Fairborn to Columbus Ohio

This is a pic of a wall in Yellow Springs Oh near the bike trail that runs to Springfield. I was trying to figure out if those letters that say "no painting"were actually graffitti or were there originally and were just ignored.

I am a big fan of good creative inspireing graffitti and am drawn to it (no pun intended) when I see it. It is fun to study the various styles of lettering as well as the clever wording. I can definately say that this was not good graffitti but it was the only stuff I came across yesterday so that is all I had to work with.
Yellow Springs is a very interesting town full of interesting people, a very eclectic bunch. Yesterday I dawdled there too long, just sitting in the shade on a bench in the "downtown" area people watching. I definitely want to visit here again and do some more people watching--I used to think that the Great Darke County Fair was the best for people watching but although Yellow Springs does not have the quantity of the GDF it really has the quality. I may just work up to talking to some of these folks as well, I am pretty sure I would learn something that I do not currently know.
It is a sure thing that Antioch College is the magnet that attracts a lot of folks to Yellow Springs. I do not know a lot about it and as I understand it the college will be closing down pretty soon, so I better get back there before the cool stuff goes away.

I am not sure why but this large ear of corn got my attention as I rode east out of Springfied.

I finally got on Route 40 in Springfield and once I cleared Springfield traffic it was a great ride on a very pleasant highway. The next time I drive (in a car)to Columbus and am not on a tight schedule I will take this road. My only issue yesterday is that I messed around in Yellow Springs way too long and it got dark as I hit Columbus. I stayed on Route 40, which turns into Broad Street and found myself riding through a very interesting part of town that was not exactly bike friendly, and that was just the pedestrian folks on the sidewalks and along the street.

Most of vehicles on the busy street acted like they had never seen aa bicycle before andthere were several pleasant verbal exchanges between me and some drivers regarding whether I should be on the street or sidewalk, and yes some selected hand/finger gestures were used to communictae opinions as well.. I am super glad that I have those very heavy duty Amish buggy flashing lights (red on back and amber on front) that you can see a mile away, because it gives you a good chance to be seen at night. I have had many other bikers laugh at these big lights and comment about how much heavier they are than the standard bicycle lights but I know that in situations like this they increase my survival odds 1000%. Even if drivers do not like bikers they give you adequate space if they can see you or are aware that something with a blinding blinking red light is ahead of them. I do not have reason to use the big lights often but when I do I kinow they help and will never have a bike w/o them.

Btw--if Miss Sassy would have been in the area she would have beaten me senseless with that new pipe wrench. Although riding the last 15 miles thru Columbus after dark is doable and not a huge deal it is extremely stoooopid if you do not have to do it. Normally I would not think of doing something like that and would have stopped for thenight but I wanted to get to Russ's despite starting out way too late from Yellow Springs to get there at a reasonable time.
I was fighting my way through the mess and had about 5 miles to go when Russ found me with his car and escorted me the rest of te way. It was neat turning south onto High Street and blowing thru down town on a bike at 10 p.m. accompanied by a car with flashing lights. It would have been even neater if Russ had a siren as well.

I was under the mistaken assumption that I would be staying overnight at Russ's apartment but I was very wrong. After 5 minutes in the place I realized that it belongs to Stella the resident cat. Stella belongs to Elissa, Russ's fiance--actually it would be more correct to say that Russ will belong to Stella when he marries Elissa.
All cats are divas but Stella takes the diva thing to a whole new level and like all divas the rest of the world is all about her.

It is interesting trying to sleep on the couch when Stella wants to interact(have you pay attention to her). Also Stella is the noisiest damned cat I have ever been around. She acts like she is training for the cat olympics decathalon in that bshe iss constantly jumping on and off pretty high stuff and then sprinting from room to room at full speed.

Now I realize that a lot of cats do this stuff and it is a natural cat thing and part of their natural instinct so that they can fend for themselves in the jungle. I had always been impressed by how cats can quietly sneak around unsuspecting prey/food. They are very excellent hunters. Well ,in my opinion Stella would starve to death in the wild because she could not sneak up on on a deaf mouse standing near Niagra Falls as a freight train went by.
I swear that when Stella lands from jumping off something that an anvil has hit the floor--or a sack of concrete--it scares the hell out of you . Also, when she runs across the wooden floors it is like she has army boots on or possibly little cat wooden shoes.

Now , I appreciate the patter of little feet early in the morning as much as the next guy but when Stella does her thing at sunup it is like being in the middle of a buffalo stampede.

Russ and Elissa are getting married this October in Columbus on Halloween Night ( and that will probably be a whole other blog) and we are all excited about it, but I am wondering what role Stella will play in the ceremony and the reception afterwards. Seeing the way things are now and how Stella rules the roost it is clear that there will not be room in the hall for both Stella and the bride at the same time. I am bringing my camera to this one . This has America's Funniest Home Videos written all over it.

I originally planned on being in Columbus today for a minimal amount of time before heading east on routs 40 but I am going to browse Columbus a bit this morning just to see what I can see. So far I have avoided cities whenever possible but Columbus has a lot of cool stuff. Russ lives near Shiller Park in German Village which in my opinion is the best/most scenic part of town--so I am looking forward to some bike exploring.