I got up a bit late this morning and went downstairs to raid the free motel breakfast. They had crunchy peanut butter! I made myself a couple of slices of toast for now and a peanut butter sandwich with some honey buns for lunch to take with me. Result!
The first 26 miles of cycling were dead straight and flat highway; more of the same lake bed I mentioned yesterday. Shortly after turning off the highway at Perrysburg, I hit a big bump in the road and had my first puncture. The tyre went down pretty quickly, "snakebite", I said to myself. Sure enough when I pulled the tube out I found the characteristic two holes where the it had pinched against the rim. Not too much of a worry though as I have a couple of spares with me.
Whilst out fixing my bike, a lovely Canadian woman called Hope stopped her car to ask if I was alright. She mentioned she was part of the local church and said if I needed anything I should just call in and ask. Soon after a woman called Diana came out of the church and told me Hope had called. I asked if I could wash my hands and she invited me in. She also gave me some orange juice and some nutty bread as a snack, and I explained about raising money for Macmillan. What wonderful people!
Perrysburg led into Maumee and to a paved bike path that runs parallel to the interstate. Here I had my first bike roadkill. A little chipmunk ran out of the grass on my left and before I could do anything I'd hit him. Sorry little fella.
I followed the very straight and very smooth bike trail (The Wabash Cannonball trail) until the paved section stopped, then followed the crossroad back up to the highway.
The rest of the journey was fairly boring; a straight line pretty much the whole way and very little in the way of hills. The flat road and almost constant headwind meant I had to pedal every mile of the 109 today, so it was surprisingly tiring on the legs! The weather was similar to yesterdays, with a bright but cold start in the morning, followed by a blast of hot sunshine around midday and then a few small rain showers in the afternoon.
About 10 miles before Angola the road mysteriously turned gravely and became quite hard to cycle on. A bit of bad planning on my part, but a little way down the road I realised why. This was Amish country and the loose gravel was for the horse and carts! I passed a couple of them on the road and also went past an Amish farm. All the men wore dungerees, had thick beards and wore wide hats, the women wore long frocks and bonnets. I felt like quite the outsider, almost as if I'd stepped back in time. They seemed friendly though, waving and staring as I passed by.
I made the decision to depart from the rest of my planned route and opted to join the US 20 earlier than planned as the gravel wasn't doing the tyres or my speed any good, and a short while later I made it to Angola and found my motel. At check in, the motel owners had never met someone from another country and asked if they could get a photo for their facebook (once their phone had charged!). The wifi was broken in the hotel, so I'm writing this in the local steak bar (whilst tucking into my steak and sundae!).
All in all, a fairly boring day of riding, but dotted with a few very interesting moments!
Miles today: 109.6
Total miles: 738
The first 26 miles of cycling were dead straight and flat highway; more of the same lake bed I mentioned yesterday. Shortly after turning off the highway at Perrysburg, I hit a big bump in the road and had my first puncture. The tyre went down pretty quickly, "snakebite", I said to myself. Sure enough when I pulled the tube out I found the characteristic two holes where the it had pinched against the rim. Not too much of a worry though as I have a couple of spares with me.
Whilst out fixing my bike, a lovely Canadian woman called Hope stopped her car to ask if I was alright. She mentioned she was part of the local church and said if I needed anything I should just call in and ask. Soon after a woman called Diana came out of the church and told me Hope had called. I asked if I could wash my hands and she invited me in. She also gave me some orange juice and some nutty bread as a snack, and I explained about raising money for Macmillan. What wonderful people!
Perrysburg led into Maumee and to a paved bike path that runs parallel to the interstate. Here I had my first bike roadkill. A little chipmunk ran out of the grass on my left and before I could do anything I'd hit him. Sorry little fella.
I followed the very straight and very smooth bike trail (The Wabash Cannonball trail) until the paved section stopped, then followed the crossroad back up to the highway.
The rest of the journey was fairly boring; a straight line pretty much the whole way and very little in the way of hills. The flat road and almost constant headwind meant I had to pedal every mile of the 109 today, so it was surprisingly tiring on the legs! The weather was similar to yesterdays, with a bright but cold start in the morning, followed by a blast of hot sunshine around midday and then a few small rain showers in the afternoon.
About 10 miles before Angola the road mysteriously turned gravely and became quite hard to cycle on. A bit of bad planning on my part, but a little way down the road I realised why. This was Amish country and the loose gravel was for the horse and carts! I passed a couple of them on the road and also went past an Amish farm. All the men wore dungerees, had thick beards and wore wide hats, the women wore long frocks and bonnets. I felt like quite the outsider, almost as if I'd stepped back in time. They seemed friendly though, waving and staring as I passed by.
I made the decision to depart from the rest of my planned route and opted to join the US 20 earlier than planned as the gravel wasn't doing the tyres or my speed any good, and a short while later I made it to Angola and found my motel. At check in, the motel owners had never met someone from another country and asked if they could get a photo for their facebook (once their phone had charged!). The wifi was broken in the hotel, so I'm writing this in the local steak bar (whilst tucking into my steak and sundae!).
All in all, a fairly boring day of riding, but dotted with a few very interesting moments!
Miles today: 109.6
Total miles: 738
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