Counting by Two

Last night, we had access to the Internet, but no time to use it. By the time I got around to writing my blog post, I was too far away from the hub, hence no post. So first, what I wrote last night. That is followed by today's info.

This WiFi thing is getting ridiculous. I’ll post this blog when I can, but again, it will probably contain two days worth of information. I’m writing at the moment from Vermilion, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. It was rather an eventful day for three reasons. First, we rode for 81 miles, which is starting to feel almost routine – especially with the tailwinds that we have been picking up as we get the lake effect weather. Last night, we were indoors at the home of a WarmShowers host in Bowling Green, Ohio, and once again, after we were all snuggly indoors, the heavens opened. At about 2 am, there was a thunder and lightning storm like I’ve never seen (or heard, for that matter). But during the day, the cycling weather is perfect, as it has been (knock on wood) throughout our journey.

We set out at nearly 9:00, and navigated our way somewhat haphazardly towards Huron and Vermilion. We went past the William Harrison park, which was significant because Ryan is related to not just one, but both of the Harrisons who were US presidents … Benjamin, and William. Also, it was Bryce’s 17^th birthday, so we had a coffee cake and ice-cream themed sox with breakfast, along with three sets of cyclists who had all shown up at the same WarmShowers house on the same night. A forth party was scheduled to arrive, but never made it. And yet another party ended up at a friend of our hosts. Little did we know at the time, but we would find out who that was later in the day.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Clyde, where Sherwood Anderson spent his formative years. Just as we were finishing lunch, we spotted two other touring cyclists, and we waved to them. One of them said, “Oh! Hello again,” and steered across the grass. Remember from an earlier blog how I had a chance encounter out in the middle of Montana with a cyclist whom I had contacted while researching riding options for this summer? Ron, the school teacher from Virginia? Well, here he was again, another chance encounter. Turns out he had been the one who stayed at the friend of our hosts in Bowling Green! Another chance encounter in another park in an obscure corner of America.

It was also the day I was scheduled to meet up with my old high school friend from Colorado, Dan Ferrin, who lives in Ohio and who happens to be an excellent wildlife photographer! We texted and played phone tag “where are you now,” and eventually Dan found us wandering on some obscure in the middle of nowhere. He snapped some pictures of us on the road, then met up with us in Huron during an ice cream break, then again at the Legion Hall in Vermilion, and at dinner. As a result, several very professional photographs will be forthcoming … as soon as we get some WiFi! It was great to see Dan and his daughter, who came along with him. Dan is also a Vietnam vet, so we had a lot to talk about … after all, it’s been something like 50 years since we last saw each other! We knew what each other looked like thanks to our Facebook friendship, but 50 years is a long time. Ironically, I think we have more in common now than we did when we were friends at Basalt High School back when we were closer to the age of our three youngest riders.

More tomorrow, and perchance some WiFi so I can send pictures and upload my blog.

August 4

Okay. It is the next day, and I am another 90 miles down the road! We rode from Vermilion to Geneva, near Ashtabulla. According to our spreadsheet, we are 2,854.5 miles from where we started (out of 3,521.3 miles) and we have just completed day 48 out of 59 days. Day after tomorrow, we will get our last day off!

The ride today was brutal. A majority of the day was spend working our way through Cleveland. The roads are not bike friendly, and they are very poorly maintained. As a result, we hit about 5000 potholes, had several near falls, and Ryan's front tire started bulging, and finally blew out. Fortunately, we were two blocks away from a good bike shop, and it was lunch time. While they mounted a new tire and inner tube, we had lunch at the burrito shop next door. They also pointed out that Ryan's pedals were just about to fall off. If they hadn't been replaced, he would have been stuck beside the road until Pat could get there with the support vehicle. It was fortuitous, perhaps, that he blew out his tire. 

It turned into a long day ... more miles than we expected, and a much rougher ride. Why would a state with a gorgeous shoreline not present that shoreline in the best light? Looking at the map, I expected at least 50 miles of bike trail. Instead, we got maybe two miles of decent trail. To top it all off, what we thought was to be our host for the night knew nothing about our coming, so we ended up checking into a Motel 6. Some days are just better forgotten. 

Back to yesterday. My friend Dan came through with some fantastic photos. 

First, we meet the Commander of the American Legion post in Vermilion, Ohio.

Wish we could have gotten all four of us in this action shot, where we were zipping along at around 23 mph out in rural Ohio, but don't think we can photoshop Ryan into the picture. Instead, we do our best rock band imitation below. Jonathan really wanted to stop for a visit when we went past the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, but it was already a long day.

So I think, instead, he will just have to contemplate Descartes (or maybe he was playing Angry Crows when this picture was snapped).