Sunday in the Hocking Hills

I did not stress myself too much during Saturday's ride so I would be ready for a Sunday ride beginning at Alley Park, south of Lancaster.  The route was to be 88 miles and 5000'+ of climbing.  Arriving at the start, the ride leader announced the route would be 60 miles and of course different from what I had on my Garmin.  This will shock you but I was determined to go long.  Lot of new roads so at mile 14, I departed the group of Brent J, Andrew H, Bob S, Ryan, Dirty Dan and Sam.  Then....

....(sorry for the out of focus image)....the group had a flat tire and my route crossed theirs and we regrouped in Logan.  There, Dan too decided to go long so with my partner towing me around the route, we ended up in.....

....Laurelville.  Along the way, encountered several new or seldom ridden roads, for me such as Mirgon, Mann, Nixon, a gravel road named Purcell, Ellis, Union, etc...  Some big climbs in there along with Wagner Road and the climb to Thompson Ridge (nasty, that one).  After the stop at Subway, we continued to.....

....follow the route.  We got onto Bailor Road and say a sign stating it was a dead end.  Impossible except, sure enough, it ended at a farm's entry.  Dan whipped out his phone and plotted a return to Middlefork Road and back on the route.  Once on it, I checked mileage and realized a direct route to Alley Park would give us 80+ miles so we climbed Buean Vista Rad, Revenge and returned to the park with 83 miles and 5100' of climbing.  Now a momentous event....

....a child needed air pumped into his tire and with only a slight hesitation, Dan helped the kid out.  I had an epiphany.  This guy is no longer deserving of the "Dirty" moniker so hence forth, he shall be "Decent Dan."