Day 12, Friday, May 2

Sleep in the Killbuck town park pavilion was fitful. The motion detector light did not help. Every time one of us got up, the other would inevitably be awakened by the light.

We were also awakened when a women walking  her dog through the park came into the pavilion. The light came on and she and the dog were surprised by the two vagrants sleeping there. The dog started barking but she kept it under control, and she repeatedly apologized to us as she scurried away.

Morning finally came, we packed up, rode down to the Marathon gas station for coffee, and we were on our way. 

The section of the Holmes County Trail from Killbuck to Glenmont has not been completed, so we were forced onto the road for a few miles. That stretch of road has very little shoulder, but there was not much traffic, and at Glenmont we got back on the trail.

At some point the trail became the Mohican Valley Trail, though I never really noticed the transition. That may have been when I started seeing "No Buggies" signs at each road crossing.

The Mohican Valley Trail ends in Danville, where we got onto the Kokosing Gap Trail, and this is where we had the first flat of the trip. Like a few other trails we have been on, the KGT has bicycle repair stations every few miles, so we took advantage of the full sized pump. We each carry a pump, of course, but you take any chance you have to use a full sized pump instead of a dinky little frame pump.

Unfortunately I damaged the valve stem when I attached the pump and I heard that disheartening hiss as all the air escaped my tube.

I had been struggling with the cycling all morning so the flat was quite a blow. However, I managed to change the tube without much trouble and we were soon on the way. I'm down to one spare so I need to get another, but John, Boy Scout that he is, has three. We should be fine until the next bike shop.

The KGT ends in Mount Vernon, and that is where we decided to have some lunch. We stopped a local cyclist and asked where to eat. It turned out he runs a Facebook Page called We Love the Kokosing Gap Trail, so he seemed pleased to meet a couple of trans-continental cyclists using the trail he obviously loves. He took a picture to post to the page. 

He also directed us to the excellent Southside Diner.

With my spirits lifted by fish and chips, we headed out again, this time on The Heart Of Ohio Trail. Those spirits did not last long, because the overcast skies we had all morning turned into thunderstorms with the heat of the afternoon. We were never close to the thunder, but we could hear it in the distance. We were caught in a torrent as we passed the highest point on the Ohio To Erie Trail, the collection of trails and road connectors that stretches from Cincinnati to Lake Erie.

We did not enjoy the open stretches of the trail that travel through farmland, where we felt vulnerable to the storm. But most of the trail is wooded, we were headed generally downhill, and the rain cooled us off. Drenched as I was, the exuberance of past days was returning. 

We had hoped to stay with Warm Showers hosts in Sunbury, about 60 miles into the day's ride, but they all declined, so just like yesterday we found ourselves at mid-afternoon with no idea where we would sleep.

There was a severe weather alert to the southwest around Columbus where our route goes. The smart move would probably have been a quick dash 4.5 miles off route to the closest hotel. 

Adding a nine mile roundtrip off route had no appeal, even in the face of the storms, so John checked the weather radar and we decided our route would be ok for the next hour. I made a hotel reservation in Westerville near the route, and we headed out.

Despite John's assurance there was no rain on the radar, we were caught in another downpour as we left Sunbury. But the skies ahead of us were lighter and soon we were in the sun again, riding through the suburbs of Columbus.

I won't relate the problems we had with the Red Roof Inn. If you have ever stayed at a cheap motel, you already have a good idea. But it provided a roof and the water was hot, which was all we needed.