I set off from Angelo's early today at 7:30 and not long down the road stopped in a McDonalds to use the wifi and have breakfast (of note, McDonalds breakfasts have gotten no better, eurrgghh!). Whilst there, I got a whatsapp message from home; my family and grandparents were having lunch in Fortnum and Masons in London!
After updating the blog a bit more,checking my route and the weather for the day, I got chatting with some retired truckers who had stopped for breakfast. One guy, I think he said his name was Jerry, wanted to tell everyone in the restaurant what I was doing and told me all about how he went fishing in Fremont a lot. It was nice to have gained another fan!
I got on the road and after only a handful of small hills on the way to Medina, the rest of the day was pretty much flat. This whole area used to be a big lake after glaciers of the last ice age retreated, leaving the ground very flat and fertile, so there is a lot of farmland surrounding the road. Because of this, you also get a lot of cross-winds in the cleared sections, but not enough to knock you off your path.
In the middle of nowhere a stack of arena style seating rose out of the ground. It was a drag strip where they were running a learn to drag race academy day. The gate was open so I snuck in and watched a couple of races from a fence behind the start line.
A while down the road I reached the biggest town along the route, Norwalk, where I left the highway and joined a compacted gravel bike trail to take me to the next town. It probably didn't do my new tyre much good, but at least I was.away from the trucks for a bit.
At the end of the trail I was in Bellevue, and before getting back to the highway I found my way blocked. By a train. That was a mile long. I had to wait for around 10 mins whilst carriage after carriage rumbled by, being pushed by 3 locomotives! I've never seen a train that long before! The roads around this region seem to be criss-crossed with railroad crossings, bumpy for the road bike!
After I got back to the highway, it was a straight line downhill into Fremont where I found the motel around 4:30, fairly early! This gave me time to Skype home before they all went off to bed. Then after showing I went over the road to a find some food. I felt something Chinese and found 'Mr Wang's Buffet'. 3 plates of main, 1 of dessert and an unlimited drink for $11 sorted the hunger right out! The fortune cookie gave me a smile too: 'You will soon take a very pleasant and successful trip'.
Miles today: 95.8
Total miles: 628.5
After updating the blog a bit more,checking my route and the weather for the day, I got chatting with some retired truckers who had stopped for breakfast. One guy, I think he said his name was Jerry, wanted to tell everyone in the restaurant what I was doing and told me all about how he went fishing in Fremont a lot. It was nice to have gained another fan!
I got on the road and after only a handful of small hills on the way to Medina, the rest of the day was pretty much flat. This whole area used to be a big lake after glaciers of the last ice age retreated, leaving the ground very flat and fertile, so there is a lot of farmland surrounding the road. Because of this, you also get a lot of cross-winds in the cleared sections, but not enough to knock you off your path.
In the middle of nowhere a stack of arena style seating rose out of the ground. It was a drag strip where they were running a learn to drag race academy day. The gate was open so I snuck in and watched a couple of races from a fence behind the start line.
A while down the road I reached the biggest town along the route, Norwalk, where I left the highway and joined a compacted gravel bike trail to take me to the next town. It probably didn't do my new tyre much good, but at least I was.away from the trucks for a bit.
At the end of the trail I was in Bellevue, and before getting back to the highway I found my way blocked. By a train. That was a mile long. I had to wait for around 10 mins whilst carriage after carriage rumbled by, being pushed by 3 locomotives! I've never seen a train that long before! The roads around this region seem to be criss-crossed with railroad crossings, bumpy for the road bike!
After I got back to the highway, it was a straight line downhill into Fremont where I found the motel around 4:30, fairly early! This gave me time to Skype home before they all went off to bed. Then after showing I went over the road to a find some food. I felt something Chinese and found 'Mr Wang's Buffet'. 3 plates of main, 1 of dessert and an unlimited drink for $11 sorted the hunger right out! The fortune cookie gave me a smile too: 'You will soon take a very pleasant and successful trip'.
Miles today: 95.8
Total miles: 628.5
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