32.1 miles today, 3093 miles overall
After our long day yesterday, recognizing that we didn’t want to be out riding in 4th of July traffic, and since we were having trouble finding a suitably located campsite, we decided to stay put at yesterday’s camp and have a rest day. But as I was counting new mosquito bites this morning, Bob asked, “Could you check KOA and see if there’s been a cancellation?”. There was one space so after a quick vote we decided we would flee the mosquitoes, ride 31 or 32 miles, be finished by lunchtime.
We had been lounging so we got a late start, compounded by the discovery of a flat tire on my bike. I replaced my tube while Bob checked the flat tube thoroughly, found no problems and pronounced it good. We’re puzzled (I found no offending items in the tire either). Steve suspects sabotage. Other possibilites proffered by Bob were deemed even more unlikely. I’ll sleep with one eye open tonight.
Bob has been carrying small American flags as bike decorations for today. We attached them to our bikes and, after a safety officer inspection and repositioning, we took off.
Only 2 miles after setting out we found our way into Ohio. It was just like Indiana with lots of farmland.
In recent days, Steve and I have had various in-depth discussions about the relative merits of hay versus silage and the production methods thereof. So we were all interested to see a friendly Amish farmer turning his hay with two horses pulling an ancient but recognizably similar version of what we’d seen huge tractors pulling in previous days. He gave us a friendly wave.
We continued on mostly flat, good quality roads looking for a lunchtime beverage on our short route.
It was so nice that we weren’t too surprised to find ourselves on bicycle route 50.
There were some interesting/inspiring yard decorations along the way…
… and we were relieved to eventually find an excellent ice cream shop where we started our late lunch.
Satiated for a moment, we crossed the street to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed an entree after our dessert (I’ve been known to promote this practice).
It was a hot day again. So after picking up supplies at a supermarket, and before heading the final 3 miles to the campground, we enjoyed a Coors Light, discreetly, under a tree in the parking lot.
The KOA is full of happy revelers. Most of them have campfires so the air is thick with smoke. Our campsite is off at the extremities and quite satisfactory.
There are fewer mosquitoes here, perhaps deterred by the campfire smoke, but they have started biting so it’s time to retreat to the tents.
We’ll be on the road early tomorrow, back on rails to trails conversions, heading for London, Ohio.
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