Where the buffalo roam...

Saturday, February 16, 2013

After my traditional breakfast of cereal and a banana, I hopped in the Jeep and began my drive to the Youngstown area to pick up the ‘Tour Ohio’ bike course and consider some changes before trying to extend the route to south to Martin’s Ferry on the Ohio River.  As I drove through Warren, the snow returned and I wondered if I’d be missing another day of mapping to foul conditions.  Since snow was not in the forecast, I drove on hoping it would pass.  For the most part, it did.

I’d picked a secondary route south of Poland and while driving south on State Route 170 south, was shocked to round a corner to find a herd of bison grazing in a fenced in field immediately adjacent to the road.  I pulled over to make some notes and take a picture just as John called.

“Dude…where are you?” he asked.

I explained in some detail before he cut in.  “Why didn’t you call me to come?”

“Well…I called yesterday and again this morning, but you don’t answer the damned phone,” I said.

He offered some lame excuse about phone not working…blah…blah…blah…but finished by saying he couldn’t come anyway because of this or that commitment.

“So exactly why are you giving me shit about not calling you then?” I asked while forcing him to commit to joining me in two weeks when I planned on returning for another Saturday of mapping.

I spent the next several hours driving the back roads of between East Palestine and Wellsville.  I’m looking for roads that are ideal for cycling with road bikes, which is to say smooth surfaces, decent shoulders, two-lane, and without raging motorists.  Oh…and with camping, small towns, scenic vistas, grocers, bed and breakfasts, and a bicycle shop thrown in for good measure.  I was not surprised to find that I couldn’t find much of what I wanted.

I was particularly having trouble taking my route from East Liverpool to Martin’s Ferry while staying true to keeping it close to the boundary of the state.  The main road running along the border is State Route 7, which changes from a two-lane to a four-lane expressway below East Liverpool.  There is no other direct route through that area, which is okay if you know the local roads from years of riding them, but I don’t.  I’d google mapped the area ahead and thought I’d had a solution only to find that most of the roads marked ‘Township Highway’ was an indicator that they were more like back country dirt hiking trails suitable only for four-wheel vehicles or mountain bikes.  They were also something a mountain goat would struggle climbing.

I have to admit that the hilliness of this portion of the state surprised me.  Though I’d driven through it before on my way to Wheeling, West Virginia, I’d forgotten.  I’d be coming through this segment on days two and three of my ‘Tour Ohio’ and I needed to consider that I’d likely be traveling a lot slower since I’d be loaded with gear.  I’d need to look for alternative camping sites and give special consideration to bike repairs since there would be little civilization through many miles of riding with poor cell reception as a bonus.  Enlisting a sag wagon might not be the worst idea in the world and something I’d have to revisit as the route planning became firm.  In any event, I did not find an appropriate route through to Martin’s Ferry and knew that I’d have to go home and do more google map research before returning for another look.

On the drive home, Holly called to tell me we had dinner plans with family at Champs.  After ten hours on the road without food, I pulled in the driveway sore and hungry.  After 10 minutes, we were back in the car and heading to the restaurant.  It was a good get together because it included family members I planned to abuse for help during ‘Tour Ohio’.  My brother and brother-in-law were in charge of accompanying me on the kayak portion in either a power or a sail boat so I’d have water support.  My sister would be representing ‘Spirit of America’, the boating safety program she headed that planned to have kids along on the kayak segment.  She was also my liaison to the Coast Guard and the Lake County Metroparks for support.  My nephew would be accompanying me on most, if not all, of the trip depending on his work schedule.  He’s a Maintenance Chief for Great Lakes Shipping and is on a large cargo vessel on the Great Lakes for extended periods of time, but is planning to be with me by scheduling time off.  I ate ribs and fries and we headed from there to East Coast Custard to finish up the consumption of hollow calories.  It was quite a day and it did not include exercise.