Flats Can Be Tricky

August 28, 2005

Hebron to Bellefontaine

I ate some fine vittles from the Kroger last night. In Boston you do your food shopping at Stah Mahket and Stawp and Shawp. In Ohio and West Virginia you go to Krogers. I think it would be great if Stah Mahket opened up in Ohio. People would ask for a pop and get slugged. (Oh sorry, you wanted a tawnic. Aisle 4, ma'am.)

After another sumptuous continental breakfast (Who came up with that one? "Cheap, serve-yourself muffins and coffee" wouldn't be much of a draw in the ads, I suppose.) I readied my gear for another day of travel. With an early start who knows how far I'll go. I start to roll my bike out of the room and my rear tire is flat. I've learned that the best way to change a tire on a long recumbent is to unload the bike, take off the fairing and flip the bike upside down. Then remove the wheel and do the deed.

Today's rear flat tire comes courtesy of a very sharp little stone, probably flint, since I saw signs for Flint Ridge all afternoon yesterday. Some 45 minutes later I hit the road into a pea soup fog. Okay, maybe it was more cream of mushroom, but, whatever you call it, the visibility was only 200 to 300 yards. No problemo, hombre. I turned on my little red tail light and pedaled off on a two lane highway with a 55 mph speed limit. Thankfully Sunday morning traffic around here is very light.

As in 2003, I decided to skirt Columbus to the north. This was a difficult choice since the road to Columbus was achingly flat. The way north was a bit rolling and I seemed to have picked up a headwind. This continued as I made my way on a bike trail from Granville (home of Dennison U. high on a hill, like all small town colleges).

The bike path from Newark to Johnstown. Ever so gradually uphill.

Sure beats the hell out of yesterday, doesn't it? Note the oil well in the field.

When I reached Johnstown I stopped for refueling and talked with two local bicyclists. They told me that the bike path was a gradual uphill. So my 11 mph crawl was not caused by me losing it physically after all. They also told me that hotels could found in Bellefontaine, some 60 miles to the northwest. They also pointed out that Bellefontaine is very close to the highest point in Ohio, a topographical anomaly in this otherwise flat region. So what's another hill to the man who climbed Big Savage Mountain, right?

Fully refueled I hit the roads and picked up a nice tailwind. Soy and corn sped past at 17 mph. This was much more to my liking. Every 8 to 10 miles I stopped to top off my tank. The day so far was mercifully temperate with breezes and blue skies.

I sang "Sunday Morning Coming Down" as I rode. a good song and just about the only song about Sunday morning I can think of. Now you might think it more appropriate to sing a hymn on Sunday morning, but anybody who rides a recumbent bike across Ohio on a Sunday morning while belting out Faith of Our Fathers is going to attract some serious attention from the good folks at the nearest nervous hospital. And besides, I can sing Sunday morning better than Kris Kristofferson, who wrote it. For that matter, Milli Vanilli can sign it better than he can and Milli's dead. (Or is it Vanilli?) There are many more songs about Mondays but they don't have lines like "I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned." Except for "I Don't Like Mondays", but I digress.

I hit Delaware on the fly, stopping briefly for a Gatorade. For those of you bitching about the price of gas, keep in mind that it is still about 1/3rd the cost of Gatorade. Next stop Pharisburg where I guzzled yet another G'ade. As I rolled out of the pits, I noticed that the front end of the bike was wandering about as if I had imbibed bourbon instead of lemon lime at the stop. My front tire was flat. As it turned out a piece of wire, probably from a truck tire gone bad, had worked through the Kevlar belt in my tire. I changed the tire in a driveway and was soon underway again.

Kinda makes you want to get out the hammock, doesn't it?

Restored to full functionality (how I hate that word), Nellie carried Mike and me to East Liberty. I had hopes of refueling and taking a bio break, but East Liberty appeared to be closed for the day. I took the scenic route to Bellefontaine. It was very pretty and rolling for the first four miles heading north, then I turned west on route 540. I passed a couple of camp grounds on my way up but decided to continue on to Bellefontaine and maybe even beyond. About 1000 feet of climbing later I crested Campbell Hill the highest point in Ohio. It was never really steep, just unrelenting. My knees were not happy campers.

When I saw this tower, I thought I was at the top of the hill. No dice.

I zipped downhill into Bellefontaine and stopped at a Subway for directions to lodging. I ate, too, of course. I misunderstood the directions, thinking the counterperson had said Main Street when he said Hayes Street. This required a second stop at a Dairy Queen. Some locals set me right and we talked about the trip over some soft serve ice cream. I kept my distance during the conversation, knowing that after nearly 90 miles my body odor would not enhance their eating experience.

A couple of miles later I checked into a Super 8 and hit the shower.

I am looking forward to some Advil and ice water tonight and many flat miles tomorrow.

Today's ride: 89 miles (143 km)
Total: 600 miles (966 km)

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