I Survived the Storm!

 Tuesday was a day for me to out run a major storm that hit the Ohio valley.

I knew from the weather reports that it was going to be a sketchy day to get through. It was already terribly humid when I left out of Marietta, heading to Versailles, Kentucky. I threw on my jacket, which already felt like a sauna suite at 7:30am when I departed. I opened the vents on the coat, and once I got moving, it was bearable for a good part of the morning. 

Unfortunately, part of the ride I had mapped out had an unplanned detour that was poorly marked and I had to figure out a new route while I was rolling. Because of the storm I was racing, I had to bypass three Indian mound locations that I would have liked to stop at. But the huge gray clouds following right behind me kept me moving along. 

Meanwhile, in Ohio, a tornado touched down in the Girard / Youngstown area. By the time I got settled into my lodging, photos of the event were circulating on the internet. 

I managed to somehow get confused at the state line and ended up, temporarily, in Portsmouth...the home of the murals. And as I stood in a random parking lot, looking at a map and trying to figure out which was I needed to go to get back on track, I realized where I was and was truly tempted to wander around and shoot photos. Until mother nature started spitting on me, bringing me back to the serious nature of the storm I was out running. So I had to pass on the tourist act and keep moving. 

I eventually worked my way to Maysville, Kentucky but couldn't find the route I wanted to take to head south and, amazingly, stopped right across the street from the visitor's bureau, which was open and staffed by a knowledgeable gentleman who directed me how to get to where I was going. 

Along the way, I saw an unusual amount of dark brown wood fences on huge pieces of property. I am still not sure why everybody along the route had the same type of fences. Some were doubled up along the property line, almost creating a little buffer between the property and the road. Some were just installed in a circle around trees. Really weird. 

I got to my lodging just before the storm caught up. The desk clerk was kind enough to offer to let me leave my bike under the over way out front and by the time I got settled in, the full force of the storm hit. Fortunately, no tornadoes here, but it was the kind of deluge that totally would have sucked had I been riding!!

So no photos from the Tuesday ride, I am afraid. However the weather looks awesome going forward and I am hoping for a dry ride for a few days.

Peace and Love all. Hope all my friends in Ohio are safe this morning.

Bobbi