Crusty Cassette

Thursday, May 29, 2003 posted by Steve Largent at 5:05 PM

As pleasant as the back roads of Ohio were, Indiana was better. The state has a reputation for being flat, but the route Chris chose for us was anything but flat. Although the general terrain is as flat as expected, our route took us from "spine" to spine". The spines are something akin to small mountains, maybe 500 feet higher than the rest of the ground, the tops are very narrow (the roads generally cover the entire "top" and the steep sides start at the road's edge). We'd ride the spine for a mile or two, drop down, across another flat area, and then climb another spine. The grades getting up the spines are STEEP! Anyway, we crossed Indiana entirely on county roads, and we were able to find camp sites regularly often by scenic lakes and county parks. In Brownstown, Chris was so tired he didn't want to ride 3 miles out of town to a campsite, but convinced the Fairgrounds to let us stay there. That forced a shower in the cold hose of which there have been several, but no nights without a shower so far! In Batesville, Indiana the mayor found out we were coming from the nearby Bedford Chamber of Commerce. On this rainy day she arranged with the Salvation Army for us to use their gym, showers, and sleep on the wrestling mats. They major was extremely gracious, taking us out for dinner, and even taking our cycling clothes to her home where she washed them for us. She called the local radio station which interviewed us.

A thief in Washington, Indiana stole my sunglasses (yellow lenses only as it was a rainy day) and mirror! Fortunately, he left everything else! We were just in a restaurant, but it was a good lesson to keep my stuff either locked or with me. I suppose it is a cheap lesson.

Illinois offered some great county roads too, and they were finally on a grid so I know which direction I'm headed without studying the maps! Ohio, builds its roads at any angle, even a 16th of a direction, I believe, and traveling all four directions of the compass every day and traveling all those quarter or less directions, I was beginning to think the sense of direction had died. Indiana's roads, outside of the spines, may be on a grid, but our direction was always toward the next spine! Wednesday (28 May) was the first real head winds we’ve had. We were glad to reach an occasional hill as it would provide some wind protection and allow us to get our speed up above 10 MPH, and the head winds never allowed anything above 9.

David Rejoins the group! After traveling on his own for a few days speeding down U.S. Hwy 50 with few stops, David called to let us know he’d like to rejoin the group. His departure amounted to little more than a side trip. Today (29 May) was a layover day in St. Louis and we are enjoying being back together, but I’ll save stories of how we spent the day for the MO section of the story!

Having a great time and hoping the head winds go away as we move west where a westerly wind is normal!

Happy Cycling for Fun, Fitness, and Transportation!

Friday, May 23, 2003 posted by Steve Largent at 10:32 AM

David suggested the library stop yesterday but was concerned how much time Chris took there updating the web site. David's one whose principal enjoyment from touring seems to come from getting up early and arriving early. Chris is slow in the morning and probably not a great time manager anytime. However, the route he chose, while it needed more work on distances between possible towns, camping sites, and some work on layover days, is excellent. Yesterday, while sitting in the middle of a road shooting a shot of Chris coming across a one-lane bridge, a car irriated me by driving up! That gives you some idea how isolated and enjoyable the ride is. Anyway, after the internet stop yesterday David hoped on a main state highway and got in early to a motel about 15 miles short of the designated meeting place. Chris and I plodded on; no day have we missed travelling all four directions of the compass. We got into town about 7:00 p.m., ate dinner, and cycled out to the fair grounds where we spent the night on a beautiful lawn. David rode down for breakfast and let us know he was putting in a century today and riding the main highways on to Astoria, so we separated. I'll miss riding with him and his extremely creative ways at finding places to stay.

Today's ride was over a "mountain" if 500 ft of climb and then down a narrow spine qualifies as a mountain. Some of the roads we've been on are about 12" wide! Great views and I really enjoy the country-side

posted by Steve Largent at 7:47 AM

I hope I don't repeat myself too often, but without some background it's hard to follow, so here's some background on the riders:

Chris put this ride together. He chose some great roads back one lane pave routes and county roads for the most part. However, he didn't do the easy part, a spreadsheet showing distaance between planned nightly stops! Chris started out in marginal shape for the ride and hates hills. He talks about them like Rosetti did two years ago before learning to LOVE hills. Although we agreed to ride an average of 60 miles per day, Chris would like to have a maximum ride of 60 miles per day. However, his strength is improving steadily. His self-image lags the improvements in his riding.

David is a strong rider. He rides a bit faster on the flats than I do, but is quite a bit slower on the hills. It's a bit like riding with Rosetti three years ago, except back then Corrie was faster on the hills than David is and Corrie had greater endurance. However, now after Rosetti's weight loss, Rosetti is faster than me everywhere!

The first striking thing about Ohio is the lack of a clean indoor air act. People seem to smoke anywhere and everywhere with no hesitation to blow smoke in other's faces almost like the 1960's in Idaho but not quite as bad as Europe. They'll light up anywhere even in a line to order food in a cafe!

Chris would say the next most striking thing about Ohio is the hills! Unbelievably steep, but generally short. The worst was a 1/2 mile hill as steep as McIntosh Hill with a corner in it that hid the upper half.

The rains that were almost constant in Maryland and Penn finally stopped though it did rain a day or two. David's son was graduated from college, so he broke off from the group for 3 days, missing the first 3 dry days! I made my first visit ever to my first cousin, Laretta Largent Fiorentino's home. Had a great time. They fed us an excellent dinner, and a breakfast that stuffed two big eating cyclists (sausage- an old receipt from Bob's Italian history, bacon, English muffins, eggs, coffee, pancakes, the fancy dessert we didn't have the night before). That put us well on our way to our 6,000 daily calorie consumption! Hope they don't think I eat that way everyday!

Getting into and out of Columbus was a bit tricky with moderate to heavy traffic in contrast to these wonderful county roads we've been on.

Yesterday, we found our first good- really good bike shop in Oxford, OH. Chris had "fixed" his derailleur when nothing was wrong with it, and it was performing poorly- both front and rear! His & David's chains needed replacing. David had too large spacers on his front rings, so the chain would get caught between the rings and sometimes make him say a bad word. The mechanic asked him if that was a problem! That's fixed as well as several other small things. The mud of the C&O & Allegheny Passage had eaten up everyone back brake pads.

Indiana is starting out great! We had tail winds yesterday and so far today (it's 9:30 a.m. and will soon be time for our 2nd breakfast). There are more hills here than I ever would have expected. bit the hills, patches of forest (deciduous forest), and patches of farm ground, and occasional winding draws along creeks make for great riding conditions.

We'd let the Crazy Guy on a Bike website suffer, but Chris is working hard at this library to update it though we have an 80 mile day planned with camping tonight. Having a great time and could write more, but that 2nd breakfast is calling!

Happy Cycling for Fun, Fitness, and Transportation!