Paulding, Ohio to Perry, New York
Thursday, July 30, 1998 - Day 49 - 83.15 miles - to Paulding, Ohio.
We felt dirty and sticky this morning as we portaged a road washout in the park and detoured to the city of Huntington. I noticed that I had broken a cleat on my right shoe and hoped to find one in Huntington. We got there early and had breakfast first. Then about 9:30 an rode over to the bike shop. The sign in the window told us that the shop opened at 11:00 am. I waited in front of the shop incase it open early, while David went looking for a phone. 11 o’clock came and went, 11:15 came and went, at 11:30 the UPS truck pulled up and the owner of the shop pulled up. The shop had no cleat. I could ride with it broken but it had to pay attention to what I was doing. I called my local bike shop in Beaverton, OR and asked them to send a replacement to David’s cousin house, we would be there in 4 days. This delay cost us about 2.5 hours.
We rode on towards Paulding. OH with a lunch stop in Zanesville, IN. Again today I heard the buzzing in the trees. At times, today, I was sure that there were no electric wires around, what could it be?
Arriving in Paulding, OH we made a loop around the city square before stopping at the local police station to find out where we could camp. The officer, while nice enough said there was no place to camp in or close to town. He suggested a bargain Motel and we decided to “treat” ourselves at $30 for two persons. At the Motel office there was no one, only the keys laid out on a table with a short room description and price next to each key. We took to keys and looked at the rooms. Both were almost the same so we took the one that smelled the best. A shower felt good. After dinner we also treated ourselves to a McDonald’s sundae. It was tasty but not a close second to Ben & Jerry’s, but a lot cheaper.
Friday, July 31, 1998 - Day 50 - 94.47 miles - to Rollersville, Ohio.
Today was clear skies with some clouds in the afternoon. We had some head winds, but life is good on the road. Western Ohio was easy terrain. We passed many homes on large grassy tracks, many of which had their own pond in front and looked like miniature golf courses.
The route followed the Auglaize River to Defiance. We stopped for a snack here. David rode around this historic town where Auglaize River joins the Maumee, while I looked for a restroom. We then continued along the Maumee to Napoleon, which, like many Midwest county seats, has a spectacular old courthouse. Time for lunch, we found spectacular old restaurant, Spenglers, Est 1879. We were not only welcomed but they insisted that we bring our bikes in. Our server said the town had recently hosted a giant hoard of bicyclists. We assumed it was the GTE Big Ride. After lunch we rode through heavy traffic around Bowling Green, OH and on to Pemberville. We later heard people affectionately refer to Bowling Green as “BG.” From our memory of passing through on bikes, BG meant more like “Big Galldarn Traffic.”
We stopped for a snack, a cream puff hot fudge sundae. David made the mistake of ordering his first, while to was very good size, by the time I got through tell the girl behind the counter how “David always beats me” mine was truly oversize. It was hard to eat it all. I did not let David know this.
Pamberville had to be our dinner stop as our planned overnight was an isolated campground 10 miles farther on. We also visited the local bike shop, Pemberville Bike Shop, and met an interesting guy, the owner, with a hobby of designing specialized bike tools. David tried to buy some bicycling gloves but he insisted on giving them away to both of us. Said he doesn’t have any customers for them. There was a full box of them in the backroom, so stop in if you are passing through.
Again today I heard the buzzing in the trees, but there was no electric wires around for sure, what could it be? We also met our first dog that was serious. He looked hungry as he came out after me. Somehow his aim was very poor, not normal for most dogs who have the cutoff angel down pat, as he shot behind me by about four feet. David had great fun with most of the dogs during this tour. Once in Minnesota four dogs came out after us, David on his bike, chased them right back up the road an into their yard. I would go out of my way to avoid any dog. I guess you could say that I liked dogs and much as David liked riding in the rain or heavy traffic.
Camped at Cactus Flats, which had no showers. From a group that was sitting in front of the camp store I learned that the buzzing in the trees, these past several days, were Locus. They all told me that the Locus makes the buzzing sound by rubbing their legs together. A short time later the owner took me aside a said that the sound was Locus alright, but they make the sound with their wings. Mystery solved. We cleaned up the best we could and hit the sack.
Saturday, August 1, 1998 - Day 51 - 92.15 miles - to Beldon, Ohio.
We sleep in today, did not get up until 7 am. It was a sunny and cool day with a breeze off the lake. Which turned into a head wind. It was the First of August and we were stating to be aware of the tour coming to an end. We have been away from home since June 11 (51 days) and the was in only 18 more. In talking with people at about this stage of the tour, we described our goal as the “Coast of Maine” and said “we were almost there.” That invariably drew smiles and sometimes shaking heads. We were sure people in Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. do not consider themselves as living in “almost Maine.” But for us, this was the case. We had gone about 4000 miles and had only about a thousand left. With all our memories of all the places we had been, we felt like we were truly “almost there.”
We detoured to Fremont, OH for breakfast and then got back on the route. Today would be a repeat of yesterday with similar nice back roads, another college town (Oberlin), an afternoon ice cream break, and a dinner stop before the end-of-the-day ride to camp. We had mild head winds on this 92 mile day and I was nursing a knee which was swelling again as it had a few days earlier. I wonder what could it be after all these miles. It was the inside of my left knee, but after another day, while it stayed swollen, it did not hurt anymore. When I returned home I had my annual check up with the surgeon who took care of my hip and he looked at the knee which was still a little swollen and could not find any problem. He told me to take a Naprosyn, I did and the next day all was normal again. Dinner was in Grafton, OH and The Maples Campground a few miles farther on had showers!
Sunday, August 2, 1998 - Day 52 - 72.42 miles - to Willoughby, Ohio.
Like Cactus Flats, The Maples was in an isolated rural setting and breakfast this day required some riding. We were quite hungry as we had gone many miles since the previous day’s dinner. It was another clear and sunny day. Breakfast was in Brunswick, a western suburb of Cleveland, OH and had an unlikely looking place, a bar called the Red Onion. It was a hit.
Upon entered the Cleveland, OH area, we started to encounter heavy and hectic eastern traffic which would pretty much characterize the rest of the tour. This is when we also realized just how enjoyable the roads had been between southern Minnesota and central Ohio. We also started encountering constant hills, another companion for the remainder of the tour. There was great beauty but there was also much work to travel it.
To most people, Cleveland, OH does not conger up thoughts of woods and hills. However, the Adventure Cycling route travels Cleveland’s “Emerald Necklace” park system which has plenty of both. Approaching the parkway, we turned a corner onto Cato Street and faced a short but very steep climb with both busy traffic and a rough road shoulder. The hill arrived and I was not ready for it, wrong gear. The street was about 1.5 cars wide and there were cars coming down. The shoulder was bad. All this added up to me walking the hill. The first hill I have walk in a very long time. I was bummed out after negotiating the Cascades, Glacier Park’s Going-To-The-Sun Hwy, etc. I told myself that I would not let this happen again and I would get another chance later on in this tour to prove it. David made it without walking.
We rode the bike paths around Cleveland, OH on this hot and humid afternoon. Lunch was at a place in this park area that I would have never found if it was not been for David, riding around this area in the past while visiting his Cousin Marty. As we pulled up to the place, jammed packed with cars, but when we entered there was no one in the place, except one person who worked there. It seems that there was a golf tournament in the area and most of the golfers parked in the wrong place.
Our destination was Marty’s house in Willoughby, OH only a few miles off the route. David is on the Board of a professional society (ISSE) which was just a mile off the route. We rode over, but being Sunday no one was there so I took a picture of David sitting on their address sign. We continued along the Chagrin river and it was specially nice, but we could not enjoy it much as you should have, with heavy Sunday traffic on narrow pavement and spots of new sticky tar repairs.
When David told Marty we would be passing nearby and invited ourselves to stop there, he asked if we needed to be picked up. This got a laugh, a detour of 3 or 4 miles on a tour of over 5000 miles is surly not a problem. We were a day up on schedule at this point, which was lucky as Sunday is family get-together night for Marty’s family. David and I went with Marty. David met cousins never met before and we both enjoyed the evening, although, somewhat tired from the hilly, hot and humid day. I had a whole new audience to tell about our tour and I made the most of it. The food was wonderful and it was all-you-can-eat.
Thanks to Mike of Bike N’ Hike, Beaverton, OR my replacement cleat was at Marty’s house waiting for me, I installed it with no problem. I have wondered for many years just how something like this would workout, needing parts on the road.
Monday, August 3, 1998 - Day 53 - 100.0 miles - to Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania.
Marty took us to breakfast, after which we said our goodbys and headed for Pennsylvania. We had head winds most of the day. It was hill after hill as we rode our way into Pennsylvania. When we reach Pennsylvania the road were not in good shape, there were a lot of houses also in bad shape with piles junk in their front yard. Lunch was at the first Burger King of the tour. No, $0.99 Whoppers as we have at home.
We were on the Allegheny Plateau, a feeling David knew well from his six years at Penn State. Every town we rode through was in a valley and every road between them was a big climb. It was beautiful country but too hazy for spectacular photos. The Adventure Cycling route across Pennsylvania cuts the NW corner south of Erie, PA and we would only have one overnight in the State. I wanted to camp in each state that we rode through, we did.
.jpg)
We rode into Cambridge Springs, PA our planned overnight. Dinner was at the Crossbow Inn in Cambridge Springs. When we went to pay they would not take our money. They said “Bikers don’t pay,” thank you Carla. We rode out to Mitchell Lake RV park and campground. When we asked where do we pay? We were told to ride back out to the house on the main road. I rode out and approached the lady in the front yard and offered to pay. She said “bikers don’t pay.” She told us to put up our tents in the grassy area and that her husband would bring us a key to the showers. We did laundry and fell off to sleep with a good feeling for this town. There is sure good karma for bikers in Cambridge Springs, PA.
It’s hard to say but I think most of the kindness we received was from people who wanted to share in our adventure in the only way they could, with kindness.
Tuesday, August 4, 1998 - Day 54 - 90.0 miles - to Onoville, New York.
Today we entered the Allegheny mountains. It was hill after hill and then more hills. They just did not stop. While they were not long they were steep, the down hill side did not make up for the up hill side. Lunch was in Corry. Our destination was Onoville, NY on the Allegheny Reservoir. When we pulled into the State Park and inquired about camping, we were told camping was ok but no showers. We rode back to the RV park that we had just passed. Showers are worth almost any cost.
We camped at a Kinzua RV park. When we approached the owners to pay and they told us that they wondered if we were going to stop at their RV park. It seems that he was off playing golf and passed us on his way home. Again, it showed that you don’t go unnoticed. Dinner was at a very nice restaurant, Red Wing, with cloth table cloths, low lighting and the help dressed in tuxes. The ice tea was outstanding and $11.16 (tip included) was reasonable.
After riding for 54 days I realized that the “drink” of the highway must be Mt. Dew. There seemed to be more empty cans and bottles along the road shoulder than any other drink.
Wednesday, August 5, 1998 - Day 55 - 100.6 miles - to Perry, New York.
We had a light rain during the night and woke to overcast and cool morning, but still humid. The hills kept coming. We decided to go off the Adventure Cycling route and head north to get around some of the hills. David mapped out a route that he had ridden in the past. I did notice that almost all the street signs in Western New York state ended with either the word “hill” or “hollow.”
Our State map showed old Hwy 17 along the river and through the Indian reservation. This would have gotten us from Steamburg to Salamanca from which we could turn north and pick up the Adventure Cycling route again in Ellicottville, all valley riding. We asked in the restaurant and were told the old road is still there. It was, but, the top layer of 2 inches was irregularly broken off, slowing us to an effective speed of 5 mph. After less than a mile we turned back and rode the hills. Our second strategy was more radical and more successful. David knew from a tour in this area last year (Philadelphia to Minneapolis), that the hills decreased in upstate NY. The Adventure Cycling route stays south until Watkins Glen, NY and then turns north between two of the Finger Lakes. It is undoubtedly scenic but we were ready for a sacrifice. We turned north sooner, leaving the Adventure Cycling route at Portageville, NY and headed north.
Our camp for this day was at beautiful Letchworth State Park, SE of the town of Perry, NY, where we had dinner. This state park is very well maintained. While our laundry was in process we sat outside and ate ice cream.
Summary
This week we rode 632.79 miles for an average of 90.4 miles per day. Over the past two weeks we rode through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. It took six weeks to cover the first 5 states and now in the last two weeks we rode in six states, there are only four states left. I also noticed that Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York had its unique personality. At lease, the front yards did with their decorations. Illinois and Indiana had deer, usually a pair. Ohio has geese, while Pennsylvania has the glass balls, of various colors. New York so far has silhouettes, the most common ones being of Amish and the man leaning against a tree with a pipe in his mouth. It was also noticeable that there were a high amount of American flags on the houses, farms and ranches of rural America. You could not tell if they were Democrats, Republicans or Militia, but they sure seemed to love their county.