The Stats
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| Lots of murals around town! |
87 miles (including a bit of pootling around the "downtown")
4,803 ft.
Challenges: Heat, humidity, and hills!
Miles Completed: 1,889
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| Chillicothe is the home of sliced bread -- the sign says so! |
Miles to Go: 1,507
States Visited: 7 of 15
Total Climbed: 64,373 ft.
The Ride
The ride was more challenging than I had been mentally prepared for, made all the more so by the humidity and rising heat, which topped out at about 96 degrees. What had been billed as "rollers" turned out to be some pretty steep climbs (up to 12% grade), though admitted none was too long.
To distract myself, I continued with the Jenny Graham audiobook, finding the task she set for herself (break the women's world record for cycling around the world unsupported) totally crazy -- then again, no doubt some think what I'm doing is equally crazy. (Trust me -- she's at another level!) Then there were times I wanted to stop and appreciate the peace and quiet, and listen to the birds and watch the butterflies. Two totally different experiences.
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| Appreciating the peace and quiet of farmlands |
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| Ill-placed rumble strips left no proper shoulder |
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| Starting to notice different barn styles! |
Our first SAG continued a Crossroads tradition in Maysville.
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Girls sports rule in Maysville--and they're Wolverines!
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First we stopped and visited with the elementary school kids who came to greet us and ask us questions about our journey. They were most impressed by the fact that Simon, one of our tour members, builds airplanes! But two girls who liked my purple bike consented to have a selfie with me!
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| They liked my purple bike! |
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| Maysville Elementary School cheering section |
We then proceeded as a group to "downtown" Maysville, where we were treated to SAG goodies hosted by the DeKalb County Historical Society and various volunteers.
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| "Downtown" Maysville |
I enjoyed chatting with "Farmer John" and they all kindly allowed me to bring my bike into the "museum" for a special lean photo. They seemed to get a kick out of the whole thing.
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| Farmer John getting into the self action |
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| Notice the Crossroads jersey above as part of the official DeKalb Historical Society collection! |
The museum was a gem of a collection, including many genealogy records -- I even found a thick file on the Harris family (there were several!). I doubt there's any relation, but I did learn that St. Joseph (where we had stayed the night before) was home to a small Jewish community, including two synagogues (though some online research suggests that the community has been dwindling in size). Still doubt there's any relation!
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| Harris relatives in Maysville, Missouri? I doubt it! |
With temps into the 90's and high humidity, we were offered "ice socks" (literally ice in tube socks) in between SAGS -- just shove them wherever to cool things down -- and it worked, at least for a while! Despite the hills and the heat, I felt fairly strong on the ride, though I've concluded that 60-70 miles is my "sweet spot" for distance and at some point anything further becomes at least a little painful. But by the time I get to that point, there's only 5-10-15 miles to go, any of which are "doable" distances at any given time. So I push on and just get there!
Chillicothe (pronounced Chill-i-coth-ee) is a small town of under 10,000, though ironically the name means "big town" in Shawnee. The outskirts were mostly farms, though within the city limits there appeared to be relatively well-to-do suburban-looking neighborhoods. The "downtown" (like the other towns, a few square blocks) seems to be undergoing an attempted revitalization, with hand-painted murals throughout, though little else appeared to be going on.
After checking into the Comfort Inn a bit out of town (and, shock of shockers, close to an Applebee's!), I showered and took a taxi to Shooter's, a local pub and eatery named for the owner's dog, and one of the only local, non-chain restaurants around. But kudos to the hotel for offering cookies and trail mix on arrival, and having two waters in our room (some of which may have been complements of Crossroads!)
Tomorrow appears to be more of the same, but just a bit less -- lower mileage and a bit less climbing. Ride on! In the meantime, here are some other random shots from today's ride (can you tell I'm tired and need to go to sleep???)
Happy Birthday to Ben!
Tomorrow, June 3 (or today, given time zone differences) is my husband Ben's 60th birthday. It is very sad that we are not together and in fact I almost didn't go on this trip because of it. But I love him more than ever for recognizing how important this was to me and that I needed to finally do it, even if we'd have to postpone any birthday celebrations. So thank you, I love you, and hope you have the happiest birthday possible -- I promise to make it up to you!
ReplyDeleteGlad to have you stop in Maysville again this year. We enjoyed visiting and learning about your trip. Also, what part of the World
you are all from. Come back next year. Look forward to hosting
everyone again.
Farmerjohn and the rest of the DeKalb County Historical Society crew.
John, Thanks so much for reading (and commenting!) Our group hails from many parts of this country and abroad. We have 5 riders from the UK (4 from England and 1 from Scotland) and US riders from Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, California, Oregon, Indiana), plus staff from Arizona and Tennessee -- I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but we're a far-flung group, who all joined as strangers about a month ago and now are intimately connected having shared this bucket-list adventure!
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