Morgantown WV to Columbus OH

An early start from possibly the poorest Motel in an industrial town that seems to have better days somewhere in the past, the room offered blood stained sheets, dirty floors, broken sockets and rattling air con, but all of this was forgiven because of a bath and hot water, and yes, fell asleep in the bath for over one hour!

Light showers and a cloudy sky gave the impression of a cooler day than the searing temperatures out of Washington the day before, I couldn't have ridden in that heat again, tough relentless climbs in such high temperatures is debilitating to say the least. We rolled out of Morgantown to a slightly adjusted route, re-calculated from just over 200 miles to 179, you learn a lot about the local roads and Highways when you're out here.

The riding proved virtually as tough as the day before but without the extreme heat, only 95 degrees!

Highway 7 follows the valley bottom for a time but then rolls higher and higher through isolated towns.

At a supermarket in Cameron there was an opportunity for shade, beek jerky (protein), Gatorade and water. James duly arrived in the support car five minutes later armed with extra supplies.

Out here is interesting, you take the opportunity to ask (for re-assurance) if the Highway 7 is the right route to Barensville, not that far away.

Many of the replies you get are along the lines of 'that's over 20 miles away, I've never been there, or, that's over the State line, I ain't ever going over there'. We settled for our own route and directions.

With all the planning in the world you have to keep an open mind to unexpected eventualities, nearing Barnesville, James, along with a line of other vehicles and then following close behind, myself on a bike, were all held up by a slow moving, in fact stationery, in fact stuck,  huge vehicle.

The Sheriff gave me authority to carefully try and pass but the head of the Convoy Control gave a very affirmative 'wait there' which I duly did for a long time, in the sun!

The moment came to pass the road block and riding further on along what was now virtually a closed road I passed the final Sheriff's car blocking the road to oncoming traffic, a friendly exchange of waves was surpassed by the booming megaphone from the police car 'looking good young man, LOOKING GOOD'.

The dark glasses and helmet obviously disguised the reality of being not so young, and the impression of looking good was at odds with feeling absolutely hammered.

I rode on, momentarily uplifted by the compliment.

The rest of the day proved to be just as challenging and probLematic.

To make up time James hit the Inter State only to be held up a long road block, our only way of staying in close communication is through the cheap $14.99 cell phones that we bought in WDC, without these the idea of using our own phones is just impossible in remote areas, no signal, no wi fi (generally) and no internet.

We eventually met 25-30 miles outside of Columbus, I got back in the car realising from the city skyline ahead just how big this place actually is, different to what we'd expected, it was a good decision, before 5 miles the Highway effectively turned into an Interstate, heading into and through Columbus.

At the second attempt we found an ok motel, on checking on we were asked 'where are you guys heading' the reply 'he's riding to San Francisco' the response 'Oh my God, I will pray for you' we both took the support offered.

The end of a long gruelling day, looking forward to flatter roads and no mountains the following day, through Ohio into Indiana.

(More detail to follow when there is more time)