On the 12th day of touring…

Today is our 12th day out on the road. We have hit a few rough patches over the 700+ miles we have ridden in that time, but God has brought us through each one and hopefully we are stronger and smarter as a result. Embarrassingly, many of the interesting situations we have found ourselves in have been the result of a total lack of common sense on my part. Don’t worry, I have written them down, before the trip is over I will compile them so that we can cringe together.

But overwhelmingly, these past twelve days have been filled with wonderful experiences. Here are a few snippets…

Friendly little goats!

So silly and cute!

This little bee was my buddy for about two miles, until he decided cycling wasn’t the life for him. Hey, if I could fly I wouldn’t bother with bikes either!

Travelling light means no excess junk…like bowls. Empty avocado halves work just fine.

Beautiful horses abound! There was a 15 mile stretch in Ohio where we passed by countless spotless Amish farms, even the birdhouses were in perfect condition.

I am becoming proficent at taking pictures while riding…this photo was taken at 18 mph. Yup, I am now officially cool.

Ohio has a wonderful network of impeccable paved bike trails. Bonus points for the shade and wind protection that the trees provide.

Lots of animals hang out on the bike trails. We saw baby woodchucks, rabbits, countless birds and this snapping turtle.

The bike trail also took us to a dirt path that went to the top of Fort Ancient. It was the steepest 1/4 mile hike I have ever been on. And we climbed it with biking shoes…not highly recommended.

The view from the Fort Ancient earthworks.

And today we crossed over the Ohio river into Kentucky!

Throughout this trip, Noah has amazed me. Before leaving home, his longest ride was 43 miles and now he is busting out 60+ days like he was born pedalling.

Yesterday was an especially neat day. In the morning, while we were riding side by side, he looked over at me and said,

“When did riding thirty miles become nothing?”

I swear, by the time we reach Colorado, I am going to be left in the dust. If anyone can give me tips on how to keep up, it would be greatly appreciated!

But that was just the beginning. We rode on paved trails all day yesterday and Noah decided that it was high time to conquer riding no-handed. It took me a year to become comfortable enough and skilled enough to ride no-handed, so you can imagine my consternation (and jealousy) when by the end of the day he was happily flying down the trail doing things like this…

I don’t think he has any idea how proud I am of him. It blows me away each day how blessed I am to be riding alongside one of my favorite-est people in the whole world.

In the past two years I have ridden 10,000ish miles and 99.8% of those miles I have ridden all by my little lonesome, believe me when I say that it is fantastic to now have a partner in crime.