Author: Paul Rito (Page 23 of 23)

We are holed up in Parkersburg West Virginia, because we dodged a bullet of, as the weather channel called it, “a torrential downpour”, by about 2 min. Wed looks like a total washout. We are currently at the Sixpence Bar & Grill. 

Getting the theme here? Ride hard, sweat a ton, then refresh and recharge.

We’re in Pennsboro at Maggie’s Bar. Another hot one, 63.2 miles, but 6 of those were backtracking trying to find a bike shop in Clarksburg West Virginia. The first place which had ads all over Google, was a house with no visible sign of life, and a worker there said they just emptied the house and the people moved next door but don’t count on it. Then we found Holy Moses bike shop, which was supposed to open at 11, but no sign of life at 11:15. And the mess on the floor of the shop didn’t inspire confidence. Papa Hobo has a shimmy in the front wheel that only becomes apparent at 20 mph, but going down some of these big hills it really becomes a shake fest. Hope to find a shop on the way tomorrow but I’ll just live with it till then.

We made it to Bridgeport WV, a bit of a shift from the original route. 48.4 miles. A ridiculously hard 1480 ft of climbing since ¾ of the mileage was on flat trails.The other quarter? Sheesh! Hot, too. BUT, this is what we love.  Popped a beer into ice at the hotel (yes, ice in beer which is already 95% water. You get used to it. It’s cold!). Had dinner at Outback as it saved a 8 mile ride to get anything else, and they had head-sized mugs! Had a great chat with the bartender, Aiana. Grew up in Germany, going to college and on to the air force. Very grounded and sharp 21 yr old. 

We are back at the hotel and crashing. Tomorrow’s ride plan will have to wait until morning.

After quite a hectic week, I’m on the road with Sarah and Matt, heading to meet Dana in Cumberland, then on to Morgantown for the cycling start. 

Thanks to Dana, Sarah, Aaron, Chris, Doris, Sally, Xavier, and Luka for their help getting my house ready to leave to my house sitters and getting all the gear ready.

Papa Hobo loaded is 73lbs, before water bottles and a few more odds and ends. That’s a bit under the 80lbs I expected, so I’m happy about that. 

More to come…

Last day on the bike rack at work ever for Papa Hobo! Working on building up the weight bit by bit, – going to be a train-as-you-go ride. Lots to do this week to get ready to leave on Sunday, but it’s all coming together.

Thanks for all the suggestions, but the name for my new ride companion came to me organically, as I thought it would eventually.

Dana and I were sitting on our bikes at the light in Centre Hall and checking the weather radar. She was going on for more miles; I was heading back to do some work at the house. On the way home, a couple of lines from Paul Simon tunes popped into my head; songs that I taught myself on the guitar when I was still a teen and just learning how to play.

This is a copy of the Facebook post I made to announce my tour,