Saturday, October 5, 2019
Start: Zanesville, Ohio
End: Belmont, Ohio
Mileage today/cumulative: 64 / 553
Elevation Ascended today/cumulative: 4,180′ / 11,867′
Weather: Sunny, 42° at start; Sunny, 68º at finish; Winds: mostly headwinds
Flat tires (entire group) day/cumulative: 0 / 1
If we hadn’t known better, we’d have thought we were riding in east Tennessee instead of eastern Ohio. Country roads that went up and down and back up again. There was very little flat road to be seen today but there were lots of ranches with cows, horses, ponies, goats, chickens, and llamas dotting the countryside. I think Bev talked to everyone of them as she rode by. It’s like riding with my very own Doctor Doolittle.
When this trip was planned, this was the type of morning that everyone anticipated: blue skies, cool temps, and crisp air with the scent of autumn. The fall decorations and the Halloween adornments no longer seemed out of place and we had plenty of time to appreciate them as we slowly pedaled up seemingly endless hills. There were no bike paths today but the roads were in pretty good shape with a few long stretches of freshly paved asphalt. Ohioans drive very fast and overestimate their skills, so the ride required extra concentration and diligence. We were grateful to be riding on a Saturday morning when there were fewer oil and gas workers on the road (an economic driver in the region) and less traffic overall.
Another sign that we were in eastern Ohio was the sight of a few Amish buggies and oil tanker trucks on the same roadways. However, the Amish population in this region has dwindled some as energy companies have agreed to give landowners years of royalties or a cut of future production in exchange for the right to drill on their land. Because private firms will pay cash up front for those oil and natural gas royalty interests, it has spurred some Amish families to relocate to parts of Pennsylvania or New York that have little or no energy development and where they can reclaim their pastoral way of life.
None of us knew what to expect today and we only knew that our route would be on country roads and sparsely populated. At day’s end everyone agreed that it was a hard ride but that we were able to see some beautiful countryside. Day 11 takes us into Wheeling, West Virginia, whose slogan is Bright Future, Treasured Heritage. Hmmm, we’ll see.
Did you find your beer, and did Bev pet a dog? Stay safe.
You and Dr, Dolittle had an interesting day. Thanks for sharing.
I’m really enjoying your observations–thanks for sharing!