Friday, July 13, 2007

Riding through Gettysburg...Ohio? Day 40







After riding on the “National Highway” (i.e. Rte 40, which is now paralled by Rte 70, and which runs to Washington D.C.), we travelled more rural roads through western Ohio today. I had read that Indianapolis (and Indiana) had the most polite drivers in the country, and my experiences confirm this. We rarely heard a car honk, or had a car or truck drive closely to the cyclists because they were irritated that we were on the side of the road.
We reached the “Welcome to Ohio” marker just 2 ½ miles into our ride. Pictured are Rick, Howie, me Philippe, and Tom. The scheduled route was 105 miles, but all riders got to go even further today! A bridge was out about 78 miles into the ride, and it required a few tries for some of us to find our way around. The second photo was taken when the “first detour” took us back to the missing bridge (on the “wrong side”. Road crews were busily at work there. As you can see, the stream is not wide, but the water was fast moving and was over 5 feet deep in the middle. The crew member I spoke with said that there was no way to walk across within at least a thousand feet of the road, on either side. So we took a second, longer, detour and finally got around that missing bridge. We had good maps provided by AbB—there were just no nearby stream crossings. The two detours added over 10 miles to my trip, so I ended up with 116 miles today. Fortunately we had a strong tailwind, so I reached the hotel by mid afternoon with some of my fellow riders. However, it will probably be a few more hours until all the riders get in today. We heard that some folks missed a turn earlier in the day and rode several additional miles. Should be some good stories at (our late) dinner tonight!
We passed through what was supposed to be “Gettysburg, Ohio” today as well. There is no town, and no clear collection of houses. Several roads with names like “Gettysburg-South Eastern Rd” and “Covington-Gettysburg” road converged near the sign shown above, so apparently at one time that area was called “Gettysburg”.
We continued to see lots of corn and soy beans today. The soy beans in Ohio are much less further along than the ones we saw further west. The corn height varies tremendously, just as it does in Adams County, depending on when it’s planted, how much rain falls, etc… A few weeks ago TIME magazine ran an article which reported that 90.5 million acres of corn have been planted in the U.S. this year—up 15% from last year. No one on this Cross Country Challenge ride would disagree!
As we’ve ridden east, we notice that the farms are smaller and closer together. There are also many more dogs along the roads, and several times they have run out when the riders go by. It is always a concern, since a bike which hits a dog can throw the rider. Several cyclists have a real fear of dogs along the road for this reason. Hopefully we’ll get to New Hampshire without any “dog trouble”.
Tomorrow is another 100 plus mile day, and the hills of eastern Ohio come into our route. It should be fun and challenging.

3 comments:

J G Kramb said...

Go, doc, go!

I enjoy reading your accounts of the trip. Look forward to seeing you back here soon.

How would you like to make a presentation to the Rotary Club about this adventure?

JGK

Dave's Cross Country Bike Ride said...

Colonel

I'd be happy to make a presentation to the Rotary Club. Is my "Dear Ole Dad" behaving himself there?

Unknown said...

Just read an article in the July 16th GB Times. Peddle a couple of miles for me.