Rose Pedals . . .: Hello, West Virginia!

Saturday, August 3, 2013
Day 28 - Circleville, Ohio to Parkersburg, West Virginia
101 miles
3,442 feet of climbing

Today we said farewell to Ohio and rode into the state of West Virginia. We woke up to rain, but, since we were at a Holiday Inn Express, we were able to have breakfast inside, where the topic of conversation at every table was . . . yup, having to ride in the rain today. This rainy day was not nearly as soaking as the one we had a few days ago. I started the day dressed for rain - rain jacket, helmet cover, shoe covers and rain pants. I wore my rain pants with the hope that they would keep my shorts dry. For the record, they did not keep my shorts dry. It really only rained steadily for about the first 30 miles or so, and then it let up significantly, and eventually, the rain stopped. Today's route consisted of some steepish climbs and rollers - mostly in the first 60 or so miles. By the first rest stop at mile 30, I was sweating from all the climbing and, although the threat of more rain remained, I ditched my rain gear. It was a very pretty ride on back country roads through small towns and farming areas. I saw another freshly dead snake on the side of the road and freaked out accordingly. Just like last time I saw a freshly dead snake on the side of the road, I was all by myself at the time - I thought to myself, geez, another perfectly good scream wasted. You just can't replicate that type of horror movie scream. After lunch at mile 74, we had a few more steepish rolling hills until we got on the highway, at which point the route we had highway hills - long, gentle rolling hills. We entered in to West Virginia at mile 97 of today's 100-mile ride. To enter the state, we crossed over a big bridge, from the top of which hung the "Welcome to West Virginia - Wild and Wonderful" sign.

Did you know West Virginia was the only state that lies completely within the Appalachian Mountain region?

After having ridden several days of 100+ miles, today's 100-mile day seemed relatively short! We rode into Parkersburg just before 2 p.m. Fellow rider Jonathan was sitting in the patio of the McDonald's right near our hotel, so we stopped and joined him for a refreshment. From there, it was a quick half-mile ride to our hotel. Whenever we ride in the rain, it always takes a bit longer to clean the bikes because there's so much more dirt and grime that sticks to the bike frame and components. We went to dinner at the Omelet Shoppe, a small restaurant adjacent to our hotel, where they serve breakfast 24 hours a day. Art & I both had breakfast for dinner: Art had a western omelet and I had a waffle and eggs. PAC Tour crewmembers John and David joined us and we had a fun time talking about the day. The waitress gave us 10% off because we were staying at the hotel, which makes this the best value meal of the entire Tour (not including Subway). The waitress made a comment about us being with the bike group, and I asked her how she knew we were with the bike group, was it because we ate so much food? She just laughed politely. : ) West Virginia is known as the "Mountain State" - and tomorrow, we will be getting up close and personal with the Appalachians!

Elevation profile of today's ride