Day 4: How would YOU pronounce Bolivar?

June 18, 2024

OK. So maybe you're from eastern Ohio and know how the town's name is pronounced. Or maybe you're familiar with the pronunciation patterns in the area. But my original incantation of BO-liv-arrr didn't even come close to the actual BAH-liv-ehr. To all residents of Bolivar, I apologize. Oh, and I'll go on to screw up Cadiz OH by saying KA-diz instead of the correct Kat-iss. Go figure.

So what's this got to do with the ride? Well, Bolivar became my new destination for the evening because I put on extra miles yesterday, and staying in Massillon would end my day by 10:00a and I decided to opt out of the campsite "sweating on the sleeping pad" experience tonight and get a room instead. I found said room at a Sleep Inn in Bolivar, so it's 57 miles for me today, with a comfy bed, pool, and most importantly A/C at the end of the day.

Like many of these mornings I'm out before 7:00a to beat the heat. I clean & lube the drivetrain, and then I make my way onto the Holmes County trail so I can cross the roughly 22 miles of "Amish Paradise" which is the on-road section between Holmesville and Dalton.

Guess I should get used to it being hot & humid at 7:00 by now. I mean, it's not like it hasn't been that for the past 4 days.

This section is up and down and repeat. While it's not a mountain stage in Le Tour, it will entail going through a farmland area with no relief from the sun. Sun screen will be working overtime on this one.

The on-road section is a series of ups and downs. and it does through farmland so no shade-related relief. Plan is to get through this section early.

The hilly section goes through Amish country. Gotta admire how they've stuck to their traditions amidst the world technologically advancing all around them.

Don't know if this schoolhouse was still in use, but I found it fascinating the building on the left of the school were the boys and girls restrooms, detached from the original structure.

The plan to cross the barren hilly shade-less land worked. By 8:30 I was on the Sippo Valley Trail and some shade. Oh, and a wind-event which must have been super-local because trees were down all along the trail and trail crews were out in force cleaning up. A fellow rider stopped at a block in the trail and we talked about the ride. He was coming from Massillon and talked about multiple carries over trees on his way out to Dalton, and now the trail crews were cleaning up. So we chatted as beads of sweat poured off our brows before the trail crew took a break and allowed us to pass.

Yup. Can still lift and carry the bike, even fully-loaded. Of course I would have preferred riding through this section, but the tree prevented it. Gotta do what ya gotta do.

I run into another cyclist along the ride and he asks me where I rode yesterday. I told him about the 86-mile day from Easton Town Center to Millersburg OH. He responded, "Who! That's quite the haul. You put on some major miles" Whereas the front desk clerk at the hotel, when asking pretty-much the same question, responded, "Oh, that's not too far." The context the fellow cyclist knew about the challenges with the ride compared to the automobile driver who maybe has made the trip in a car with A/C while having no concept of hills was quite the experience.

I rolled into Massillon (pronounced MASS-i-lin. I think. I've heard it 3 ways, including MASS-i-lahn and ma-SIL-in) about 10-til-11:00, took a brief tour through the Massillon Museum because it was free and air-conditioned. I went through quickly because I was the only patron dripping sweat and didn't want to "stink-out" the other museum-goers. And I'll bet that I was the only person from zip code 30004 to visit the museum when the docent asked the question to input on her iPad.

As I crossed the bridge into Massillon, I rolled under flags erected not in my honor, but for fallen local servicemen and women.

I grabbed some Chipotle and wailed on a Burrito bowl and chips & salsa for lunch. It was a good chance to sit and rest for 45 minutes before continuing my trek on the towpath trail south and onto new trails and the first few miles to connect the OTET with the GAP/C&O.

Two older pieces of railroad stock, a caboose and possibly a coach car? This wasn't a museum so I'm not sure if it was just dumped here or there's a rail fan who lives in the house and wants to restore these.

I roll into Bolivar by 1:00p. Yeah, I know it's early but today wasn't a big-mileage day. The trail ends and I navigate to the Sleep Inn, which is of course erected near the highway exit. No matter. I realize we live in an auto-centric view of reality, and we're just traversing on bikes. Really, I do.

The towpath trail just before it leads you into the town of Bolivar.

Planned to spend some time at the Fort Laurens Museum but probably due to lack of foot traffic, or lack of funding, or both, it was closed. I could return 10:00 Wednesday, but that would conflict with my strategy of putting in miles early each day to beat the heat. Well, as much as possible it is to beat the heat. I mean, it's a losing game but the only way to bear it is to be out for as little time as possible in the highs of the day.

Closed at 12:50 on a Tuesday. But, they do open 10:00 on Wednesday long after I'm hitting the climbs early on each day to beat the heat. So I'll have to live with a virtual experience at https://www.fortlaurensmuseum.org

So basically, this ends part 1 of my trip since I detoured off the Ohio-to-Erie Trail (OTET). I compiled this in my OTET Days 1-4 video and now that you've read the book (journal) you can watch the movie at the link below. Oh, and make sure you use the HD 1080 setting - only the best quality for my cycle-touring friends.

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Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 296 miles (476 km)

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Bob DistelbergPaul, I’m reading this just before heading out for my ride today. Thanks for getting “Amish Paradise” stuck in my head. I’m sure it will accompany me throughout my ride today. 🙂
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2 months ago

Paul MulveyTo Bob DistelbergHaha - nothing like a good earwig to start the day. In the video, I even sing, "I churn the butter once or twice living in an Amish paradise". I have to sing off key and off tempo so I don't get tagged for copyright infringement.
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2 months ago

Larry MitchellPaul,

Enjoying the journal quite a bit. Have cycled the Little Miami extensively and have cycled the GAP and CnO as well. Your journal is showing me how to connect the mid section which might just need to happen next spring.
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2 months ago

Paul MulveyTo Larry MitchellThanks for the comment! Exactly what you're thinking about connecting the two is what I set out to do with this ride. I ended up with 783 miles over the 11 days. I'm about to write out the two days going from Bolivar OH to Coraopolis PA (basically, the Pittsburgh airport) so stay tuned. That two-day section is on YT at https://youtu.be/isY9koGon_U if you want to see what it looks like. I had to reroute it because of the closed bridge at Steubenville so I took the next bridge south along the Ohio River at Wellsburg. GPX of the entire route at https://ridewithgps.com/routes/46371730 if you want to follow what I did. Cheers!
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2 months ago

Gregory GarceauI'd have pronounced the names of both of those cities exactly as you did. Much to my embarrassment, I've mis-pronounced other town names when I've been there. Like Havre, Montana and Cairo, Illinois. (Haver & Kayro, not Hahv-ra & Ky-ro.)
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2 months ago

Paul MulveyTo Gregory GarceauI guess we'll just have to apologize to the residents until we stumble upon the correct pronunciation - enjoy the UP!
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2 months ago