Heading to the second "C"city

 Xenia, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio via Yellow Springs

May 2, 2022

65.9 miles flat with a tailwind, but still pretty tiring.

Despite getting only a few short hours of sleep last night Annie is ready to conquer the day.

A sleep report follows:  

• Annie was freezing all night and got almost no sleep.  She has some sort of sleep bracelet device which proves this situation with actual data.  
• Tom tells me he was awake all night listening to coyotes, foxes and lots of owls. 
•  I don't know about Steve, but I slept like a rock and heard nothing.  I was also a bit cold, but I guess that didn't stop me from sleeping. 

It was pretty chilly this morning when we got out of the tents.  There had been a very heavy dew overnight so the tents were soaked again.  We plan to get them out at lunch and let them dry.  It is supposed to warm up and be sunny and windy today.  The wind should be behind us which will be a blessing.

We added a side trip to Yellow Springs where we had breakfast in a diner.  We didn't really look around the town at all because today we have a lot of miles to cover.

Yellow Springs is home to Antioch College which has only about 116 students.  Coretta Scott King is one of their famous graduates.

We are now traveling along the section of the Ohio to Erie Trail called the Prairie Grass Trail.  It is easy to imagine the landscape as prairie.  It is now acres and acres of agriculture.  The trail we are riding doubles as a wildlife corridor and there are a great many birds to be seen.

the tents take about ten minutes to dry completely

London, Ohio has a nice hiker/biker site with tent platforms, a big pavillion, restroom and a water source.  It has some unique showers which require a bucket of water dumped into a garden sprayer.  We are not staying here so we don't get to experience this.  We stay just long enough to eat some lunch, dry the tents, and take a quick nap in the sunshine.

At the lunchstop there are about 33 miles behind us and we have about the same amount to go.  It's a long way to go on a loaded touring bike.  Going 60 miles on a road bike without gear is very very different.  I am feeling tired but with the tailwind and the perfect weather it seems a good day for high milage.  

 The skyline appears and we have made it to Columbus!  The smooth paved trail and the 10 - 15 mph tailwind helped us along the way.  Tonight we are camping out at the Red Roof Inn and eating supper at a restaurant.  Tomorrow we have another long day, but we might adjust those plans since rain and thunderstorms are predicted throughout the day.  I will keep you posted.  Thanks for following!