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June 25-- Steubenville, Ohio

 
In summary, we anticipated a tough day and were not disappointed. We had lots of climbing, some missing shoulders, some flooded shoulders, and some heavy traffic.  However, we did have reasonable temperatures, a cooling head wind, several nice down hill runs.  So don’t expect much from today’s blog.
 
We departed from our Pittsburgh hotel around 6 a.m. and hit the first of our continuous climbs.  While there were lots of them, they weren’t steep or long.  A server storm dumped lots of rain last night bringing down debris and flooding the low spots.  Besides impacting our riding, the rain dampened our first stop at Raccoon Creek State Park Wildflower Center.  The trails were swampy and there were no blooming wildflowers visible from the parking lot so we decided to keep climbing the never ending hills.  Our one really nice down hill occurred as we headed down the mountain to the Ohio River.  Not only was it long, it provided our first look at the river. Our next point of interest proved also to be disappointing.  The town of Newell, WV was begun because of the pottery being created by Laughlin Pottery which was started in 1871. In Newell, all we found was a historical marker and a new factory outlet.
 
To get to Steubenville, Ohio we had to cross over the river.  To get to the only bridge that we could use safely required a major climb of several miles and steep grades; some were so steep that it was even difficult to push our bikes.  The climb was several miles long but we managed to cross the river and get to our hotel.  Sorry, but that is all we have to say.
 
Pictures
 
Today's Map

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