Kurt K. tells me that Cincinnati is no longer on
the NBG, so I'm headed Columbus instead. If I do about 50 miles a day I'll be in
Denver/Boulder 25 days after leaving Columbus! Weather permitting, I'll be in Santa Crus
by ealrly November. Perhaps I'll go to Newark on the way to Columbus and stop to see the
Moundbuilder's mounds.
I'm getting used to this rhythm. At first I thought about what I'd do when I was done
with the trip. Now I'm realizing that getting done will take awhile, and if finishing were
th primary goal I would have taken a plane... So the trip itself becomes more important.
Since I'm spending so much time on the road, I may as well enjoy it. Now I try harder to
look around, because I'll never be here, now, again. I notice birds circling and farm
houses near and far, and think about what the settlers must have thought, here 200 years
ago. How much more difficult it must have been for them to move 40 or 50 miles.
I learn to love the hills. At first they are an impediment to a goal, but if the trip
itself is the goal, then the hills are a part to be enjoyed. If my life is filled with
hills, to hate them is to hate my life. I go up the hills now, thats all. There are always
more after this one.
I say to myself often: "it's hard to believe this is the road to Denver."
I have only camped "Hobo style" one time, the camping along the C&O was a
real blessing. Its difficult to find camping in Ohio and Indiana West of here, and I'll go
broke If I stay in hotels. The Frisbee Hotel, here in Cambridge, however, is competitive
with the $16 campground.
The only really sore part of me is my thighs and where they attach to my kneecap. The
bike is holding up ok, but a bigger wheel would be nice.
John Strait and his family were very helpful; we spent the evening at "Blue
Loo's" on the South Side: A blues bar serves BBQ and plays 70's music. And John fixed
up my headlight bracket with a true John Strait Original.
Movin' West!
Scot
