Day 20--Decatur, IN to Delphos, OH

Saturday, May 5 2012

Faced with a short day--only 35 miles--I didn't leave Decatur until 9 a.m. It was overcast, thickly foggy and only 60F. My kind of day . . . until I turned east on 224 into the ENE 10-mph headwind.  Oh well, one can't have it all, all of the time. I'll take the cool and headwind over heat and hills--neither of which were encountered today. I turned on my helmet light, put on my jacket, and tucked my camera and electronics into a plastic bag in my handlebar bag. The fog was thick enough to be misting rain.

Morning fog blankets the fields and farms along the route

Just after I got onto US 224-E, Kent of Crankers Bicycle Shop, Lima, OH, called. Heel of hand to forehead! OMG! I had forgotten that I had changed my route so that I could accept his offer of an overnight on May 5--tonight! Kent had called me on the road way back when I was on my way to Nevada, MO.

Kent told me that he'd be working in the morning, but that he wanted to ride out and meet me when I got close. We talked for awhile, and I eventually decided to stick to my original route and turn down his offer. Unless you've done long bicycle rides, you don't know how mental a lot of it is. Last night I had mentally prepared for a short day, did not have the rest of the route to Lima mapped out, and couldn't get excited about adding 15 more miles to my day. Also, I'd had my bike serviced at Rick's Bikes yesterday and didn't need Cranker's offer of bike service. Kent understood and was fine with my not staying in Lima. Thank you Kent for the offer, and my apologies for being so forgetful!

I rode along trying to remember if I'd cancelled my reservation with the Microtel Inn & Suites in Delphos, OH. Decided that I had, and hoped they would have a room available.



I'd not seen this "School bus stop ahead" sign. It was in Ohio, though I have the Welcome to Ohio sign below.

About 9 miles out I crossed into Ohio. Ohio is my sixth state, if I've counted correctly. At first I didn't like Ohio drivers--they didn't pull out around me and passed too close. But that may have been morning commuters, because before long most were moving to the oncoming lane on the two-lane road. Or, their closeness may have been B.O.B.'s fault. He was dragging the flag low and directly behind, not waving it out into the road.



Simple welcome sign to my sixth state

I passed through the usual vast fields and farms. Seems that nearly every one has a big pile of clematis around a pump or some other structure. I took the clematis pic below as a representative selection.



Many of the houses I passed today had wonderful falls of clematis climbing some structure or other

When I got to Van Wert, I bicycled to a large McD's for breakfast--no breakfast was available at America's Best Value Inn. McD's was packed, and the orders backed up. By this time it was 10:30 and I wasn't sure how long they continued to serve breakfast. Finally got my order of pancakes and o.j. and took it to the back of the restaurant where the kid's playground was so that I could keep an eye on my bike.

I don't give up easily. Here I am again attempting to show you the large areas that homeowners mow, and not with a farm tractor, either, but with simple riding mowers.

There were a lot of people at the fairgrounds when I passed it later, so I think that this may have been the reason for the backup at McD's. I spent at least an hour in VanWert, and then continued on OH-116S which became OH-697E. What a relief to turn onto OH-115S . . . but I had only 6.5 miles on it.


Texas longhorns enjoying some tall grass in Ohio. Is that a calf on the left? I hope not.
How would it nurse with those horns?

There were some great houses on the way into Delphos--old, two-story brick. The photo below wasn't for the house, however. I took it because of the name of the chiropractor. Too funny.

Grone Chiropractic--the name says it all

When I got to Delphos I asked a guy mowing grass to point the way to the Microtel Inn & Suites. He had his recumbent parked nearby and told of the club ride this morning and the difficulty of riding into the headwind.

I arrived at the Microtel--the only motel in Delphos--at 2 p.m. I asked the front desk if they had a single room available. They were booked solid. Geez Louise. I would have to make a groveling call back to Kent and punch into the headwind for another 15 or so miles to Lima. I asked the front desk to please check to see if I had cancelled. I guess sometimes it pays to be forgetful: I hadn't cancelled my reservation!

I was given a room on the third floor. Had to dismantle B.O.B. and run the bike and then B.O.B. to the room in two elevator trips. As I was exiting the elevator with the bike, a guy stopped me and wanted to talk bikes. Said he had taken his bike out for a ride this morning but when he couldn't get over 5 mph into the headwind, he'd decided not to ride. This made me feel good. I had averaged 9.8 mph into the headwind and my max speed for the day was 15 mph.

Tune in tomorrow. Tomorrow, BTW, will be day 21--the halfway point of the 42-day ride.