Wednesday, June 24, 2009

9: Coasting and Chance Meetings

Stoker's Log Day Nine

6/24/09

From Washington, PA

To St. Clairsville, OH

44.5 miles

9.1 avg mph

We weren't planning on spending extra time in the room this morning; anyone who has stayed in a Motel 6 will probably understand why. Unfortunately I was right about the wet laundry, so instead of getting an early start we spent over an hour creatively drying our clothes.

As we rode through downtown Washington we heard an unfamiliar voice yell out our names. I was pretty sure our fame hadn't spread that far - front page of the Bedford Post or not - so we pulled over very confused. It turned out to be our friend Anne's mom, who was visiting Washington but will be hosting us in Grandville tomorrow. She was having coffee with a friend who pointed out the "strange bicycle" passing by, and Anne's mother put two and two together and went running outside to find out if it was us. She treated us to coffee and pastries and her friend Mrs. Young told us about her daughter's bicycle and biathlon adventures. We also talked about the sorry state of public education, a conversation we seem to be having a lot these days. We asked about the bike shop in town, since we wanted to be carrying more spare tires and tubes, and Mrs. Young said she knew of it and gave us general directions. On the way out we encountered a vehicle even stranger and cooler than our own: the T3 Motion, or policeman Segway.

We chatted to its owner for a bit before heading further into town. The thing was, we just could not find the bike shop. We headed up and down the street (which was of course on a hill) but found nothing; the address we had corresponded to a bank parking lot. We even called Sheila to double check our information on the shop, and everything seemed to be in order. Finally we made one more check of the whole road and then gave up and rode on. I don't understand why we're having such bad luck with bike shops lately.

We made one more stop at a Rite Aid to buy me a second knee brace and insoles to cut down on my hot spots. Neither really worked, but it was entertaining to sit under a tent in the parking lot cutting the insoles with a pocket knife while our bag of still damp laundry hung out in the sun.

Finally we got going on the National Road, which we would take all day (no cue sheets needed!). We were excited to leave the peaks of Pennsylvania for gently rolling hills, and even more excited to coast down a long downhill into a flat riverbank road in West Virginia. It's the first time in a long time that we enjoyed the riding itself. I can't believe it given the general terrain of the state, but West Virginia will probably be the flattest, easiest state of the whole trip. (It also gets points for the restaurant with a large "Opening Soon?" sign.)

Along the way we saw what we thought was a cyclist repairing his bike, so we stopped to offer help. Turns out he was just stretching, but I'm really glad we stopped to talk. He solved the mystery of the Washington bike shop - it's been closed for over a year - and directed us to a bike shop and trail in Wheeling. There we bought tires and tubes from two great kids and I also picked up Nike cycling insoles. I was sad but not surprised when they didn't really work either; I'm going to be mailing a lot of insoles home. We found our way to the bike path, and then found our way onto it again when we ran into construction equipment and ambiguous 'trail closed' signs. It was entirely worth it. The path was paved and often shaded, and included (not scary) tunnels, bridges, and a viaduct.

Wheeling Island itself boasted two bridges, one a suspension bridge with a walkway that we crossed.

Overall it was a fantastic riding day. We climbed out of the valley and finished the day with more energy than we've had in quite some time. Things are looking up, especially since tomorrow we travel to Anne's house. We can't wait to see her, her family, and her hometown...and to get a break day!

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