Mid-Course Correction on the Way to Pittsburgh

     On Friday, we crossed our last state line, from Ohio to Pennsylvania. The 54-mile route took us by a historic landmark set by the first geographer in the US in 1786 and past massive nuclear and coal-fired power plants.
     Our planned route was along the Ohio river, and we thought that it was going to be a lovely road.  However, the road got increasingly busy and by the time we were 30 miles from Pittsburgh it turned into a limited access, divided, 4-lane highway, making for unpleasant and somewhat perilous cycling. So we pulled off at a gas station on route, where Peter pulled out his computer and rerouted us on nicer back roads. The new route was quickly transferred to our GPS units, and we were off and riding again along a pleasant route.  Despite the delay, we made it to Pittsburgh for lunch.

The state line entering Pennsylvania from Ohio

A nuclear power plant along our route

A massive coal-fired power plant along the route

Ever flexible, Peter devised a new route into Pittsburgh on his computer. We then transferred the route to our handlebar GPS units and continued on our ride.

Crossing the bridge to downtown Pittsburgh

Balanced Diet (of Sorts) Powering Us Across America

Cycling burns plenty of calories, so one of the joys of our trip is that we get to (in fact, have to) eat a lot. Our version of a balanced diet is to try to eat "healthy" food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and "junk" food the rest of the day. Based on our energy levels, it seems to be working well. On top of that, each of us gets to satisfy our "sweet-tooth" by eating lots of cookies and candies at our breaks on route and after arriving at our destination each day.

     Our route was all pre-planned months in advance, down to the selection of every road across the country – mapped on computer and transferred to our handlebar GPS units. The one thing we couldn't plan for was road construction, which we encounter fairly frequently. Usually it's minor roadwork, but occasionally we come to a "Road Closed" sign. We always ignore these warnings and manage to get through, sometimes with a major effort, as per the pictures below from Thursday's ride from Canton, OH to East Liverpool, OH.

A break for a diet soda and junk food

Some of our candy and cookie choices

Peter's a caramel lover

Boldly (? foolishly) ignoring a "Road Closed" sign

Here's why the road was closed: a bridge under construction

A plank to get off the far end of the bridge

Carrying a bike so we could continue along our route

A Visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

     On Wednesday, we cycled 55 miles through lovely Amish farm country in Ohio, from Ashland to Canton. Helped by favorable winds, we arrived in Canton in plenty of time to have some minor bike repairs done and then to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Canton has a special place in the history of professional football, as the American Professional Football Association, the predecessor of the National Football League, was founded there in 1920.
     We continue to be struck by how car-oriented and pedestrian-unfriendly the medium-sized towns are in Indiana and Ohio. We went to a restaurant about a half mile from our hotel, and without a car the only choices to get there were to bike on unbikable roads or walk on unwalkable roads. We chose the latter, walking beside a highway through weeds and dirt and crossing two multi-lane roads without benefit of pedestrian crossing lights.

An Amish farm near Ashland, Ohio

At the front entrance of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame building

The Historic Lincoln Highway

     Most of our ride on Tuesday, from Upper Sandusky to Ashland (both in Ohio) was on small, quiet roads through beautiful farmland. We're fortunate that many of the small roads in Ohio are paved, allowing us to get off the medium-sized roads that have formed the bulk of our cross-country trip.
     Our route through the last three states of our trip -- Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- is on or close to the historic Lincoln Highway. It was the first cross-country highway, conceived in 1912 and formally dedicated in 1913 by auto enthusiasts and auto industry officials. It extended from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, and was known as "The Main Street Across America". Information about the highway is available from the Lincoln Highway Association (www.lincolnhighwayassociation.org) and state chapters in the 12 states its traverses. Much of the eastern part of the Lincoln Highway today coincides with US Route 30.

Cycling on the Lincoln Highway

A plaque dedicated to the Lincoln Highway

On a picturesque country road in Ohio

A mid-morning break for snack, water, and (as pictured here) email

Highway Exits: The New Centers of Commerce in Small-Town Middle America

     When we traveled through Montana and the Dakotas earlier in our trip, the towns we stopped in were too small (~1000 people) to attract chain hotels & motels. Over the past couple of weeks in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, & Ohio, we've generally been staying at chain hotels (Best Western, Comfort Inn, Microtel, Super 8, etc.) in larger towns of ~8000-20000 people. These are located not in the town centers, but 1-2 miles away at the nearest highway exit, together with chain stores (Walmart, KMart, ...) and chain restaurants (Macdonalds, Burger King, Arby's, Dairy Queen, ...). With the centers of commerce shifted to the highway exits, the downtowns are often shabby, with a lot of boarded up storefronts and no active hotels. Fortunately, most of the towns have at least one reasonable downtown restaurant, allowing us to avoid the unhealthy junk food found at the highway exits.
     Monday morning started at one highway exit hotel -- Microtel in Delphos, OH -- and ended in another -- Comfort Inn in Upper Sandusky, OH. The day began the way Sunday evening ended: with a power failure at our hotel, the result of a lightning strike right beside the hotel on Sunday evening. Once we left the hotel, however, the ride was a pleasant and fast one, helped by a friendly west wind.

Our starting point on Monday morning. The trucks outside were part of the effort to fix the power failure that began 12 hours earlier.

Ducking under a tree for protection from an early morning rain

Stuck at a railroad crossing when the train stopped moving

We went past the end of the train, crossed the tracks, walked our bikes through someone's back yard, and proceeded along our route

Arriving at our destination hotel, the Comfort Inn

Fortunately, there was a decent restaurant for lunch and dinner in Upper Sandusky, OH

Hot Times in Ohio

     Sunday's ride was long – 69 miles from Huntington, IN across the state border to Delphos, OH – as well as hot. We left early, at 7 am, to minimize our cycling time in the heat, but the temperature reached 90 degrees before noon, so we had a couple of sweltering hours in the heat before reaching our destination at 2 pm. Fortunately, the Ohio countryside was very pretty, with picturesque farms and farmhouses, making up in part for the discomfort of biking in the unpleasant heat.

     Our weather woes did not let up after getting to our hotel. There was a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain, leading to a power failure lasting several hours. Because of the heat and rain, we opted to have pizza delivered to our hotel instead of heading out to a restaurant for dinner.

Yet another state -- our second-to-last state border crossing of the trip

91 degrees at 11:49 am !!

Replenishing fluids in the heat

A pretty Ohio farmhouse

Another attractive farmhouse

Torrential rain during an early evening thunderstorm

Pizza and chocolate cake in our hotel lobby

Friendly Trucks: A Pleasant Surprise

     On Friday, we cycled in the Indiana countryside, mainly through farmland. Most of the roads were quiet, allowing us to ride side-by-side and talk while cycling -- somehow, we still have plenty to say to each other despite having spent every day, all day, together for over two months straight.
     An exciting event on Friday was Peter's first use of his dog-protecting pepper spray. A mean-looking dog (to Peter, that's redundant, since all dogs are mean-looking) ran onto the road barking at us and chasing us. The dog's intentions were unclear, so Peter drew the spray can quickly from its holster on his bike frame and fired away when the dog got to within 10 feet of us. The dog immediately stopped and turned away. Carol is clearly lucky to have such a brave, gallant partner!
     The roads on our trip to date have been highly variable: some busy, others quiet; some well paved, others full of cracks and potholes. Almost all have been two lane roads (one in each direction). A key feature of a road with respect to cycling is the nature of the shoulder. The best situation is to have a wide paved shoulder, since that allows us to move well off the main road surface when trucks coming roaring by. However, that type of shoulder has been quite infrequent -- a narrow shoulder or no ridable shoulder has been the norm. So our safety has been determined, in large part, by the willingness of trucks to give us enough room as they pass us. Before we started the trip, we had been warned about the mean, dangerous trucks we would encounter, especially in the "wild west" states like Idaho and Montana. A pleasant surprise has been the fact that the trucks throughout our trip have been exceedingly friendly, moving well away from us (often crossing halfway into the opposite lane) when passing us.

Scenes from our Friday ride:

A truck giving us plenty of leeway on a road with a narrow shoulder

Riding by a cornfield

Riding past a massive sprinkler

Riding though a forested area

Taking a break in the shade of a factory (because there were no stores or restaurants for most of our route), until we were booted off the grounds