I
slept about five hours and was packing up my gear in the early morning
fog. I was overlooking the lake on a
campsite about the size of a Honda Civic and noticed a dead limb reaching out
of the water and shrouded in fog. It was
quite eerie.
I
began driving in the opposite direction I would be riding, heading west and
south back towards the mid-point of the state and the place at which I felt I
needed to find a safer route. I drove
through the tiny hamlet of West Unity and noticed a family diner open and
serving breakfast. I passed by and then
did a U-turn thinking I’d skip Bob Evans, my normal breakfast destination, and
look into the local diner. I wasn’t
disappointed.
I’ve
been reading a book called ‘Over the Hills’, which is written by Pulitzer prize
winner, David Lamb. He decided, at age
55, that it might be a good idea to ride his bike from his home near Washington
D.C. to the Pacific Ocean in California.
He began his trek with almost no conditioning and smoke and drank
throughout the ride. He got into shape
as he rode and took his time throughout his journey, spending almost every
night in a hotel and eating anything and everything. He did make a point of spending time with the
residents of the small towns through which he passed; getting their stories and
their views on life in their towns. I’ve
been thinking that I should do the same on Tour Ohio and then write a best
seller of my own…and if not a ‘best’ seller then maybe an ‘okay’ seller. Something that sells, at least.
I
went into the diner and found it populated by what looked to be a group of
retired men, maybe eight of them, sitting at a long table and just chewing the
fat. I sat nearby and listened in until
one of them asked if I was there for the garage sales.
“You
know…I was about to ask what that’s all about,” I said having noticed about
fifty homes with signs as I drove into town on US 127.
“Well
son, they have this garage sale up and down US 127 and they say it’s the
biggest garage sale in the world. Been
going on since Thursday and runs through tomorrow,” one of the diners
explained.
I
told them I was not there for the garage sales, though I love them, but instead
was laying out the cycling course for Tour Ohio. I’d brought a copy of the magazine article in
with me in the event I’d be able to tell someone about it and passed it off
telling them I’d be riding through in about 5 weeks.
“We’ll
all read up on this and maybe get smarter,” the diner said. I promised him I’d be back for breakfast when
I rode through. “And we’ll be here
eating and talking…just like we are seven days a week starting a 5 a.m.,” he
promised.
It
was exactly the kind of experience I was looking for and hoping to have all
over the state. One of the diners
mentioned the Fairgrounds outside of town and how they were pretty sure
cyclists occasionally camped there when riding through.
“They
let them do that?” I asked.
“Seems
no one’s there to stop them or really much cares,” was the reply.
I
spent the next 12 hours driving routes I hoped to ride. I managed to find more cycling friendly
roads, camping possibilities and other homey, small town communities all along
the route. I like the back roads for
riding, though one really needs to visit them before expecting to ride
them. I discovered one county road was
nothing more than some gravel between two fields of corn with grass growing up
through it. A sign that said ‘road
closed when wet’ led me to believe it wouldn’t make a good cycling route.
I
did have a relatively pain-free drive and was home in time to take Holly to the
Palace theatre for a showing of the movie ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. It was as bad as it had been when I’d seen it
thirty some years ago, and we left early.
Age does not improve lots of things.
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