Day 39, Sandusky rest? day real post.

BEST: The ride at Cedar point that actually worked, and we got on as VIP's. It went to 120 mph as my brains oozed out my nose.

WORST: The rides that didn't work. Two of the pictures below of the wooden roller coaster and the steep rise of the metal coaster were take from the line just before they shut down.

MOST UNEXPECTED: Getting in free to Cedar Point amusement park as part of the biking group.

Last night we went into downtown? Sandusky and had dinner on the edge of Lake Erie. I had a great lakes pilsner beer while we waited for a table outside, and after sitting down the waiter recommended my dinner which was the Pinnacle sandwich. Basically shaved bits of sirloin with cheese and dipping sauce. I think we call this a French Dip, but Pinnacle sandwich sounds better. Because today was a rest day, I felt bold enough to order a second Great Lakes Beer.

After dinner, we walked to an ice cream parlor (Joes Sundae) and had dessert. I am still looking for Maple Walnut ice cream, but settled for a Butter Pecan ice cream Sundae for $2.65 (2 1/2 scoops of ice cream in this small size.). We took a shuttle back to the KOA which cost $3 per person but somehow was $2 going downtown. We did stop for more beer which was consumed back at the KOA, but not by your girly blogger who went to bed at 11:00.

I biked across the street for breakfast this morning to Jack's deli and had aa three egg omelet to get me started, and when I got back to the KOA at 9:50, I learned we were going to head to Cedar Point Amusement Park where we were going to get in for free as long as they took out picture with bikes. I changed my plans of going to the movies for a free day and quickly put on my swimming trunks, got my camera and got the second shuttle to the Park. We all caught up, got our picture taken at about 300 different spots outside the park before we finally got our passes to go into the park, followed our guide to the Dragster ride, and went to the front of the line and loaded up. As I mentioned earlier, the ride blasted out at 120 miles an hour, straight up a twisty track, straight down a twisty track, and deposited our broken down bodies back at the start. Great I thought, I am going to so nail these park rides.

Next ride was the wooden roller coaster that we waited for about a half hour before a drop of rain hit some magical sensor that shut down the ride. Next ride we waited for an hour and 15 minutes to get our senses scrambled, then up to the big roller coaster, winner of the best of all time as voted on by the CEO of Cedar Point. Waited for 45 minutes, then got into the final approach which was 15 minutes of standing in the blazing sun with 200% humidity because it did actually sprinkle at one point, and the ride failed. The word was that the mechanics were called, it would take at least 30 minutes to get there, and then who know if it would be fixed. Meanwhile, I was a puddle of sweat, so I and about 400 other puddles got out of line. At this point, I called it quits, and with four other riders we road back to the KOA where I jumped in the pool raising the salinity levels by 25%, and recovered with a Magnum ice cream bar and a Dr. Pepper.

The majority of the riders went to the water slide portion of the park, which makes me look like a larger doofus than I thought I was. They are still there enjoying the good life as I write this at 5:00, and all I can say is that I hope they are all sunburned as red as lobsters so I don't feel so bad on my experience. Remember, there is no such thing as a bad experience, even bad experiences are fun to talk about so they become good sources of future stories.

Note that the picture of the beer is for future reference because I really liked it even though it wasn't mine. I will have to try to find it if I survive the final week of this trip.

Day 39 bonus post

This is your quiz for today. Which saddle in the picture below best fits the bottom shown. Is it A. the white saddlel, B. the black saddle, C. both saddles, D. neither saddle.

The answer is;



If you answered A. you would no longer be sitting down and would be enjoying your later years sitting in an inner tube. C. is therfore also wrong. D. was correct for a period of time necessitating major surgery to remove me from my bike. However, I am happy to report that B. is the correct answer. You have won!

Day 38, Sandusky

BEST: Rolling into Sandusky alive and in one piece.

WORST: We had another rider fall down and broke her helmet, but she is okay.

MOST UNEXPECTED: I put my helmet down at the rest stop while I ate. When I put it back on, I had ants running off the helmet onto my glasses, face, and down my neck.

Another flat ride, this time of 88 miles. The weather was very pleasant, mild temperature for most of the ride, and a mild headwind. We burned through the miles and somehow here we are in Sandusky.

I can tell what direction we are headed, because when we first start, there is this big orange light right in my face which tells me I am going East.

The exciting part of the bike ride was traveling back to Fremont. Who knew I would be able to get home without flying. Coincidently, the sign also said Cleveland street which is the home town for the other rider in the picture.

My photo assignment was to take a picture of a dog who looked like its owner. Most of the dogs I see while riding are charging at me barking, and the owners are nowhere to be seen. Today I had a dog barking at me from about three feet away, and I couldn't tell where it was. I looked way down and saw some kind of terrier about six inches high with a bark that was bigger than its size. The owner actually looked like the dog because they both had faces. This is the only dog I could find in the KOA we are staying. The accommodations are air conditioned cabins which is AOK with me. Hey, that is an anagram of KOA.

We did not get lost today, which was a pleasant surprise, and I did not get in trouble which was another. The worst surprise is that we did not get ice cream coming into the campground, so I bought a magnum ice cream bar, and will have to make it up at dinner.

Once again the scenery was the same as always, but the houses in Fremont did look different than home.

Day 37, Bonaparte, ohio, (Napoleon)

BEST: TAILWIND! (finally)

WORST: The ride was too short. (Okay, nothing really happened today, so I made this up)

MOST UNEXPECTED: Rain for 50 miles.

There was a 30% chance of rain last night, but we stayed dry. Just as we were packing up, a few drops fell, but then we hustled over to a pavilion in the park for breakfast. After eggs, sausage and pancakes, we headed out on the road and went two miles when the heavens opened and it started to really rain. We quickly pulled over, put on our jackets, restarted our ride, and the rain stopped. The internal debate starts, Will it rain again so I should leave the jacket on, or should it get out of the jacket as I am starting to sweat inside. After two miles, the weather made up its mind and started a steady rain, and it did not let up for 50 miles. At this point I switched to a vest as an option accepting the fact that I was going to get wet, but at least it would be from rain and not from my gross sweat. We pedaled on without mishap, hit the lunch spot, and gradually the rain tapered off leaving everything wet that we were wearing. During this period, we did not follow each other very closely as we were throwing up some impressive rooster tails. We missed one turn and ended up with around 4 bonus miles, but the ride was so short at 70 miles, what was a lousy extra 4 miles. After we missed the turn and had to go back the way we came, we realized how it was that we were making such good time. The wind was strong in our face when we turned back, and when we got things right, we put up our spinnakers and ran with the wind.

We stopped for ice cream about 1.5 miles from our final destination at the County fairgrounds in Napoleon (after coincidently riding through Waterloo) and I had the Tuesday Turtle special. The lady serving the ice cream would open up the window above the serving window and ask what you wanted, then shut the upper window, then open the lower window to take your money, and immediately shut the lower window and if your fingers were still there, then you were now a three finger monte expert. When your ice cream was ready, she would open the lower window, shove out your ice cream, then slam the lower window again. Next person up started this all over again. .

Not much to report about scenery except we did cross into Ohio today. They did not spend much for the state sign as you will notice in the picture. The entering Napoleon sign is bigger, and they sure seem proud of their water polo teams although if you look at the dates there has not been much to be happy about lately. The picture of the courthouse is because it is on the National register, and the river picture just shows the river.

I haven't talked much about how my contact points with the bike are doing, and just let me say that they are doing.

The fan is working great, and I used it last night after I jumped in the shower and walked back to my tent to begin the sweating ritual. Tonight should be cooler after the rains, but the sun is peeking through just to say howdy, and poke fun of us mortals who will probably still be sweating tonight.

Day 36, Kendelville, Indiana

BEST: Solo breakaway from the group was a good time. The peloton was unsuccessful in catching me.

WORST: We had three riders crash individually at a railroad crossing.

MOST UNEXPECTED: Stopping at a check in point, meeting the owner of the property, and using his hoe to get mud out of my cleats.

I am outside wifi and 3g range, so pictures will have to be uploaded tomorrow.

Today was a 110 mile ride with very favorable conditions, e.g. flat and a tailwind. The first 20 miles included some showers and light rain, and the back of my jersey looks like a bike ran over me. From mile 20 to the lunch stop at 46, I led a group of 4 other riders and felt pretty good. I left the lunch stop without anyone, and had a great time of traveling by myself in front of the entire group. It was not necessarily better than riding with a group, but different, and I enjoyed the experience of being able to stop and take pictures when I wanted, talked to people, and cruised along as if I were crossing the country by myself.

We did travel through Amish country again and I saw numerous horse buggies, and their exhaust on the road. I did not take pictures of the exhaust because that is just plain gross. I chatted with a family (picture) who could have been anywhere in the U.S. where the dad was swinging his girl, the new puppy was running around, and wife was pregnant. I stopped for ice cream and a hot dog about 3 miles from our campground on the lake, and then rolled into camp. It is hot currently, around 91 degrees and sticky, and I previously jumped in the lake with my bike shorts on, then took a shower. Bike shorts do not look very good when they are wet; it looks like a full Depends.

One of the things I never get tired of doing, and I hope I haven't already blogged about it, is yelling at cows and having them all turn towards you. I continue to do this with the bovines, but the horses are like cats and really don't care if you talk to them.

I played roshambo with My youngest daughter Megan via cards she sent me, and I continue to lose. I think she is cheating.

Dinner tonight was from the local Chamber, and it was very nice of them to do it. The food consisted of hot dogs, pulled pork, salad, bags of chips, and cookies which were either chocolate creams, or vanilla creams (think oreos). I am currently hearing the horn from a train, somethings never change.

We did see some longhorns, and I will include pictures on this blog when I can get it to work.

My bike is making bad sounds again, so I worked on it at camp and hopefully nothing falls off tomorrow as we head to Napoleon, Ohio. We did lose another hour today, so we are now on Eastern time. So much for relaxing today. Hopefully tomorrow with a shorter ride distance, and no more time zones without falling into the Atlantic Ocean will give me more time for chilling out.

The old wood house dates from 1830.I also took a picture of a future Big Rider from the Amish community.

Day 35, welcome to the Hoosier state. (What is a hoosier anyhow?)

WORST: We had a massive detour today.

BEST: As a result we actually shaved a couple of miles off the route.

MOST UNEXPECTED: I realized I have only read one book on this entire ride.

Slept great last night, although a little too well as I did a KT (overslept). I hustled to pack and was not late, but got in trouble for biking over to the restroom across the grass without my helmet. I did make it to the restroom in time!

The ride was 86 miles of flat terrain, and we rode with great alacrity until we hit mile 17. At this point we ran into road construction and had to wait until a detour could be worked out. In the pictures below you can see the three of us who stopped first, the entire gang waiting, and the creative use of a gatorade bottle as a pillow. The reroute was pretty painless, and we entered Indiana State around mile 50. I say around because there was no welcome to Indiana sign. There was also no definition of hoosier sign because I believe nobody knows what the etymology of the word is. (pretty impressive that I got to use the word etymology in a sentence, twice). The roads went to Hades when we entered the new state, and my kidneys are somewhere back about 40 miles. We did see a cool lake, Cedar lake, with nice housing around it.

After the lake, we entered an area which was obviously farmed, but now supports newer large houses on ranchettes, and a few McMansions. My favorite barn picture was taken here showing what happens with gentrification of the farmlands. These rather impressive houses house Chicago commuters who do not mind missing half their lifetimes commuting.

We did a series of lefts and rights again much to my pythagorus displeasure. You may now ask "how do you know where to turn". Well my young grasshopper, we are given cue sheets which show the mileage to a given turn and a direction, plus added notes. Every once in a while a painted area with chalk paint is applied, but generally it is up to the rider to figure it out. Today there were a variety of interpretations by riders with the consequences of bonus miles for several.

We are staying at the Valpariso University in Valpariso of all places, and when we arrived we immediately went across the street to DQ (Dairy Queen for those new to the blog). A chocolate malt and hot dog later, we moved our bags to our Air Conditioned rooms and awaiting dinner in the cafeteria. Temperatures today were moderate in the 80's with moderate humidity according to the easterners in our group. As a westerner, I started sweating when I went to the bathroom this morning. Last night before going to sleep I went to the bathroom and took a cold shower, and by the time I got back to my tent I was already starting to sweat. My fan worked great until the temperatures dropped during the night.

A group of riders rode off to the theater today to see Batman, but I am taking the opportunity to actually read a book and finish this blog.

Tomorrow we will all write a letter to the Governor of Indiana suggesting he spend more money on the roads in this State. Then we get to spend 109 miles getting beaten up on what appears to be asphalt but more likely is a network of holes held together by an oil and rock mixture. I am told the roads are going to get worse as we go further east. I can't wait.

Day 34, another day, another century (Coal City, ILL)

BEST: Swim at the end of the ride at the Coal City lake resort.

WORST: Last nights sleep was horrible between the Friday night celebrating at the campground by the RV'ers, the hot and cold weather, and the really sick train engineer who really blasted us at 3:00.

MOST UNEXPECTED: Realizing that our really nice campsite in Coal City is about a quarter mile from the closest bathroom. This will be real interesting in the morning.

After a really crappy night's sleep, we left early (5:15) and embarked on a 106 mile ride. The conditions were good, slight headwind and really minor slopes, but I was feeling the effects of the lack of sleep.

I am finding a rhythm in my riding. The first 20 + miles to the first check in spot fly by without much thought, the 20-30 mile area require some thought but generally are quite doable. However the 30-55 mile area requires mental effort as usually the scenery is repetitious, and you don't seem to be moving forward. After 55 you are on the downward side of the ride, and the last 20 miles go by quickly. Today, I was real tired after 30 miles, not in my legs, but I was ready to take a nap. This is generally not a good idea when you are on a bike.

We did ride through a wind farm today and the props were turning. Again a slight headwind/sidewind/tailwind occasionally depending on the direction of the roads.

Your math lesson today: if they had diagonal streets rather than east-west and north-south streets we would have saved about 20% of the distance. For instance if you went one mile east, and one mile south, the distance for the diagonal would be 1.414 (square root of 2) So instead of traveling 2 miles I would have traveled 1.4 miles or a savings of 30%. This is the kind of mind games I play when going through miles of corn and soybeans.

The scenery today was same old same old, but I did take pictures of distinctive barns in this area with wood sideboards, vertical wood on the front, and a top with openings 90 degrees to the front. (pictures below).

When we got to the campground, the truck was not here. We headed to the beach on the lake and jumped in wearing our bike shorts (the women also wore their tops) and jumping off the diving board. We got back to set up our tents, and then discovered the showers/bathroom were on the other side of the state. I actually rode my bike with my backpack to the bathroom to take a shower. Of course once I rode back I was sweaty.

It is currently sticky (technical name for humidity) and warm (around 88.56 degrees) and I am not looking forward to laying in my tent and sweating. We have now ridden 200 miles in the last two days, and the next two days will add 190 miles. Today's ride was the third longest in mileage of the trip, and the day after tomorrow will be the second longest.

I haven't mentioned my gluteus maximus in some time, so be aware that everything is doing fine. Thanks to people who have commented on this blog. Although I don't have the time to respond to the comments, I very much appreciate hearing from you. I continue to miss my family and that is probably the hardest part of this journey. During the riding I am focused on not falling over, but when the ride is done I miss my family and my bed (in that order). The group of riders is very supportive and we get along like family including the squabbles that go along with that unit. Time to walk over to the bathroom in the other state.