Day 25 - 7/2/16 Toledo to Delta, OH

Today was a particularly short ride even with a 6 mile round trip from Sarah and Howard's place to the Toledo Farmers Market.  I met a guy named Drew when I first got to Toledo.  He saw my bike outside the coffee shop I was in and he offered me a place to spend the night immediately.  After telling him about my warm showers hosts in Toledo, he told me about his delivery/catering service he executes on his bike.  

I was finishing up one of the Holey Toledough donuts I got at the coffee shop where his wife works when he told me his friend is the one that makes them.  Drew told me I ought to go to the farmers market the next morning to meet Chris, the chef behind Holey Toledough donuts.  More donuts?  Of course I planned on going.  Chris was very interested in my bike journey and gave me a t-shirt right away to wear on the road.  Yesterday I only had a glazed donut from his kitchen but today, I got a beautiful boysenberry and cream for the road.  Even after this 6 mile detour, I still rode less than 35 miles to Delta today.  

I'm staying with Gail and his son, Gail.  I met older Gail in Geneva, my first night in Ohio where we stayed at adjacent campgrounds.  He didn't hesitate to invite me to stay with him when I got a little further West.  Sure enough, I'm here now.  Not only do I get to stay with Gail, I also got to meet his parents and one of his sisters while we celebrated his niece's birthday. 

They were all a wild bunch that asked me lots of questions about my trip but also traveled down memory lane so I got to hear all the funny and embarrassing stories of Gail and his sister, Trudy when they were younger.  Gail's parents live just a few miles from his house and on the short ride home the 2 Gails and myself stares in awe of the evening sky streaked with pink, purple and gold.  

We had a nice bon fire in his backyard and listened to all the fireworks his neighbors lit off for the next couple hours.

 Even though it wasn't my family and friends, it was nice to be part of someone else's celebration for the holiday weekend.

Day 24 - 7/1/16 Fremont to Toledo, OH

It feels like the perfect summer evening.  The house is still holding onto the heat of the midday so I'm out on the front porch feeling a cool, gentle breeze on my bare feet and listening to the light twinkling of the wind chime.  

The remaining rays of sunshine are caught in the leaves of the tree in the front yard.  

There's not much else to say, this is just the summer day ceremony, watching the light dim and the colors change while dogs bark and lawnmowers hum in the distance.  I'm getting used to homes not being my homes but still feeling like home.  

Like wearing someone else's well-worn t-shirt, you know it's but yours but you would wear it if they let you keep it.

Day 23 - 6/30/16 Oberlin to Fremont, OH

Yesterday, a lot of things were up in the air and today, I got to see where they landed.  I woke up on Alizah's couch and eagerly waited for 10:00am to roll around so I could try to get a diagnosis from Swerve, the bike shop in the center of town.  I was hoping with all my heart that if I needed a specific part they'd have it and put it on without charging me a thousand bucks.  After a bit of trial and error while I waited like a loved one waiting outside the operating room, Joe had fixed the problem– almost.  My chainrings were quite worn down so he replaced those with a used part but, the teeth on my cassette were too worn down to call it fixed.  He didn't have the right part at the bike shop but was able to Frankenstein a piece together so I'd have at least one strong gear that could get me 20 miles to the next bike shop.  I couldn't thank him enough, especially when he told me I only owed him 10 bucks.  

Things were landing right where they needed to.  Alizah met me at Swerve and was just as excited about the results.  We headed back to her place where she made me some lunch before I packed up and left for Norwalk, the next closest bike shop.  I met another Joe here who actually referred to himself as the bike doctor.  He didn't say much when I met him, just squatted down, started counting the teeth on my cassette and went to work.  Within 15 minutes, he was done.  I barely got to look around the whole store before my bike was ready.  He only charged me for the parts, not the labor as Joe feels it's his duty to take care of touring cyclists.  

Before I knew it, I was back in the sunshine out on the bike path riding a bike that felt brand new.  I spoiled myself for the night and got a motel room in Fremont.  

I mostly did this because the weather is supposed to be not so nice in the morning and after all the running around getting my bike fixed I didn't want to have to figure out a spot to stealth camp and wake up in the pouring rain.

 

 An overall amazing day, I'm so excited to keep riding knowing my bike is that much stronger now.  Just a couple more thousand miles to go.

Day 22 - 6/29/16 Elyria to Oberlin, OH

I did not make it as far as I hoped today.  But today was a day that challenges the idea that coincidences are just coincidences and not something more meaningful.  I wantes to stop by the bike shop in Oberlin on my way to Bellevue but, oddly enough, Wednesdays are the only day they're closed.  I thought any small issue with my bike can wait til the next bike shop.  So I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee and catch up on writing before I set out for Bellevue.  In the coffee shop there was a flyer for the Oberin Bike Co-op that would be open later tonight.  

I didn't wait to wait around and fall behind a day but in my head I was reassured there would be a place to go if my bike decided not to cooperate.  So, fast forward 8 miles or so and I realize I have a stiff link in my chain.  I end up breaking it while trying to fix it and after I get my hands covered in grease, a girl rides past me on the bike path, slowly turns around and asks if everything is okay.  I show her my hands and my broken chain and she says, "oh, I can help you!  I work at the bike co-op."  I felt like I had been saved.  

Alizah helped me reconnect the chain and get it back on the bike but then she said she could give me a new chain if we ride back into town.  I couldnmt say no, I figured a new chain would really help me ride smoother.  So we cruised back to the co-op.  As promised, she helped me put a brand new chain on, gave me a PBR, then she left to go eat before having to come back to the co-op for work.  It was about 5:00pm when I decided to head for Bellevue.  I had plenty of time to get there before the sun went down.  

But after a few pushes on my pedals, the same issue seemed to be present.  I rode around the block to see if it would fix itself with no luck.  When Alizah went back to the co-op at 6 she found me still sitting there.  After brainstorming and scratching our heads while she helped a few other kids and students fix their bikes, I knew I was going to be here for the night.  I'm hoping the bike shop has some insight into the problem when I go there tomorrow.  

I'm so lucky to have met Alizah.  Not only did she get me back to town but she also offered to let me stay on her couch for the night.  It's amazing that she found me stranded on the bike path because I was traveling in the complete opposite direction she usually travels on her joy ride.  Chance and coincidence are funny things.

Day 21 - 6/28/16 Chesterland to Elyria, OH

Today was my latest start yet.  I didn't leave Chesterland until 1:00pm.  I was totally fine with that though.  Mary Kay stuffed me full of stuffed crepes and then she even rode the first 18 miles with me to Cleveland.  It's really nice to have a riding buddy.  It reminds me of when I was younger when all my friends and I would just ride around with no real place to go.  Cleveland was not my favorite place to ride.  

There were no bike lanes in the street so I found myself riding on the sidewalk a lot where I was dodging broken glass like some kind of video game.  I also got stuck at more red lights today than in all my days of riding on this trip.  After breaking out of the city, the scenery gently faded back into the farmland that I've become familiar with except, now it's as flat as a bowing alley. Elyria was ny destination to stay with Larry.  

What a guy.  Another kind soul I can add to the list I've met in Ohio.  Larry is 73 years old and lives with his cat, Opie.  He may seem like your typical retired man but Larry actually rode his bike across the country 4 years prior to me meeting him.  He did his cross country ride with a group of 19 in some sort of guided tour where meals and sleeping arrangements are prepared and a few vans actually carry the luggage of all the riders.  

Because they got to ride unencumbered, this group of 19 were crushing between 80 and 100 miles a day and they made it from California to Delaware is 45 days.  As a fellow vegetarian, he took me out for an incredible dinner of tofu steaks in Oberlin, yet another rural college town that resonates with my heart the same way Amherst, Massachusetts does.  On the way we listened to Simon and Garfunkel and found out how similar our taste in music is.  Later, Larry told me about all the cycling clubs he's belonged to over the years and how bicycling has been embedded in his life since he was just a teenager.  

My eyes just keep opening wider and wider to all the wonderful things cycling can bring into a persons life.  I just want to say to anyone even considering any length of a bike tour to just go out and do it.  For me, in just 3 weeks, it's been an experience I will never forget and I still have thousands of miles to go.

Day 20 - 6/27/16 Chesterland, OH - Day Off

When Mary Kay offered to let me stay another day, I couldn't resist.  It's been hard to catch up on sleep when I've been meeting such great people and staying up too late with them and waking up and doing it all over again.  It's also going to be in the 90's again today, really terrible weather to ride in especially when there's a lot of humidity too.  Yesterday was about the same.  

There were times when I would take a short break and the sun was just so damn oppressive when I stopped moving.  Aside from being able to rest up, I really like this place and the people that are taking care of me but, I can't wait to keep moving to see who else I might meet.

Day 18 - 6/25/16 Erie, PA to Geneva, OH

Ohio is the last of the states I've already visited before this trip.  Once I'm out, it will all be new.  The Midwest is going to be interesting.  I hear there's a lot of nothing out here, especially since I won't be venturing into the bigger cities, at least I don't think I will be.  

I got my first flat tire today.  It took me 800 miles to finally hit a nail that popped my tube.  And I was only 2 miles from the campground.  Oh well.  I was kind of excited when it happened though.  I felt like I was getting too lucky.  Something bad was bound to happen so I'm glad it was just a flat.  

I busted out the tools and a spare tube and 30 minutes later I was at the campground.  For once, there's actually a lot of people here.  Mostly RVs but, a handful of tent campers as well.  My neighbor already invited me over to enjoy his fire with him later, I would've done the same thing if I had brought a ton of firewood as well.  It's good to be good to your neighbor, no matter how long you're neighbors for.