June 28, 2005

A variety of roads.

The ride out of Independence Dam State Park to the east is on a canal tow path that is used by mountain bikers and hikers. We could have gone back on the paved road that we came in on but Independence Dam State Park is a linear park that goes along the Maumee River and going back was about two miles. On the way out in a light rain Nick got a flat and I skipped over a root that scuffed up the sidewall of my front tire. To avoid a potential blow out at high speeds I replaced the tire with my spare at our first break. We should have taken the road.

Main Street, Grand Rapids, OH

The terrain is still very flat in Ohio. We paralleled the Maumee River going northeast. At Grand Rapids, OH we started going due east. On the way we were supposed to cross the river but the bridge was under reconstruction requiring a detour. On the detour route we crossed the river while riding on US Route 6 for about a mile. Rt. 6 is a four lane highway. Then we followed OH Rt. 110 for a few miles and then Rt. 110 was closed as it was under construction requiring another detour. The lines on the map we were using got littler and littler. At one point we were on a Township Road P3 which is well paved but not much wider than most driveways.

Bridge out - detour required

We stopped at a bike shop called Cycle Werks in Bowling Green for Nick to get a few more spare spokes. Tim bought a helmet with a bit more air flow as the one he was wearing was pretty hot and sweat was always pouring down into his eyes. On the way we got directions from the Donaldson’s who use the shop frequently. We met them when we stopped under the shade of a tree in their front yard to lather up with sunscreen. At Cycle Werks we met Lo and Gary, a pair of touring cyclists in there twenties who started in Rochester, NY and are riding to Anacortes, WA near Seattle. We exchanged information about the routes and places to stay and wished each other well. Dave at Cycle Werks put them up for the night (Way to go Dave!) as they had a mechanical that Dave fixed the next morning.

I mentioned to Nick in the morning before we rolled out as I replacing another broken spoke, that the next spoke he broke he was fixing since he saw me do it enough and should know how by now. In the mid afternoon he got his chance as “ping” went another spoke. With a minor amount of coaching he accomplished the task including truing the wheel after replacing the spoke.

Nick truing his wheel

We played a bit of out race the storm as a thunder storm was building in the late afternoon. We were doing quite well at it with the breeze from the oncoming storm pushing us along. I was running low on Gatorade so we stopped for about five minutes at a convenience store and we all got some. Bad move. We only got about three miles further when it started to rain. We pulled over to rain gear up and the skies let loose. It was too dangerous to ride because of visibility so we rode back about a quarter mile to a restaurant / soft serve ice cream parlor. We all ordered breakfast, as at second breakfast this morning we were a bit late and had to settle for lunch.

It’s still wet, clothes are pretty dirty and we haven’t had showers in a couple of days so we are staying at a motel with internet service. We stopped at around eighty miles as tomorrow we will be going through Cleveland and set up a distance that will bring us there late morning; well after rush hour which is much safer.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2005 - JNS