Start: 7:50 AM
Finish: 2:20 PM (crossed into eastern time zone)
Saddle Time: 5:02
Ascent: 0 feet
Descent: 78 feet
Miles: 62
Total Miles: 2,907
Highlight: Riding for 17 miles through Fort Wayne, Indiana on almost all bike path.
Lowlight: Getting attacked by a pit bull. Luckily he just bit my bag.
Cyclemeter: Follow this link to see the data I’m collecting with the cyclemeter app. You can see gps information, speed, elevation, distance, cadence and heart rate. Better viewed on a computer where it’s easier to play around with the graphs.
I started the morning in southwest Fort Wayne several miles north of the northern tier. Todays ride heads northeast to Defiance, OH so rather than dropping down to the northern tier then backtracking north I following Google directions to the same destination which made for a great ride.
My bad experience with Comfort Suites ended better this morning, they had a full breakfast, well eggs, sausage and potatoes but it’s better than the typical waffles and such most places offer. It’s good to start the day fueled even though today will not be difficult, about 60 flat miles. The temperature is again great with low humidity and better air quality than yesterday. I had headwinds today but it wasn’t too bad.
After about a half mile of riding on a very busy 4 lane highway I ended up on a bike path that led me 17 miles across the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The only exception was about a mile in downtown mostly in a bike lane. Fort Wayne has done an excellent job accommodating bicycles, you can criss cross the city almost entirely on paved bike path. City riding isn’t bad. Most cities now have bike lanes and some like Fort Wayne have extensive bike paths. Traffic moves slow and drivers are alert so it may be safer riding than many rural roads. You also get to see some really nice old neighborhoods.
The route roughly followed the Maumee River which snakes its way from Fort Wayne through Defiance and on to Toledo and into Lake Erie. Part of todays ride was on the old towpath of a canal built parallel to the river for easier navigation. The canal is long gone but in some places you can see the dried out remnants through the woods.
Once out of the city I was back on to country farm roads. It’s been a long, quiet ride the past week or so but I suspect it will soon come to an end. I’m still seeing corn and soybean fields but less and less as I head northeast as houses and woodlands take over.
Back in Indiana I started noticing man made ponds in peoples yards, not little koi ponds I’m talking ponds the size of very large pools, maybe up to olympic swimming pool size with a dock, diving board and/or slide. I’m seeing a lot of them now in Ohio. They clearly are built for swimming and maybe paddling around but I haven’t seen anyone in the water. With all the farming around here I think of the surface water as being terribly polluted so jumping in doesn’t look all that appealing. Maybe they also double as skating rinks in the winter. I’ve certainly seen man made ponds at houses but not this many, it’s almost like swimming pools at houses back home. I tried taking pictures but didn’t want to look like a creepy guy with a camera so they didn’t come out all that great.
I had my first aggressive dog experience. Dogs have chased me before but nothing of concern, just barking loudmouths. A guy was in his front yard with two large pit bulls when both decided I had to go. The fatter of the two jumped right in front of my bike. I swerved to avoid him so he came around my side barking up a storm. Not wanting to give him a target to focus on, my foot, I stopped peddling. Apparently my bright red front bag caught his eye. He bit hard enough for me to feel the wheel move, glad it wasn’t my leg. Looking at the bag now I can see teeth marks deep enough to puncture my skin. I have a small bottle of pepper spray in a pocket on my handlebar bag just for this situation. I was reaching for it when he bit my bag but it was over before I could deploy. Once he showed me who’s boss he backed off so I peddled away, quickly loosing the fat bastard.
