May 10-11

Sunday we rode from Wheeling to Cambridge, a good 65 miles.  There were significant climbs out of Wheeling, but then the terrain evened out.  We came across a couple horse and buggies, and we had to detour because of gravel.  Shortly after arriving in Moorestown after eating at the Fastlane Pizzaria on the 40, we turned down a gravel road.  After battling the gravel downhill then uphill, we decided it was safer and more enjoyable to walk through the gravel.  Our rear wheels were catching on rocks, and we couldn't get the bikes to keeping moving without fear of tipping.  At one point, we thought we saw pavement, but it turned out to be a false alarm.  Eventually, maybe after 2 miles, the gravel was harder packed and there were more residences, so we started riding again.  Then we arrived at the 800, a more major road, and our next right turn turned out to be another gravel road.   We decided to stay on the 800 and find a way through Barnesville.  The rest of our ride in to Cambridge was paved, and we ended at the bottom of the hill where the 209 meets the 70.  It was 6:55 by the time we stopped. 

Yesterday we left Cambridge uneasy about making almost 80 miles to Columbus since on Sunday we did 65.  We got some coffee, ate Sunday's leftovers, bought more food, and left around 9:45.  We're getting closer to our goal of leaving around 9.  We flew through parts of the 40, and other parts were long false flats.  When we got to Zanesville some of the anxiety was catching up with us since it was after noon and we still had 55 more miles to go.  We stopped for coffee at the Diner on Fourth Street where we met a table of attorneys by accident.  We came inside, and right away they began asking us what we were up to and how far have we gone, etc.  They told us about "Nick Walking America" who they met last year, and one of them, Cole Gerstner, bought us some cookies.  They were interesting to talk to, and they were all full of smiles and giggles.  This definitely brought my mood up.  After they left, Jim and I had some coffee.  When we started to pay, the hostess said it was on the house and told us to be safe.  We needed this mental break from the bike, and the graciousness at this Diner was another extraordinary example of goodwill.  After we left Zanesville, we kept a steady rhythm of 10 miles then a break until we got 6 miles outside of Columbus.  Then we missed our turn to get onto the city detour of Hwy 40, Broad Street in Columbus, and we had to go North a couple miles to actually get to Columbus.  Then Joshua met us somewhere on Broad Street and led us to his home downtown.  Our total mileage was 82.  

We're working on posting pictures.  We have pictures of Hari Howard, the elephant from Mr. Ed's, the red flippy-floppies, the gravel hills we walked up, the scenery here and there, and poses by the Welcome to the State signs.  

Thanks for the posts.  We really enjoy those and short notes on our email or twitter.  We try to be accessible to everyone in their own way.  If you post on the blog, please put some identifier if you use a common name like Jim or Mom or Dad.  We don't know which is which, but we still like the comments!

Nadel and Jim