Day 17: Cincinnati, Ohio: "Free Puppies, Power Metal, and A Yard Sale"

Since Charleston was shut down for Memorial Day, Huntington, West Virginia wound up being the jumpinest place we'd stayed in for at least a week. We all were eager to get out and explore the city, what little of it there was, and while it wasn't a terribly exciting night it was a welcome change of pace from the small town scene.

We went to Huntington's Kitchen, an institution started by Jamie Oliver, made famous by "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution", in which Jamie, a big time English chef and health-food advocate, worked to transform the eating culture of Huntington, America's most obese city. So that was neat to see. We had coffee and hamburgers, and I walked to the other side of town with Kristen, Andy, Brit and Emma to see the city rose garden, which was lovely. The night ended back at the church with Jesse and I watching Animal Planet and placing bets on the elephant seals duking it out while David Attenborough narrated. Sidenote: elephant seals are maybe the goofiest looking animals ever, especially when they fight.

After Huntington it was time to say goodbye to West Virginia and move on to Ohio, our third state, and a new adventure.

Here's my overall take on Eastern Ohio. It has a few things in terrific abundance:

1) American flags. When you are in Ohio there is absolutely no way to get confused about what country you are in. It easily has the highest concentration of American flags I've seen so far. Their own flag is just a knock-off of the country's. Even their license plates are red, white, and blue.

2) Unleashed dogs. The hills constantly echo with barking as you roll through the foothills. Sometimes you get chased by them. I got really good at scaring them off for the most part. I took Zach's advice: act like the biggest, meanest dog you can. For the most part this strategy worked pretty well, as I'd bark and growl while I was riding by. Sometimes, however, those packs got a little too out of hand, and I knew the better option was to just book it.

3) Sneaky uphills. Dear Appalachia, we're breaking up. I'm sorry if that's hard for you to grasp, but following us into Ohio is just uncalled for. You gotta watch for these hills. You may spend a whole morning, like us, cruising over the flat farmland only to have the steepest hill of the entire trip sneak up on you.

4) Subsequently, terrifying downhills. Four of us, myself included, all ate it on this one insanely sharp, wet hairpin. One girl got a concussion. She's fine now, but it'll be a few days before her face stops swelling. As for me, I was very lucky. Just some scrapes on my knee, elbow, and bottom. I knew this was gonna be part of the territory, so I'm not making a big fuss. Although, I never quite realized how much I used my elbow until I can't use it at all.

We spent our first night in Ohio in a very sleepy town called Portsmouth. Working off the timeless phrase "when in Rome", I napped for 3 hours, had dinner, and then right back to sleep.

The ride from Portsmouth to our next town, Georgetown, was a day of highs and lows. On the standpoint fo lows, this was the day where we all ate it. However, on the high side, I crossed the Ohio to tag Kentucky, and had a wonderful moment hugging the state sign, and then singing "My Old Kentucky Home" as I crossed back over the river. The farmland out here was also beautiful. The fields looked like something from a Van Gogh painting, while the people were more like the characters from the Andy Griffith Show.

Our hosts in Georgetown were lovely, and I spent the afternoon playing poker with Jesse, Joe, Zach and Will Green, using skittles instead of chips.

Then today was the ride into Cincinnati. The suburban sprawl didn't make for much in the way of an exciting ride, so Jesse and I spent the morning making up 80's powermetal songs. Our mega-hit was a 9-minute anthem called "Cincinnati" which sounded like it belonged in Top Gun. It was a blast cranking through the outskirts of Cincinnati, screaming these lyrics, and it was especially great when Jesse, Laura and I all started to take a lead guitar solo at the same time. It was like "Free Bird", only better, because we understood, unlike Lynyrd Skynyrd, how ridiculous we were.

When we got to Cincinnati we immediately biked to the nearest Skyline Chili to partake in the local cuisine. I had a 5-Way (Chili, onions, cheese and beans all over spaghetti) and some delicious fries, while Zach regaled us with a story from his college days involving cookies, Disney's Bambi, the police, and the hospital. I'll leave you to fill in the blanks.

Then all of us hit the Cincinnati YMCA and its amazing pool. We had a nice cool-off and showered up.

...and now here I am back at the church! It's dinner time so I should go.