West Virginia to Ohio

I rode on the bike path that runs from Wellsburg to south of Wheeling, well most of it because the bike path disappeared in some overgrowth for a short while. Did you know that Wheeling is the home of Mail Pouch tobacco (those advertisements that are mostly fading from the side of barns.)? Wheeling also has one of the most helpful and most enthusiastic visitor center staffperson ever.



Random roadside structure: a post marking the Mason-Dixon line







Of course, my love of bicycling in West Virginia didn't last too long because construction brought two lanes with a berm to one lane, my first flat tire and then an industrial area with two-lane road with no berm and 16-wheelers (hold breath and brace for wind). I finally came to New Martinsville and a motorcyclist who is part of a bicycling club directed me across the river to OH 7. Oh how my heart can get uplifted by a newly paved, smooth wide shoulder.

An overnight stop at Leith Run Campground in the Wayne National Forest (thanks to the motorcyclist/bicyclist) and a morning that I planned on getting up and doing some hiking but I chose my warm sleeping bag over a foggy, chilly morning. Thanks to incorrect math, I thought my day was going to be about 50 miles but it ended up with around 80 by the time I rolled in to the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary in Rutland, OH. The day also introduced me to the hills of southeastern Ohio.



I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in botanical medicine to visit the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary in Rutland, OH. It is an amazing place, not only for the botanical diversity but also for the community that is protecting the land (the sanctuary is somewhere around 300 acres but the community has around 3000 contiguous acres that are preserving the rich heritage).

Painting and posting signs, hiking, and making some mullein and garlic ear oil with Paul Strauss.




Off to Athens on Friday. I left a bit later than I wanted and was trying to make it to Athens before the incoming storm. Again hot and humid. I rolled into town and the amount of people overwhelmed me. It was graduation weekend, not only students but their families were all over uptown. I wandered a bit and someone on the street asked if I needed any help, which helped me refocus. The storm rolled in as I carried my things up to Sara and Piper's apartment. Saturday came and off to the Athens Farmers Market. I've been told it is the second oldest in the US after the Ferry Building Market in San Francisco. I picked up some veggies, bread and cured beef bologna for the road. I loaded up my stuff and headed out to Nate's land to check it out. The humidity opened up to a rain storm and I learned how to play euchre. The storm let up and being antsy I headed out to the Hocking Hills. It was probably not the best choice, since it was like biking through a sauna.