Day Six- Done (Over 470 miles)

July 26th- What a day I had today! I have so many stories for my readers. I hope you all enjoy reading about this day as much as I enjoyed experiencing it.

I woke up in a house; that was a great start. I also had the chance to sit down with family and eat breakfast at Bob Evans. My cousins Rachel, Bryan and Louie were there along with my Uncle. We joked, talked, joked some more. It was a great morning. When we finished eating my Uncle took me back to the spot he picked me up at the day before. I nodded off a couple times in the car; result of my motion sickness. When we took the bike off the car, I put the kickstand down and soon realized that it was in the same rut that I made the day before when I got picked up. How nice. I didn’t have to worry about cheating on my miles after that. We hugged, took some pictures, and I started riding.

I decided to check my tire pressure. That didn’t work so well because the tool I bought wasn’t working properly and it just let air out of my tire. While trying to pump the tire back up with my working pump, the kickstand folded under pressure. It ended up breaking off a few miles later. I was heading straight into the wind for about two frustrating hours on top of the other two gems. I was pedaling sixteen miles per hour, but only going eight. In an annoyed state, I took a break on the side of the road. That’s the first thing I did right that morning.

A guy by the name of Tom happened to be riding his new bike around on that same road, highway 20. He stopped to ask if I was alright and I explained my frustration. We shared some laughs and stories. After about an hour of chatting and explaining bike parts to each other, we rode to the flea market up the street to look for a kickstand.

While we were at the flea market (which was one city away from being called the cockroach market) we had no luck finding a kickstand. However, I found a bronze tiger that the owner offered to me for just $5. When I explained where I was going, he said he would ship it there for free. So, I have a tiger waiting for me when I get back to California.

Tom and I headed out to Target after that. Target happened to be out of kickstands. Go figure! But, low and behold, Walmart was in stock. I bought Tom a couple energy bars as a thank you and we parted ways so that I could continue my journey. He said, “If I had a couple days notice, I’d ride with you the whole way. Next time, I’ll hold him to it.

A few miles down the road, and in much better spirit after meeting a nice guy, I rode by Perrysburg House of Refuge, also known as the Zoar Lutheran Church. They were having an outdoor picnic with a band playing. One of the members waved me over, and I said, “I’d love to, but I have so many miles to ride today.” Almost immediately, I thought how silly that was. An excuse not to meet people is not my style at all. I turned right around and the gentleman walked over to me. I told most of them my story and turned down all offers for food except a bag of pretzels. I talked to almost 15 people, some who have biked before and others who had done long walks of the same extreme nature. The music was great and the company was just the same. I had to keep riding though. I rode by the Maumee River (see picture) which was beautiful.

After hours of riding with a top speed of 21 MPH, I was out of water and out in the middle of Western Ohio. Lucky for me, a gentleman named Bob checked on me and gave me an option to ask for water. He obliged quite nicely and while he was inside I had a chance to talk to his son and granddaughter as well as his wife and another guy I’m not sure how he was related. They warned me of riding in the dark and how far I had to go before the next town.

I ended up about three miles down the road at a parking area which was closed. That’s just my style though, so I set up the tent and had a good night’s sleep (see picture).

Daily Lesson #6: Sometimes a break is exactly what you need to keep going.

(Sorry if the spacing between paragraphs is off, I've tried to fix it 3 times now!)