Rocket 88

Dear Blog,

Today I finished a years long endeavor to cycle through all 88 counties of Ohio. I woke up in Noble county, in a tent in the rain. I rode back to my car, and drove to Coshocton for the final lap. Stats for the weekend, 5 counties, 100 miles, 7:35 riding time, top speed 71.83kph. 

If I was British, I would probably say, "I'm quite pleased with that." But I'm American so I'm going to say

BITCH, I'm a fucking LEGEND. Come at me bro! What you got, 10000 kilometers of stop signs, hairpin turns, 11 percent grades, gravel and pot-holes, assholes in trucks, bad signage? I'll grind over all your washed out coal towns, your downed trees, your 1500 sparkling creeks, past 25000 cornfields, 32000 sycamores, 35000000 ticks and mosquitos. I'll eat your headwinds for a snack without slowing down. Fuck your unleashed dogs.

In terms of cycling counties, this has been my best year to date. I biked in 20 new counties, and repeated an additional 11 (Cuyahoga, Erie, Huron, Lorain, Miami, Clark, Montgomery, Greene, Warren, Clinton, and Preble). 

How long did the whole project take? Well, in years, I started when I was eight years old, so 29 years. If we count the shortest time since I've done all 88 including repeats, then I've biked all 88 in the last 10 years. In hours? I didn't track, but several hundred. A typical county would take 2-6 hours to cycle across, so 4*88=352. Several of them I did much faster. 

So I'll take some time now, and revel in a win. But also, the only way this works, is if the journey is the win. So, I've been winning this whole time. It's a beautiful state. Every county has something unique to itself. I never could have guessed at so many of the things I've seen. Every view, every picture of sparkling streams, every surprising weasel or musk-rat or blue-fish, every warm breeze and relief of a cloud on a hot day.  It's been so fun, so pleasant, so calming, and I would do it again, and again.  

And also, I am what I am. I'm forever seeking the next goal, so, Indiana, here I come. 

I have biked around Indianapolis two different times, with my cousin Kathryn each time. So much white to paint-bucket fill. I'm excited. 

Very excited. 

Let's go,

Ian Hogan, PhD