Day 60 - Athens to Davisville WV

Monday April 22, Biked 43 miles. Total mileage by end of day: 3583.

Warm and sunny most of the day.

The trail I rode at the end of the pervious day is being extended. Here are some pictures of work on this trail next to US 50 while I rode toward Parkersburg and Davisville West Virginia.

Later I got off of US 50 and onto a country road that featured a Quilt Barn. So cool to encounter art in random places in the countryside.

Also encountered a 4-H #trueleaders sign at this house.

Lots of fields and farms in this area of Ohio as I head to West Virginia.

Saw quite a few deer running next to the road and this one crossed in front of me.

Darn road went from asphalt to gravel. At lease it was a relatively smooth and firm dirt/gravel road. I am still extra cautious after my earlier encounter with deep and loose gravel on a road.

Back on Route 50 again, I got to ride through Coolville!

Strangely the first street in Coolville I came across was Brimstone Rd. Hmmm....

Later turned down another beautiful country road.

Wow, quite a flower arrangement on this mailbox.

Then went by an alpaca farm.

With a couple of protective big white dogs. Very glad they were fenced in.

Just before I crossed US Route 50 again (my route was zigzagging across it a few times), I encountered the smallest church in Ohio.

Yes it is quite small.

Then I ran into a, ummm, primitive grassy rail trail. Seemed ok at first.

Lots of leaves and branches across it though.

Then it got wet and muddy.

And then some deeper sticky mud.

And then lots of water and mud to walk through.

Then more grass.

With muddy spots.

And some rather tall grass in places too.

The other end was blocked off.

Just after leaving the trail I got this encouraging sign. And a bit further a fellow doing yard work let me hose down my muddy shoes, legs, and bike. A lot of mud and grass was stuck between my wheels and fenders and needed rinsing out.

A bit further I had a challenging left exit to get through. Quite the extreme in riding from primitive trail to challenging high speed traffic merges.

Thankfully that left exit lead to a more reasonable road that went under this bridge.

A bit later I crossed into West Virginia.

Parkersburg has a very large Oil & Gas Museum. I'm not into Oil & Gas these days so skipped going inside.

Parkersburg also has a very tall and old county court house.

The first governor of West Virginia is from Parkersburg and buried there.

Then I got onto a nice little connector trail -- the Little Kanawha.

On this little trail I met Wendy and Misty. Misty had done a save the whales project in school and liked my mission to save our oceans.

The trail was pretty.

But also short as I was soon dumped into an old industrial area...

...that included some West Virginia Highway Department buildings and a weird 2 way bicycle lane. This does not look like a very good idea to me. Thankfully I did not encounter any cyclists going the other direction.

Later I ended up on West Virginia Route 47 -- narrow, no rideable shoulder, and lots of rude drivers. Then I met Trooper Michael and he was willing to serve as a traffic blocker for me for a couple of miles to force drivers to wait. Thanks Trooper Michael!

At last I reached my Warmshowers.org hosts for the evening -- Kevin and Cheryl. They are wonderful people, very environmentally aware, and doing well in pursing zero waste including making their own dog food for their 3 dogs. They have inspired me to make my own dog food when I get back home.

Kevin showed me some of the coal chunks he found while riding local trails. I have a very challenging ride tomorrow -- 80 miles with a loaded touring bike on an unpaved rail trail.