We left Wheeling on a cold overcast rainy morning. And because we are in West Virginia we started with a climb. We finally had our first view of Ohio across the river. Our plan was to ride south down the WV side of the river hoping that Rt 2 wouldn't be as busy as Rt 7 on the Ohio side. Before leaving Wheeling we stopped at AAA to pick up more maps. While we were in AAA they mentioned a bike trail along the river. It took alittle bit of trial and error but we managed to find it. It was only maybe five miles long but it did get us out of the busy downtown section of Wheeling. When we got off the trail we stopped at a KFC/Taco Bell for lunch. Then we got back on Rt 2. Or at least we thought we were going to. The road became a limited access freeway. When we headed up the entrance ramp we saw the sign (the dreaded sign) that said No Bicycles. Mmm.... well look at that! We sure didn't expect that. We checked the map and our options were to go back into Wheeling, go across the bridge into Ohio and take Rt 7. Or get on the freeway to the next exit which was only 1/4 mile and then climb the ridge and loop way out south and then get back on Rt 2. We decided that was the best choice. We were only on the freeway for a few minutes so I don't really think it was a foul. We got off and wound our way through the small towns of Benwood and McMechen. On the south side of McMechen we discovered that the freeway was no longer limited access and was ok to ride on. Thank goodness. There was some construction but traffic wasn't bad. Just before we got to the town of New Martinsville traffic really picked up. Not sure why. We couldn't find a campground so we stayed at the Plaza Inn. Next door was a grocery store so we bought some dinner fixins. Tonight we had beef vegetable soup and salad.
We left the next morning once again on a cold day. But at least the sun shined off and on. We decided to go across the river and ride down the Ohio side and hopefully the traffic would be less. On the other side of the bridge we saw a sign that said Rt 7 is closed 25 miles ahead. Uh oh, that's not good! We stopped in a gas station to see if maybe we could get through. They were all so helpful. Even the customers got into helping us see if we could get through. Hap called the sheriff and he said no way. Does anyone find it ironic that we have traveled almost 10,000 miles all around the US and now that we are within 100 miles or so of home we can't get there! What we ended up doing was ride 15 miles south on the Ohio side and take a ferry back across to Sisterville WV. The funniest thing happened on the ferry. We walked onto the ferry with our bike and were standing behind a pickup truck. A lady got out of the truck, looked at me and said, "Do you know Darlene?" (which is my mom's name!) then she said, "Are you Diane?" It scared me for a minute. I thought something had happened at home and people were out looking for us. She then said "I'm Rita do you remember me?" As it turned out it was my Aunt Rita that I had not seen for over 20 years! Small world! She knew about our bike ride from emails from my mom. What a shock. When we got off the ferry, she and her husband asked if we wanted to stay with them. We said sure and rode 15 miles to St Mary's. It was really great to see her after all this time. And we really appreciated the hospitality and opening up their home.
This morning we left on a warm sunny day. Finally back into the 70's instead of the 50's. We stopped at Subway for breakfast before crossing the river (AGAIN!) back into Ohio. Rt 7 was a good cycling road. It is great to be back in our home state. After traveling all over the country we realize how pretty our state really is. The Ohio River Valley is beautiful. Everything is green and the flowers are blooming. We got a call on the way into Marietta from a TV reporter from WTAP in Parkersburg. She met us at Walmart and did an interview. Check it out at http://www.wtap.com/.
We had planned to ride to a State park south of Belpre OH. When we were riding through Belpre we stopped to call the State Park. We thought we had about 20 miles to ride but when we asked her how far it was she said "It's a 40 minute drive". Umm... we didn't think that we could get there before dark so we decided to punt. We stopped in Belpre, got something to eat, and looked in a phone book for campgrounds or motels. We found a motel in the town of Little Hocking that was only about 5 miles south. The bonus!? It was only $25. When we got there we were very happy to find a small, very clean place to stay. See? Sometimes you don't know where you are going to end up? Look what happened to us the last two nights! I can't wait to see what happens next! Can you?
1 comment:
It's nice to see someone recognise how nice folks in the MOV can be!
We were happy to feature you on our local TV station. If you had driven on from Belpre, you would have encountered several large rolling hills... but the weather would have been fine!
The hotel you've stopped at is a little known local place that will rent by the week or longer. Except for one a little bit further down on the left, that's about it. There won't be major chains until you get to a town like Athens.
PS: If you cut across US 50 from Coolville toward Athens, the distance is about 30 miles on the nose. When you reach Athens, take the first exit onto East State Street and watch on the left for the beginning of the bikepath trail. It is the former railroad line, and has been paved... you can follow it for at least 5 miles to Richland Avenue, if you want to continue following Route 50, or go all the way 7 miles to the Union Street Crossing by the Habitat for Humanity Office if you plan to follow Route 56 straight west toward Circleville. Good luck and take care!
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