Day 13 - GPS hell - June 4th

 Raccoon Creek, PA to Cadiz, OH 74 miles (579)

This was a rough day.  The miles and 5,592 feet of climbing left me exhausted.  Today my navigation tool, an app called, Ride With GPS, was not working properly. I usually ride with my phone in airplane mode to preserve battery. My back up navigation is googlemaps bicycle mode but requires internet service. I had internet service throughout the day so decided I would try using googlemaps. Unfortunately, it also was not working correctly. The worse part of the day was trying to navigate my way across the Ohio River. I ended up in an extremely dangerous freeway traffic situation.  Another bad part of this day was at the end when it became evident that I wasn't going to make it to my planned overnight location so I went with my overnight back up plan: find a hotel. Unfortunately, the section of the route I was in was EXTREMELY hilly and the weather was warm. Because I was trying to follow a faulty GPS system, ended up riding back and forth along the most difficult section of today's route which unnecessarily  added about 20 miles and two thousand feet of elevation. I have never been so happy to see a Microtel Inn and Suites in my life!  


I keep seeing these signs off and on throughout my ride over the last two days. I guess there is a bicycle route that crosses much of the US called, "US Bicycle Route 50." 




Beautiful green views from the rolling hills of West Virginia and Eastern Ohio

Banners like this honoring service members adorn light posts in small towns throughout Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. 

I don't know what a ron is, but two for $6 must be a good deal! 
Do you know what a ron is? 

This pic is for the chicken lovers in my life! 

This is Paul. I stopped to ask his advice on negotiating a closed road that was on my route. While we were talking he picked up a dime off the ground and told me the story of a dime he recently found worth $2,300.  It was a mint defect because it was missing the ridges around its circumference. Paul knew exactly how many ridges are supposed to be on the circumference of a dime. 
BTW, I had no problems riding on the closed road. 




Comments

  1. RuthieJune 6, 2021 at 8:37 AM

    Got it, finally. Great posts, look forward to more...
    Ruthie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rolff ChristensenJune 6, 2021 at 3:10 PM

      Awesome- I'm glad you can follow along. It's very encouraging!

      Delete
  2. Robert AJune 6, 2021 at 11:36 AM

    Under normal circumstances, this would be tough ride. I can’t even begin to imagine doing it w ALL the gear you got strapped to your bike...😬
    Good job! Enjoy the ride, however hard or easy it may be!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rolff ChristensenJune 6, 2021 at 3:12 PM

      The hardest part was the fact that the tools I was relying on weren't working and were messing with my perception of where I was and where I needed to go.

      Delete
    2. Angie RJune 6, 2021 at 7:17 PM

      That’s a rough day when you have to guess which way to go 😩

      Delete
  3. The Lone RiderJune 9, 2021 at 9:09 PM

    That is a lot of climbing in one day. Sounds like you were dealing with the edge of the Appalachians. Even though they are not as steep as the Rockies, the grades seemed to be worse. Keep pedaling! BTW - we bought an eBike for Becky. I bet you wish you had one for some of those hills!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 12, 2021 at 4:17 PM

    13th day is unlucky but glad you made it through!!

    ReplyDelete

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