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Published: June 29th 2017
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After packing up in the morning we loaded the bikes into the RV and headed back into Chillicothe to start riding for the day. When we got there we realised our route was actually back the way we came - now that may seem like we don't know where we're going but the route instructions are actually quite complicated.
Anyway, off we started on our day with a lovely ride through quite country roads. We hit HWY-50 which is our main road for the day. Nice to be on a road that we don't have to think about too much. Our plan for the day is to ride about 140kms. The temperature is quite mild which is great for riding but we do have the very slightest of head winds. The day progresses quite well, rotations are working fine, what could go wrong. Well, we need to cross from Ohio into West Virginia, and to do so we need to cross the Ohio river. Looking at the map it all seems straight forward. Jeff is the driver, while Tom, Dave and I are on the road. We're meant to have a 21km leg and then change over just before we
Bridge over Ohio river
Border between Ohio and West Birginia cross into West Virginia. Well, that's what was meant to happen. HWY-50 did what it was meant to do, it crossed the Ohio River, but it turned into a five lane highway with interchanges flowing off in different directions. This wasn't quite what we were expecting. There is also no place that Jeff could stop the RV so he has nowhere to pull over and has to keep going. Perspective. Jeff's view. When he sees the massive bridge and highway he knows he won't be able to stop. On he drives, but to where, and how far? Jeff decides the best thing to do is get off the highway and drive into the centre of town and call us. He gets to town ok, but no phone signal means he can't call us. He sits and waits. Perspective. Tom Dave and I. There's a long down hill to the bridge, awesome. We stop at the bridge to get photos as we cross into West Virginia. We notice the highway will have nowhere for Jeff to stop. We continue on and take more photos on the bridge, and oh, look, there's some string says Dave. We can use that for a
clothes line (yes, really). We ride on and eventually think we should ring Jeff. We get off at a ramp and call - no signal. Where's Jeff? Did he go into town or continue on HWY-50? The phone rings. Both Jeff and I have moved positions by about 50 meters and we both have a signal. We know Jeff is in town, but not where exactly. It takes us a while to find the right way, first we ask a policeman booking a truck driver and then a tow truck driver picking up a car but eventually we get into town. One more phone call and we get Jeff to drive the RV to us. We have just wasted about 90 minutes finding each other. We head to a supermarket and pick up a few supplies and then back to HWY-50 where it has returned to a normal 2 lane road. Jeff needs more kilometres for the day. We ride until 6pm and then head to the address of the RV Park we looked up. It doesn't exist. The day just keeps getting better. We have pizza in Harrisville for dinner and then head out to the state forest. We
have a place for the night. We're exhausted but go through our nightly ritual and get to bed as soon as we can. We're looking forward to a boring day where everything goes to plan.
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