August 11, 1998 - Marietta - St. Clairesville

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 72.42 Miles

TIME: 7 Hours

AVERAGE SPEED: 14.5 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Hot and sunny most of the day with a few times where it threatened to rain. Fortunately it didn’t and we also had the advantage of a very small tailwind.

ROAD CONDITIONS: Most of the roads were in very good condition even though they don’t have very good shoulders and are very windy.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Steep short rolling hills all day. It was impossible to get a rhythm so it was very tiring.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
I woke up at 8:30 and at first thought that I would try to get ready quickly. However, I wasn’t able to get motivated so I didn’t actually crawl out of bed until 9:00. After getting up, I sat around for a while before trying to get some breakfast. I couldn’t find any cereal and was about to have some granola but found that it had gotten wet a while ago so it wasn’t good anymore. Next I looked for something else to eat and found enough yogurt to fill up a third of a bowl. I ate it and then made a water bottle full of punch. After eating, I packed up and was ready to leave with six other riders when Jen found that she had a flat. From about 11:30 until 12:15 she was busy changing it! When she was done, we threw a few other things into the SAG and then left. About a hundred yards from where we started, Katie found that she couldn’t pedal anymore. We looked at the chain but couldn’t find anything wrong and then noticed that the back wheel had come out of place. When Cosmus had put it together the night before, he hadn’t tightened the quick releases enough so not only did the back fall out but the front was just about to also. After fixing it we rode on and stopped at a local gas station for Brad to fill up his tires. Since it was also a food store, I bought a breakfast/lunch of three ding-dongs, three hostes cup cakes, and a starburst for later in the day. After eating for a while, we left at 1:00 after only riding for 3 miles. I rode with Jade and Dan for about a mile and then decided to go faster since they were very sore from the day before. I rode on for 6 more miles and then realized that it seemed like I was going too far for my turn. I thought that I would be able to get from 60 to 415 by looking at the state map. However, there wasn’t enough detail so after talking to a local for about 15 minutes, I rode back to 340 which was another six miles back. I ended up going 12 miles extra. I rode on by myself for 20 miles with some great downhills which brought me up to 43.5 miles an hour. The best part was that they were winding so even if I was only going 35, it was a great ride. The only disadvantage was that the uphills were steep and the downhills, although steep, were very short. Along the way, I noticed that there were numerous places where hay was stuck in the telephone poles. Also, there were numerous vacant houses along the road which looked like they had just been left very recently. I later found out that it was the site of a record flood for over 100 years. The water was almost 30 feet higher than normal and flooded the entire area. It was so bad that a few people even died during it. After riding on for a little while longer, I stopped at a park and sat for a little while where I ate my starburst and a torque energy bar. I just ran out of water so I used a manual well pump to get my water. Surprisingly the water wasn’t as good as well water usually is. I then left and continued on to a local gas station where Heather and Jen were sitting. I got a Powerade and after resting for a little while, left with them. About a quarter of a mile later, I decided to go ahead and then met up with Tami at the bottom of a downhill.(Picture94) She was talking to Lana who was driving the SAG so I stopped. Since I was going 35, it took a little while to actually slow down. We then waited for Jen and Heather to tell them of the new directions but since they had also talked to Lana, they sped past. I hopped onto my bike and tried to catch up with Brad who had also been with them after fixing a flat. It took about 5 miles to catch him since he was going so fast but eventually I caught up. We rode togerher for about a mile and then I decided to go on 800 while Brad decided to stay on 145. I rode on and my next stop was at an ice cream shop where Katie was eating. We stood around while she finished her shake. There were also two omish children who we talked to who were selling watermellons along the side of the road. We finally left and rode for about 15 miles before the SAG caught up with us again. Because it would be dark in about an hour and we still had 18 miles to go, we decided to get in and ride the rest of the way the easy way. There were seven bikes and eight people inside which made it very cramped. We did however all fit in and since I had had very little to eat for the entire day, I found a bagel and quickly ate it. We got in about a half an hour later and I immediately started to wash mushrooms, cut cheese, cut tomatoes, and cut onions. After this was done, I got ready to eat. Lana,Julie and I had made millet with cheese, onions and tomatoes. It wasn’t the best dinner but since we had about 20 pounds of millet from the initial bulk purchases, we decided to try to use it up. Along with this, we had a stir fry. My plan was to go to Dairy Queen but we didn’t finish dinner until 9:45. I was just about to go when it was decided we would have a group meeting. Unfortunately it went after 10:00 so I couldn’t get any of the food that I really wasnted. I rode back and helped to clean up and then ate some of the food that we had made since it was my only choice. After eating, I talked for a while and then after working on my computer, went to bed at 1:30.

TRIP ROUTE:
Follow 60 North to top of a large hill. Turn right onto 340 and follow for about 1 mile to the end which will be on 821. Get on 821 north and follow until it intersects 415. Follow 415 East until 800. Take 800 North to 417. Follow 417 to 9. Get on 9 North and follow into St. Clairesville.