Wednesday, June 3: Guess I’ve sounded a lot like good old “Debbie Downer” as of late. And honestly, I’m not really complaining. I’m just trying to convey to everyone what this thing is really like. I mean I know what I’d signed up for and I knew it would be just hard as hell to complete. So I am NOT bitching. The difficulty of this, to me, is the satisfying part of enduring all this degradation - the “just being able to do it” thing. And I’d be lying if I came off with a “life is a bed or roses” attitude each and every day. I say this only because the last few posts, as I read back, really seem to portray this as a freaking nightmare each and every day. Yet I’m not going to lie to you and say all is great or all is bad. It is what it is. And each day things change. Shoot, I’ve Xed North America by bike 4 times thus far, this being my 5th, and I know from experience you’re going to get your ass kicked some days, and then on other days you’re just savoring the day, wishing it would never end. That’s the nature of doing something like this. 

Which brings me to today. That’s my theme: what a difference a day makes. Today put us at the 1 week mark since we started back up again. And though I’m a good week behind the overall schedule, a schedule I must have conceived of while on psychedelic drugs, I’m still optimistic about the future. Well, today was such a great day compared to…well…the last several days. So I got going just past 9 AM, and I had Judy take me back down to yesterday’s end point in Jamestown from our motel in Xenia. This section of trail is called the “Jamestown Connector” and it’s part of an extensive trail system that has its hub in Xenia. From Xenia trails branch off in a myriad of directions. I haven’t done the math, but I’d be willing to bet that there are several hundred miles worth of paved bike & hike trails that radiate out of Xenia. In my opinion, it’s one of the best trail systems in any state in the United States! Never done any of these trails…YOU don’t know what you’re missing. 

Got going west on the Jamestown Connector to Xenia, and I was just dreading the berm. That because of the Tri-County/Adena trail I was riding yesterday where the berm was just pure shit for half the length. But this trail system, wow, what a difference. First, the berm is grass that’s anywhere from 2-4 feet wide on each side. The asphalt trail is about as wide as a single lane highway road. BUT the big difference here is that the grassy berm is way more enjoyable to ride, despite the fact that it wasn’t intended to be ridden. And what I discovered within the first 5 minutes of riding is to “aim for the sweet spot.” That sweet spot is where the mower wheels have been for years and years and years, such that they have created this 1 foot wide “hardpack” track on each side of the grassy berm. Now you’d think that the best spot to ride on that grass berm would be right next to the asphalt. NOT. Nope, the sweet spot is about 2-3 feet to the right or left of the asphalt depending on which side you’re riding. And baby I caught on to this very quickly. 

And not only that, but I could follow that sweet spot by sighting up the grass berm. You can see the hardback tire tracks by looking for the higher grass that is pushed down by the mower tires for years of mowing. And let me tell you, just by getting on that sweet spot you pick up a mile per hour. You can feel it. You go from working hard and going slow, to working way less and going faster. It makes that much of a difference. 

It was this way on nearly all of each and every trail that is part of this trail system.  Now there were some areas where this did not hold true. But these areas were very few in the totality of the trail mileage. So I was just able to cruise on this first 12-mile section, doing it in 1.5 hrs - a gonzo 8 mph! For me this was like a watershed moment. It felt much easier than yesterday, and I was actually able to enjoy myself for a change. God was that nice. Judy was pumped that I made it so fast to Xenia. I knocked down a banana and a bagel, then briefed her on my next segment, from Xenia to the park along the Mad River in Eastern Dayton. This is about an 18-mile segment. Just to be safe, I told her it could take me about 3 hrs, that at yesterday’s abysmal 6 mph pacing. But I was secretly hoping that the great berm would continue to Dayton as it had to Xenia. 

Just a bit of background on the territory I’m riding through out here. The hills and rolling countryside of Southern Ohio are now long gone. From Jamestown onward you’re dealing with flat farmland and woodlands. To me this is just so tranquil to ride through. I love lonely farm country riding, and this part of Ohio is just that. You’ll pass little one lane county roads, and old farms with crops of corn and soy bean spanning out as far as the eye can see. In the morning, this is just amazing on a bike - on berm or asphalt - it’s just beautiful! Makes you really savor the moment, enjoy life and the beauty around you. Makes you feel alive. Ah, what a wonderful morning!

So the ride to Dayton on the Beaver Creek Trail is the above and more. Love it. The berm - same as the Jamestown Connector…awesome! I was just nailing it on that grassy berm riding the sweet spot. Now there were sections where the berm was narrowed down to about 2 feet on each side where there is fencing etc. And thank God I had Steve Thomas, my all-star bike mechanic, make those “sawed off handlebars” cuz there were times where my bar end was a mere inch away from fence or abutment. And you should have seen the looks I got riding on this thin strip of dirt or grass with my bars damn near touching the barrier People would do a head turn while riding, watching me kind of skim past these sections with the slimmest of margins of one side or the other. I almost felt like a circus act performing some stupid trick on a bike. Getting pretty damned good at this if I might pat myself on the back!

So I made amazing time on that second segment, doing it in 1:45 hrs, at that same 8 mph pacing. And shoot, I was actually feeling pretty good considering I wasn’t working my tail off to maintain a putrid 5 mph as I was yesterday. Judy made me a sandwich, and on this trip it’s ham, chicken, and/or turkey instead of the bologna that I’d been downing for my 2012 American Dirt attempt. She wants me to “eat better”, and I’m not going to argue with her. Knocked down a handful of fresh strawberries, a coke, water, and I was ready for the segment I’d been dreading for a couple of days now - riding through the ghettos of West Dayton. 

Hit the Mad River trail, a three mile trail that takes you into downtown Dayton, to a collection of more trails. Nice trail that takes you right down along the Mad River. Again, zero problem with the berm riding. So made it to downtown Dayton where that ended. Now I did opt to X over a bridge across the Miami river rather than take an hour to pull out the canoe, X the river, then re-lash the canoe to the van again. Yea, we’ll call this a cheat for sure as I rode across the bridge, then I got on this earthen levee and rode on that north along the Miami to the start of the Wolf Creek Trail. Got on the Wolf Creek and rode berm again. Ok, so this is the nasty section. 

So two years ago, Judy, Bill and myself did recon on this section and the Wolf Creek Trail ends in West Dayton, then goes on roads for like 5 miles west through some rather horrific neighborhoods before starting back up again in a little town called Trotwood. When we rode it two years ago it was just amazing. I mean people actually told us we were crazy for even riding in that area. We saw some really wild shit out there. And I just didn’t relish the idea or riding through that again. I mean it was truly scary, plain and simple. So I did some research on this and found a feeder RR line that deadened in Trotwood. All I had to do was get off the Wolf Creek Trail just before it came to a temporary end it the bowels of the bad area, and jump on the RR and take that through the mess. Essentially I’d be riding through the place through the back door instead of the front door as we had on the roads. I mean on the roads you’re just so “OUT THERE AND VISIBLE”. On the RR line, well there’s about 4 road Xings and you’re done. I was determined to do this on the RR and bridge the other side of the Wolf Creek Trail.

So as soon as I came to the RR overpass, I knew it was game on. Pushed the bike up onto the RR tracks, went to the right, Xed Wolf Creek on a RR trestle and then shifted to the middle ring…and just rode like hell! First road Xing, and a big one I just jumped it up, waited for traffic, then peddled like hell again down the middle of the RR. Second big road Xing, really big, and I was in the middle of the WRONG neighborhood, I hammered it, especially after hearing some dude yell “hey mother*^&*%&$” as I crossed the road. Then I came through this “projects”area, where there junk littered all over the place and strewn onto the RR line. Thankfully there was this 6 foot high fence between me on the RR and the projects. And just when I think I’m just about home free…I see this guy walking down the tracks. 

So I got off the tracks and looked to see if there were any parallel roads to get off on and ride berm around the dude. Nothing. I was smack dab in the projects. Ok, gut check, so I just continued riding, right down the middle of the tracks at the guy. He had one hand in his right pocket, and I’m thinking, “Jesus, this dude could roll me in a NY minute.” And we get closer and closer until we come face to face. Now the dude is tatted up to the max, and he just looks at me. Not sure if it was quizzical or sternly. I nod, like hey man, what’s happening. And I pass him. And I’m good. I keep going…until I see that there’s this vehicle on the RR. Too far away to know if it’s a locomotive, a maintenance vehicle or what, but something was on the RR line. Ok, second dilemma, do I get back on a road, or just bike the bullet and continue on the RR? Hell, I was a mile away from getting the heck out of there. So I think about the consequences…”shoot,” I think, “I’ll just tell them the truth, that I didn’t want to ride through that nasty section, which was the bike trail bypass, and I thought the RR was the safer option.” Yup, that was the truth all right. So I just kept riding, right up to the vehicle, then I got off the bike, expecting to have whoever was in the vehicle read me the riot act. Now the dude was backing this CSX RR pick-up truck in reverse on the rails, and he went right by me. Nothing said, nothing done. He was a maintenance guy greasing switches, and probably could give a shit less about me. so I just picked my bike back up, put it in the middle of the tracks again and rode like hell.

Made it to the end of the RR line, where it dead ended into this big factory. Then I jumped on some farm access roads to the right and took these through about a half mile of soy bean fields out to Trotwood Ave, Xed Trotwood and got back on the Wolf Creek Trail continuation, taking that to the town of Trotwood. Did it! But let me tell you, my heart was in Z5b for a couple of minutes during that ride! Now Judy had called me in the midst of all this. The first time I was just approaching the dude waking the tracks, and in that instance I didn’t answer, I just kept the train rolling. The second time she called I was just next to the CSX guy in the RR pick-up. I called her back when the guy went by me. She missed the road to meet up with me. And I was kind of on this adrenaline rush and told her I’d call her back when I got done. Just had to get the hell out of there. 

So when I got to the Trotwood trailhead, I gave her a call. She’d figured it out and eventually picked me up about 15 minutes later. Felt pretty relieved that this segment was in the books. How in God’s name they can actually route cyclists through that area on the main roads is beyond me. I was pretty wigged out just doing it on the RR line. It’s 3x the wig-out on roads! So we’re chilling tonight at a KOA about 8 miles north of Trotwood. I cooked some fish and veggies for dinner…and life is good. A beer or two was even better. All in all it was a super day, sprinkled with some tenuous moments. Tomorrow I hope to exit Ohio and move on into Indiana. American Dirt rolls on!