June 26, 2008
Day 45: Grand Rapids, OH to Monroeville, IN
80.23 miles, 6:04:55 Ride Time, 13.19 Average Speed, 22.4 Maximum Speed
I had a good night's sleep in the B&B, and an excellent breakfast there - far superior to my usual gas station sausage-biscuit. The Mill House Bed and Breakfast is one of the nicer places I've stayed, and Grand Rapids is a nice little town.
The terrain was different today. Instead of the flat farm fields of yesterday, I rode along the Maumee River for most of the morning, and it was a little hillier than the last few days.
The sun was out most of the morning, and it was hotter and muggier than in quite a while, so I made an early Gatorade stop in Napoleon (pop. 9,318 - Girls Water Polo State Champs - 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. What happened after 1999? I'm guessing all the other schools cancelled their Girls Water Polo programs.)
As I entered Napoleon, I noticed a strange, unclassifiable odor - I've literally never smelled anything like it. It emanated from the Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup plant, but didn't smell like soup (it smelled like nothing found in nature), and would linger with me for days. In fact, as I type this three days later, I can smell it again. Great.
It was about ten miles to the hamlet of Florida, which, a sign informed me, was once called "Snaketown." There was a nice-looking library in the former "Snaketown", but, like many of the small-town libraries I've seen on the trip, it was closed in the middle of the day.
In Defiance (pop. 16,465) where I experienced the busiest traffic in a while, the following incident occurred: A lady in a bright orange PT Cruiser pulled around me, then turned into a church parking lot. As I rode past her, she got out of the car, and in a stern (I thought at the time) voice, called for me to stop. Oh boy. Was she going to tell me to "Get the F*** off the road", like the drunken woman in Geneva-on-the-Lake? No. After asking if I was travelling through the area, she handed me a twenty dollar bill and told me to get a nice meal. That was a first. Have I lost that much weight? Do I look like a hobo (I was wearing the shorts that were torn in the crash in Middletown, NY)? I protested at first that I didn't need it, but, not wanting to offend her, took it with a thanks.
The last thirty miles, as I approached Indiana, the skies grew dark and the headwind got stronger. I needed to be in Monroeville before 4:00 in order to pick up a package before the post office closed, and I began to wonder if that was possible - I probably shouldn't have wasted so much time earlier alongside the road, trying to take artistic photographs of weeds.
I encountered two separate road closures the last several miles in Ohio, and, not having the time to take the detours, I rode past the "Road Closed" signs and carried the bike through the mud and gravel.
The last few miles to Indiana, I was chased by dark clouds and lightning, but didn't get rained on until I arrived at the Monroeville (pop. 1,232) post office at 3:55 - just in time. I called Warren, a nice guy on the city park board, who directed me to my home for the night - inside one of the buildings at the park, which contained a cyclist-only bathroom and shower, and even a washer and dryer. I was impressed with this free service, and donated the $20, given to me earlier, to the park.
Later, after the rain stopped, I walked downtown to the "Whippy Dip", obviously a local institution, for dinner, then found a barber still open at 6:00 and got a haircut.
I had unluckily arrived on the night of the once-a-month meeting of the park board, so I went to sleep on the floor of the meeting room after they adjourned, a little later than I had planned.
Today's ride: 80 miles (129 km)
Total: 3,263 miles (5,251 km)
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