Cycling Scene

Tour of the Scioto River Valley

Portsmouth, Ohio, May 10: It's a warm, dry morning here at the overnight rest stop for the Tour of the Scioto River Valley. Five thousand cyclists spent the night in various gymnasiums, auditoriums and health centers scattered about Portsmouth. The accommodations are certainly spartan, but few have trouble sleeping after pedaling 105 miles, even amid the din of hundreds of snoring men.

Nevertheless, my best tip for this ride is to bring ear plugs.

The TOSRV route is mostly flat and easy, but the distance and weather conditions often conspire to exhaust the strongest riders. This tour is my fifth. My first three involved a great deal of shivering in cold, driving rain and strong winds. Last year was wonderful - no rain and tailwinds both days, though a bit cold in the mornings. Yesterday was warm and with a tailwind - incredible! I'm not as well prepared as in previous years, though, with just a few hundred miles under the saddle and no rides over 50 miles. I'm going to suffer today, and the odds are that there will be a headwind north of Chillicothe. The Columbus skyline is going to be a very welcome sight.

Portsmouth has turned itself upside-down for the past 37 years for TOSRV, the longest-running tour in the country. You can be walking down a street looking for a church supper and people will stop and ask if you need a ride. Recently, they have added an exciting Saturday night criterium race held on downtown streets. The citizens of Portsmouth and all the volunteers do a terrific job. Even the motorists along the route are polite and careful despite the disruption.

There is an amazing diversity among the riders on the tour. People travel from all over the country and Canada. A few cyclists try to set new personal records on exotic bikes, while others wear goofy costumes. One regular rider of the tour mounts a keyboard on his handlebars and entertains passing cyclists with a little music. This year a family rode together on a four-seater in the tour. Many couples ride tandems, including Loveland residents Susan and Colin Vogt, who towed their new child in a trailer. And not just for 210 miles, but the ride to and from Columbus as well.

Epilogue: I indeed suffered in headwinds on the return, but I made it safely back to Columbus to the cheers of a waiting crowd. Then I helped a couple get home after they had to abort their attempt at the 400-mile Cincinnati-TOSRV-Cincinnati ride. I let the husband drive while I laid down in the back of my van. He being a State Trooper, I enjoyed a safe and speedy return home.

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Curt Austin maintains the web pages for the Queen City Wheels at www.qcw.org and can be reached at curt@AustinImage.com.