Posted by Sean Merchant
Three-thousand (that's 3-0-0-0) bicyclists. Two-hundred and twenty (220) miles. Two days. It's the annual Tour of the Scioto River Valley more commonly referred to as TOSRV which began in 1962 as a father and son weekend bike ride and has grown into the massive, organized tour it is today (the website claims it is the nation's largest bicycle touring weekend). The tour starts at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus and roughly follows the Scioto River south to the banks of the Ohio River in Portsmouth. Along the way, organizers set up food and rest stops in Circleville, Chillicothe and Waverly, and it all culminates in a welcome party in Portsmouth, where we generally camp overnight outside of the Spartan Stadium at Shawnee State University. We then repeat the route in reverse on Sunday, arriving back at the Statehouse.
I have ridden the TOSRV intermittently since 2000, when I decided to join a friend as a way of bonding before he got married later that summer. I soon learned that the TOSRV is not for the faint of heart the organizers recommend you ride at least 400 miles total in the months leading up to the tour, with at least one uninterrupted ride of 80 miles. For my last attempt in 2006, I did not train nearly enough and had to drop out half-way through the first day (which my family still taunts me about to this day).
For this year's TOSRV, we began on Saturday, May 8, waking up in Harion (my hometown) at 5 a.m. to get ready, and we were in Columbus by 7, ready to go. We started at a leisurely pace and didn’t experience any noticeable winds for the first half of the day, but from Chillicothe to Waverly, the gusts really kicked into full gear. It didn't help that this stretch is the hilliest portion of the tour.
In the years that I've done this tour, I've found it just as challenging mentally as physically it gets very monotonous pedaling after a few hours, so I have to play mental games with myself to keep my legs going. But after catching back up to the guys I was riding with, we all entered Portsmouth together. After a brief stop at the welcome party, we decided to set up camp. One of the real treats of the ride is the shower truck they set up at the stadium it's definitely the most enjoyable shower of the year. We were in the tents by 8, and asleep by 8:30.
Morning comes early camping (especially with lows in the high 30s), and we were back on our bikes by 6:30. I was exhausted by the time we hit Chillicothe, where I took a long break to recover before the final stretch. From Chillicothe to Columbus is fairly flat, so the rest of the ride went quickly.
During the ride, I find myself swearing I'll never do it again. But I know this won't be my last TOSRV I'll come back eventually for the camaraderie, the scenery and the proof that even though I'm a year older, I can still do it.
For more information on the TOSRV (including some pictures), please visit www.tosrv.org.