Day 1. Columbus Day

April 29, 2025

2:35 and I’m nice and dry and sitting in my hotel room - let me tell you why. Weather forecast warned of severe thundershowers and that’s in effect for the next four hours. So while I wait out wheather that’s crappy, let’s have a recap on the day shall we?

Saw the weather when I departed, and I immediately grinned because the arrows were pointing to a quartering tailwind. Only one turn today so I really couldn’t fail to find my way onto the Ohio to Erie Trail. As evidenced by my route, the trail is completely straight. If you wanna make a turn, you’ll just have to wait.

Good thing there’s a warning for people to see, but the end of the rails seems obvious to me

Sometimes it’s hard to find the right word to describe the tail when pushing you forward. It was quiet in the morning with a 12 mile an hour breeze, listening to the birds singing their songs, and the wind through the trees.

The farmers were busy on Tuesday going about their day; plowing their fields to plant, I don’t know, hay?

40 miles in and my legs were feeling fine, but I still didn’t have that “touring mindset” and I can’t define. I mean, I’ve been waiting six weeks for this adventure to begin but I still haven’t found the bike tour feeling to kick in. Maybe tomorrow I’ll realize it’s a major event when I go to sleep inside of my tent.

Best to get potable water when you see it because you never know when you’re gonna find your next bottle of H2O

Thousands of acres of this crop it seems and riding past it was a field of dreams

I took a few breaks – it’s not something I normally do; I like to just get on the bike and cycle all the way through. But my body started to ache. My neck became sore at that moment. I realized I needed to eat some more. Body needed food and I needed to appease my internal furnace after burning 2,479 calories.

There was no bounty for crossing the border into Madison County

From this picture, you can probably deduce there are two thumbs up and two caboose

So I need some food to recover that’s perfectly clear and since it’s still raining, I’ll have to walk there wearing my rain gear. And looking at tomorrow’s forecast and especially the breeze it looks like it’s turned around to headwind a full 180°.

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Today's ride: 74 miles (119 km)
Total: 74 miles (119 km)

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