his dog and the giant globe, all to raise awareness for diabetes. Sounds like a great guy - I'll try to remember to stop and chat with the next intriguing person like that I run across.

Exhaustion is setting in, so I'll run for now, but will hopefully take advantage of the internet and electricity to post some thoughts on the trip to this point, tomorrow. Take care all!