Start: 7:15 AM
Finish: 3:30 PM
Saddle Time: 6:15
Ascent: 0 feet
Descent: 84 feet
Miles: 82
Total Miles: 2,988
Highlight: Finally getting my rear wheel issues addressed at a bike shop.
Lowlight: Very cool morning. I shouldn’t complain considering the weather I rode through on this tour but temp was in the 50’s this morning.
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.
When I started this trip one expectations was to be done riding between 3:00-4:00. Early on that wasn’t happening, days were long as I was climbing in Washington. Now I feel like I’ve hit my grove and can dial in the distance and time more accurately. Flat terrain certainly helps. Today was a good example of a solid distance but finishing comfortably early.
I was debating following the northern tier which mapped a 90 mile day and Google which came in at 73. Google’s route went due east for most of those 73 miles without going through a town. I can carry enough water for that distance, I did out west, but I’d rather not plus I was a little uneasy with the possibility of running into dirt road so I made a compromise between the two. I will use Google to Bowling Green which is on the norther tier route then Google from Bowling Green to Clyde. The two routes overlapped in couple places but I spent a lot of time on remote, paved country farm roads. These days are soon coming to an end so I should enjoy the peace and quiet.
I made good time arriving in Bowling Green around 10:30 with 40 miles in the bag. The bike shop in town was open so I stopped in to have them look at my rear wheel which I thought needed trueing, feels like I’m running over something with each revolution. Apparently the issue is not the wheel. When I fixed my last flat the tire did not seat properly in the wheel. The mechanic had a hard time getting it to sit right so I felt better, wasn’t just me. I wanted to replace the tire since it’s getting worn but they didn’t have anything my size. He thought the tire should last the rest of the trip. We will see.
With that done and still early I decided to have a real lunch at a restaurant for a change. I went to a local burger place up the road. Bowling Green is a college town so you would expect good burgers. I had an excellent burger with pulled pork on top that fueled me for the rest of the ride. I complained about burgers and steak every day in the northern plains but this was a welcomed changed to what I’ve been eating lately, gas station food for lunch with rice and beans for dinner.
Feeding while on the bike is a balance. You can just go with Cliff Bars but on long days I end up feeling run down. Restaurants often take too much time making my day longer but if I don’t overeat I feel strong for the rest of the day. The middle ground is a gas station where I can get sandwiches, pizza, or something frozen. This is fine but it’s gas station food after all.
Google sent me back out on the farm roads directly to Fremont where I joined the northern tier on a bike path to my destination in Clyde. I took a detour to DQ but even with all those stops I made it in by 3:30. I’m staying at a Red Roof Inn several miles from town with nothing around but gas stations and fast food. I planned ahead with rice, beans, sardines, and of course beer. I ended the day with a gatorade and canned Margarita from a local gas station.
Cleveland tomorrow.
