Day 44: Avery, OH to Grand Rapids, OH

June 25, 2008

82.34 miles, 6:02:06 Ride Time, 13.64 Average Speed, 24.15 Maximum Speed

The sun was out after my late, 9:30-ish start, but, as several people helpfully informed me, the forecast was for thunderstorms in the afternoon. "You're gonna get wet today!" I certainly never get tired of hearing that.

The first several miles were on perfectly straight, perfectly flat Strecker Road. Nice and easy. Soon, I turned and rode past a "Road Closed" sign and in about a mile learned why the road was closed: There was now a lake where the road had once been. I turned around and headed back the way I came, when an old man flagged me down and proceeded to tell me, in detail, why the road had flooded, how much it had cost him to pump water away from his home, how unhelpful his congressman had been in resolving the situation, and many other things I've now forgotten.

I made my escape after about 20 minutes, and easily detoured around the closed road. It began to cloud up as I road into Clyde, where I stopped for some snacks, then started to sprinkle as I rode on a nice, paved bike path for 8.5 miles to Fremont (pop. 17,735 - home of 19th President Rutherford B. Hayes!)

As it started to rain harder, I escaped under a convenient pavilion in a park, and called my personal weather consultant back in Kentucky, who informed me that "two big yellow blobs with red spots in them" were heading my way. Those kinds of technical meteorological terms don't mean much to me, but they certainly didn't sound good.

I took a nap on a picnic table for about 45 minutes, woke to find that it was still raining, then put on the rain jacket and pants and rode off. For me, the anticipation of getting wet is often actually worse than riding in the rain.

I was on some very quiet back roads for a while, notably Staff Road, which eventually became almost as narrow as the bike path earlier, and caused me for a while to wonder if I had somehow gotten off the route and was on a driveway. The rain had stopped by the time I reached Gibsonburg, memorable (to me, anyway) for the orange water tower. I don't think I've seen one painted orange before.

I felt rejuvenated after the rain, and rode quickly to Pemberville (pop. 1,365), which had an IGA where I made a stop for granola bars. Around this time, I got a snippet of Willie Nelson's performance of "Columbus Stockade Blues" stuck in my head, and couldn't extract it for the rest of the day. I like Willie (who doesn't, really?), but I grew weary of "Way down in Columbus Georgia wanna be back in Tennessee, Way down in Columbus Stockade friends have turned their backs on me" over and over. This afternoon, that was the answer to the frequently asked question "What do you think about when you're riding all day?"

Rush hour traffic was heavy getting into the college town of Bowling Green (pop. 29,636), where I met John Hubbard, who had started in Oregon and was riding to Delaware. He is the first Eastbounder crossing the country I've met.

Later, outside of Bowling Green, I encountered another "Road Closed" sign, but this time I was able to carry the bike through mud and gravel and over a ditch to avoid a lengthy detour. Several 12-year-old kids looked on, no doubt impressed.

By now the sky was dark again, and I rode quickly to Grand Rapids (pop. 1,002). Mary Jane Thurston State Park, where I had earlier contemplated camping, was a mile or two out of town, but now it was thundering and starting to rain, so I abandonded that idea (also, I had called them earlier in the day, and learned that it cost $16 to camp, but there were no showers. I didn't think that was a very good deal).

I looked up to find that I was directly in front of the Mill House Bed and Breakfast, so I walked in and got a room, just as the downpour started. Later the rain slacked off a little, and I walked to a pizza place, conveniently located next door to the B&B. Despite the rain (which I avoided the worst of), a good day.

I've been able to ride through lots of "closed" roads. Surely this one won't be a problem?

A Scuba Center surrounded by miles and miles of cornfields?

These guys were camera-shy, and ran away as soon as I got off the bike.

This non-moving train was blocking the road for a while

It eventually started moving, but before that I *briefly* considered calling to report that it was stalled.

John Hubbard, riding from Oregon to Delaware

This time, I carried the bike through the mud and gravel, and over top of whatever that big chamber thing is. A group of 12-year-olds looked on, undoubtedly impressed.

The first of a couple of major downpours later in the evening

Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 3,183 miles (5,123 km)

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