Saturday morning and radar showed two lines of showers to the west but what the heck, on to Logan for what was an excellent route on good pavement, marked turns, plenty of but not too many climbs, etc... I left my camera in the car so have nothing else to show but it turned out to be a beautiful day with mostly sunny skies. Only 26 came out, no doubt many decided not to come as the hourly forecast was not promising. Virtually everyone did the 73 mile route with 4500' of climbing. A strong salute to Chuck Luzader for the maps, cue sheet and marking the roads. Then..... ....the rain rolled in for Saturday late afternoon. Here, it poured for an hour+ so I sat a bit on the front porch and spotted the first preying mantis of the season. Ghastly looking creature but he probably thinks the same of me. Sunday morning and the start of a 7:30am ride out of New Albany. I should have put the notice of this ride on the blog but was lazy. Don Novel on the right. Don manages a service center so helped settle a disagreement between Flyin Tuna and me. FT lives a couple miles from me so we decided to car pool to Logan. Soon into the drive, the check engine light came on in her truck. Since the dashboard on my car is always lit like a Christmas tree, I have learned to ignore these things. Anyway, FT immediately pulls off the road and turns off the engine. I'm like, "Wait, what? Just drive." We debate, she considers calling 911 to see if they can offer an opinion. Eventually, we get going but this morning, with..... ....FT listening, I ask Don, the expert and he confirms my diagnosis. Just drive and have the engine checked at some point in the next few days. Turns out it was an oxygen sensor so no big deal. Good group of people got going on a 70 mile route, 18 of us to start. Some of you know I am following a plan that is intended to lift me from a mediocre, low B cyclist to the threshold of a mediocre, medium B cyclist. Jon Hastings updates the plan each day and it has been interesting to follow but also counter intuitive. That probably means everything I have previously done on a bike has been wrong. Anyway, today I was to do something less than 70 so when..... ....I discovered Aaron C battling with a flat tire, I opted out of the group, lent him moral support before taking a direct route to Granville and eventually finishing with 51 miles. Another personal note; I have been influenced by all this talk about "Gravel Grinding" so am shopping for a 59cm gravel bike. I may have found one from Mike McClinchie who has a very nice Pivot coming available in October. However, if anyone out there wants to rid themselves of a decent gravel bike, let me know. I will borrow a bike this week to try a gravel route. Thereafter I may not be interested so will see. Here is the first option for Saturday. I have the routes posted below for the 72ish mile route and 100ish mile routes. 8:00 AM - 72 or 100 miles, Class A, B Both routes take you thru the scenic Hocking Hills and Zaleski State Forests with a stop at the Lake Hope Beach Snack Bar. Century route takes you beyond Vinton County into Wellston. Climbing gears recommended as hills will be abundant. Meet at the Logan Conference Center, 30682 Chieftain Drive, Logan, OH. Directions from Columbus: Route 33 southeast to Logan (bypass Lancaster) to the 33A/Route 180 exit (just past the roadside rest). Turn left on 33A off the ramp. The Conference Center is 3 miles on the left (just past the Logan-Hocking Industrial Park). Chuck Luzader, [email protected]. Mark Clingan, [email protected]. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1591157 https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10200298
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