As I frolicked in the wondrous weather yesterday, Charlie could not help but remind me what was in store for the coming few days. Snow? At the end of April? Really? Well, we thought ahead! I cashed in on an early birthday present, and my wonderful parents booked a hotel room for us only 20 miles from Wheeling, WV, our starting point for today. Charlie and I were looking forward to knocking out the mileage and chilling the rest of the day. Of course, our day did not go as planned.
Instead of starting our ride in the snow, Charlie and I decided to explore Wheeling this morning. The city was sleepy with the cold, but we made our way to the empty farmers market. It was filled with beautiful locally sourced produce; we were both mesmerized by the honey and maple syrup selection. The star of the show was the kitchen; Charlie ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel and said, “This is the best thing I’ve tasted on the trip so far.” The bagel was pillowy soft and perfectly salty, while the bacon provided an impactful crunch. His taste buds were so pleased that he ordered another bagel with delightful scallion cream cheese. After our senses were warmed up, we made our way to Centre Market, which reminded me of a smaller and calmer Quincy Market in Boston. Without hesitation, Charlie and I went for two slices of pie. I, personally, was not blown away by our chocolate chip and blueberry pie slices. For Charlie, the blueberry pie hit the spot. As you can tell, delicious food is quite important to both of us on this trip (and in life).
Finally, around 1PM, we hit the road. We crossed over the Wheeling Suspension Bridge whose dark features and rich red railings looked striking against the bright blue sky. We both agreed that even with the light snowfall, our day could be great if the sun stayed on us. Charlie was even bold enough to steal my quote and claim, “Days like these are the reason, I wanted to go on this trip.” Then, I got a flat...
The snow, of course, really started coming down, and at points there was some hail. We pulled into a grocery store parking lot only 4 miles into our ride and repaired my back tire. A sneaky piece of glass found its way into my tube. We patched it and with a lot of effort got the tire back in place; it took about an hour. Slightly pessimistic, we continued on Route 40 in Ohio. My negative swing thoughts were justified as the tire went flat again just a 1/2 mile later. Oof. We spent another hour fixing this tire and fitting it with a new tube as the snow continued to freeze Charlie’s hands. Suddenly it was 3PM, and our dreams of a relaxing hotel afternoon were burst.
We carried on, the ride hillier than any we’ve experienced thus far. What Charlie is now referring to as the “elevation intensity” is the feet of elevation gained per mile of riding. Today’s was 85 ft/mi, while our previous highest was 46 ft/mi. We were both thankful that it was only 16 miles of riding or else we would have been on the road all day (8.8 mph😞).
We ordered in dinner and took down some pulled pork nachos that really hit the spot. The tenderness of the meat with the creamy balance of cheese was enough to make any vegan re-evaluate their values. Prior to this trip, I was vegan (except ice cream) for a year, so this has been a crazy change.
We are now relaxing and looking forward to a cold, challenging, but thankfully brief ride tomorrow. Another day, another dollar! Good night!
- Maddie
Total miles: 594.8
Total flats: 3