Whit dropped me off in the morning in Sunbury. Had great weather to start and was making awesome time. The country roads to Centerburg were nice (I picked my own route instead of going to Hartford as is official) and then joined up with the Heart of Ohio Trail after a stop at the park in Centerburg. I made great time on the rail trail with a southwesterly tail wind, but had a few sprinkles. Got to Danville and things turned ugly quickly. I'd had a few sprinkles but had started to hear thunder. I checked the radar and sure enough a significant amount of rain was on its way. I debated trying to get to the next town, but talked to a local who said there wasn't much there and decided against it. Good choice. I waited out the rain in the shelter house at the trailhead in Danville and talked more with this woman and another who stopped through on her lunch break. Nice folks. After they left, I started napping with no end to the rain in sight. Then the tornado sirens went off. I'm still not sure why, as the storm was never severe; perhaps they test on a different day, as it did occur right at noon? Anyway, I didn't want to chance it, as there were some strong cells on radar, so I went in search of other shelter and ended up at the library in town. It turned out to be a perfect spot, with a covered bench outside and restrooms and a drinking fountain inside. I watched the traffic, read Bicycling, and after waiting out one last downpour, set out again after a 2.5 hour delay! I had assumed the Mohican Valley Trail would be a mess no matter what and had planned an alternate, though unknown, route. With the rain (it was sprinkling still), I didn't even attempt the trail and set out on the road. Unfortunately my route turned to sloppy gravel within a few miles and I was forced out on to US62. Suck. Thankfully it was only about 5 miles and then off on to country roads again, which were nice, but hilly and hard considering the loaded bike. The weather was a mixed bag. It continued to dry out (good!) but the humidity was extreme (bad, to the point of being foggy even). Then the sun came out and it started to heat up (more bad). Thankfully though I got out of the hills and soon it was back on rail trail in Killbuck on the Holmes Country Trail. This one is pretty funny; it's about 20 feet wide and has one half dedicated to buggies! This was actually nice, as their wheels make the pavement smooth as glass and quite fast. Passing the buggies was awkward, though, as I wasn't sure what the etiquette was. Scenery along the trail here was quite nice, with a lot of swampy/marshy stuff. I made it to Millersburg (nice depot, but no water fountain and only porta johns) and had to decide about my lodging for the evening, as this was my last chance before my planned stop 30 miles farther. The radar was clear and the sky looked good so I went for it. After a few more miles on the HCT, I arrived in Holmesville and hit up a gas station for refreshments. There I talked to a really nice Sheriff who was riding the Dog Days Wine Tour the next day. He said the route would get flatter as I went along, which I wasn't sure how to take, since I was still on rail trail for another 5 miles or so. It turned out he meant that once the trail ended in Fredericksburg, it would get hilly again and then finally flatten. I was about spent on those early hills and it was getting hot. But the double-decker oatmeal creme pie I ate apparently kicked in (or maybe it was the tailwind, lovely panoramic views, or cute Amish kids) and I caught my second wind. It did flatten as well, but it was still a pretty long haul to Dalton. Also, Arnold Rd had a terrible, speed sucking surface of large aggregate chip and seal. Nevertheless I made it to the Sippo Valley Trail for the last 8 miles to my hotel. Not so fast though as the trail was closed after I'd been on it only a few miles and I had to detour to the only alternate I knew, a state highway. I was pretty worried about this, but it turned out fine. Most of the highway was four lanes (undivided) and was lightly trafficked, so cars could go around me easily. Finally, I pulled into the Country Motel for the night, having made surprisingly good time. The motel was modest and well-loved for sure, but fairly clean and run by a tremendously nice family who lived on site (their kids played basketball outside my window and commented on my bike). I cleaned up and ordered pizza and wings (hour wait!), watched TV, chowed down, and passed out. Thankfully there was a fridge in the room, so I was able to preserve the leftover pizza (East of Chicago deluxe pan) for the next day's ride.