My last of six days in Ohio!
Fueled the engine this a.m. with a bowl of oatmeal, brown sugar, and raisins, and a small cup of coffee. Don't usually drink coffee on ride mornings because it makes for too many pit stops, but I just craved it this a.m.
Note: My prescription glasses never arrived at Richard's house. We looked all day yesterday. They were very beat up with scratches and pits, so I decided to ditch them. Don't want to spend any more money on having them shipped somewhere else or home. Last night before the Boy Scout class, we stopped at a drug store and I bought myself a pair of reading glasses. They work just as well as the prescription pair.
After breakfast, Richard presented me with a small, very bright mag light, and then we went to the garage to air up the tires and hook up the faithful B.O.B. With his flag standing proudly erect, B.O.B. looked very spiffy. I had a little trouble pumping up the tires as it was difficult to get the pump nozzle far enough onto the valve, particularly onto the short front tire valve. Eventually we got it though, and I aired up the tires. Thank you again Richard for hosting me, for the flashlight, and for the expert work on B.O.B.'s flag and standard.
I got on the road about 8:15 a.m. My route today is to be OH- 84 (also called Bunker Hill Road and Ridge Road), a little-used route that runs parallel to but between OH-20 and I-90. Yesterday, Richard had showed me how to get to it from his house, so I was very quickly on route. When I left, it was overcast, 50F, with a cold NW wind. The water-cooled wind off the Lake produces a penetrating wind chill. But, I was comfortable in my windbreaker, the route was pretty, and I had a shoulder most of the time. However, my muscles were cold, so the first 5 miles or so were slow going. Felt like I was pedaling in molasses. I stopped once, convinced that the brakes were on, but alas, it was the engine and not the bike.
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| Scheduled route |
Between Mentor and Perry are miles of nurseries (see below), but no gas stations or other places for a pit stop. So, I pulled into the Perry Township Fire Department and used my past experience with Fire Protection Publications (FPP) and the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA) to gain entrance to the station restroom. Thank you Perry Township firefighters!
After the nurseries, there were miles of small vineyards and then fruit orchards. The road was up and down, and ran along a ridge. The vineyards were to my right and to my left was a valley with trains running through it. Why I wondered, do grapes do well when grown on hillsides?
There were a lot of garage sales going on along OH-84. This reminded me to tell you something that I had forgotten. Remember Historic Lincoln Highway (old US-30) the first transcontinental route in the U.S.? Well, I learned that in June they have a "Lincoln Highway Garage Sale Day." Garage sales spring up on either side of the highway all across OH and the other states this highway crosses. What fun!
At one point I noticed that I had accidentally turned off my computer. Darn. I had no idea how long it had been off, and thus had no idea of my mileage. Because of this I must have missed a turn. I stopped when I realized that the strong north wind was behind me and I was about to cross I-90 . . . again. I was still on 84 but did not want to go south, so asked directions and headed north to OH-20, a route I knew intersected 7N--the highway my Days Inn was on. Rolling into Conneaut 10 miles later, I realized that without my original directions, I had no idea whether the motel was north or south on 7N. I asked two young police officers who pulled up next to me. Day's Inn was south almost at the entrance to I-90. Yep. I got in some bonus miles.
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| A nuclear plant across the valley? |
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| Ye Old Tavern. I hate to see these old, wonderful buildings neglected and dying. |
Finally found the Day's Inn, which sister Sarah had reserved and paid for. It is in an odd location on "Days Blvd" tucked in a hollow below I-90 and not visible from 7N.
When I checked in at the front desk, Nora, said, "You must be Susan Walker."
"How did you know?" I asked, expecting to hear that I was the only bicyclist expected.
"You are the only woman we have checking in today," was the response.
Odd.
Thank you Sarah for my room and thank you Nora for the reduced room rate.
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