Post RAGBRAI Day 6 - Austintown, OH to West Newton, PA

Howdy from West Newton, Pennsylvania!



I'm 20 miles down the Great Allegheny Passage Rail Trail, where my "Bed and Breakfast" is 500 yards away, and the wifi is conveniently located at the Trailside Pub.



Where it's Hurricane Night. I AM SO HAPPY.

This B&B thing could be weird. It's $85. That would be a lot, except the alternatives are primitive camping (the "shower" is called the Youghiogheny River.) or climbing a bunch of hills for a motel off the exit for 79. So I called the B&B place number this morning, and I woke up this woman who said something like "I'll leave the door unlocked and your invoice taped to your door. I'll leave some food in the kitchen for breakfast." OK. Well then. I'm supposed to go up to an empty house and make myself at home.

The ride today was pretty great. The weather was perfect, temperatures in the 70s, partly cloudy, frequent tailwinds. At my first stop of the day I ran into a nice couple out for a ride on their new trikes. I think this is in New Palestine, OH.



It was very near the Pennsylvania line.



It's not exactly what you would call flat getting to Pittsburgh. I decided to follow the river as much as possible, but there was still a lot of climbing to get to the river. Here is my first view of the Mighty Ohio at Beaver, PA.



I got to ride on Big Beaver Road today. Hehhehhehhehheh.

20 miles of heavy industry, trains, mills, and no shoulder, there is Pittsburgh under the railroad bridge.



Pittsburgh is quite an experience to ride through. Everything is severely constrained by the geography, and roads are a lower priority than trains and factories. I spent a lot of time riding against a stone wall in the right lane of two lanes of 55 mph traffic.

Here is mass transit in Pittsburgh. It's one of the inclines. I'm not holding the camera crooked.


Pittsburgh just screams "industry". There are bridges over bridges. There are railroad bridges and freeway bridges, and there are no flat roads anywhere.



I think the Gorilla Lawyer looks just like Jim. McA. wearing a suit.



This is the start of the Great Allegheny Passage trail in McKeesport, PA. There are still bridges and bridges. The GAP is a rail trail along the old Western Maryland right of way.



The visitors' center here in West Newton is a preserved train station, and a decaying heavyweight baggage car.



The rail trail is very relaxing. It's not paved, but the surface is crushed stone which is smoother than most of the roads in Pittsburgh. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow.

Here is the track for today.

Post RAGBRAI Day 5 - Milan to Austintown, OH

Tough day today. There are now hills. I did 107 miles anyway, but I didn't get in until 7:30.



Part of it was I got off to a late start. I fixed a slow leak in the front tire before I left (and destroyed one spare inner tube in the process). Also I had to stop at Maw's Place for breakfast.



It seems the Cuyahoga River is in the bottom of a deep gorge. All I knew was it used to catch fire. Not only is it in a gorge, a bunch of its tributaries are in their own gorges. I had to walk the bike twice because it was so steep (over 11%). I discovered that I can climb 9% comfortably today in my bottom gear. I can climb 9% all day. But over 10% and eventually I'll be walking. I think it was way over 10%.

At the bottom of the gorge they have this nice bike shop. After a lot of digging around in the back, they found a couple inner tubes that fit my very obscure tires. Which is great, because I was down to one spare, which has a slow leak.



Look, hills. That's a nice restaurant across the street where I had lunch. They run excursion trains from Cleveland out to here. This is in the middle of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.



Since it was getting near dark when I got in, and since I was very beat, I stayed at a more expensive motel than is my custom. It's a Sleep Inn. $100. Ouch. But look, all the furnishings match and are tasteful.



The Econo Lodge was booked. I think there is some kind of big dog show here. Everyone has a dog.

Here is the track for today's ride.

POST RAGBRAI Day 4 - Holiday City to Milan, OH

Here I am at the 6 in Milan (pronounced MY-ln) Ohio. It's brutally humid, and 90 degrees out.



I rode 116 miles today. It was actually a pretty nice day, because around noon there was a massive thunderstorm, which was very refreshing. That blast of wind right before the rain hits was at my back, and I kept it that way for about 10 miles.



It was flat flat flat all day, lots of corn and soybeans. Then, for no apparent reason, there is a big steel mill.



Then it's back to corn and soybeans. I have no idea why this steel mill is there. It's about 20 miles southwest of Toledo. There is no body of water nearby. I doubt there is a bunch of iron ore or coal buried beneath the crops. It's just a mystery.

I had Subway for breakfast. I don't know why. This was in West Unity. I went looking for a nice long rail trail (The Wabash Cannonball Trail) that was on the Google, but it was not paved and very overgrown. So I had a tuna sub at 8:30 am.



I didn't take any other pictures because the camera was backed away where it was dry. I spend a lot of the day riding on US 20, and I should have taken some pictures of that so I remember not to do it again. It's a divided highway with a narrow shoulder. They put rumble strips in what shoulder there was. It was very bad.

Here is the campsite for tonight.



I feel much better physically today than I did yesterday. My stomach is good, my knees and ankles are good. All is well. I stuffed myself at the Italian restaurant in the Super 8 across the street. I had fried perch (yum!) with a bowl of pasta on the side. That should be good for major miles tomorrow.

Here is the track for today's ride.

Post RAGBRAI Day 3 - Niles, MI to Holiday City, OH

Here I am after my fourth straight 100+ mile day in Holiday City, Ohio!



Holiday City (pop. 49) is probably the last place you would ever want to spend a holiday. It is an exit off the Ohio Turnpike, with a car auction, a tow garage, two gas stations, a diner and three motels. I'm in the Econo Lodge, which appears to be the middle in quality.

Today started bad, but turned out well. When I woke up this morning, it was raining, and the radar showed a huge area of heavy rain stretching all the way to Chicago. Then I found out my laptop was dead. The power cable has been iffy for awhile because Max like to pull it out and plug it back in for fun. I used to be able to jiggle it to get it to charge, but no more.

Luckily, Google Maps on the iPhone showed a Best Buy in South Bend, Indiana, just 10 miles away, which would only add 4-5 miles to the ride. I decided to ride there, and get some breakfast while waiting out the rain. I got there by 9, and hung out in the Starbucks in the Barnes and Noble across the street until the Best Buy opened at 10. As a special bonus, I got my prescription sunglasses fixed at the Pearle Vision next to Best Buy. (I had rolled over on them while napping after one day at RAGBRAI and lost the screw that held the lens in.) I got a new power supply in Best Buy, and since it was still raining, I spent another half hour fiddling with the seat on the T-Bone. It had started to slide back again, and it seems the old inner tube that acts as a cushion between the seat and the frame was wadded up under the seat, so it wasn't gripping well. I think it will hold now.

All in all, I didn't get riding until 11 am, and I had 95 miles to here in Holiday City, which is where I planned to stop. I was going to shorten the day, but there was a nice tailwind, and the rain had cooled it off, so I hammered it out and got in at 7:30, eating dinner on the way. All in all, I had a productive morning and a good ride.

Here is the grim rain as seen from inside the Barnes and Noble.



This is my fourth consecutive century day. I'm starting to have a lot of aches in my knees and ankles, and my digestive system is still a mess. I started eating meals today. But I think I'm going to have to slack off soon and take a couple short days, or a day off, to recover some.

I crossed three state lines today.

Michigan to Indiana, I didn't get a picture because it was in suburban sprawl for South Bend and was unmarked.

Here is Indiana to Michigan, and Michigan to Ohio.



The area at the juncture of Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio has a lot of kettles. A kettle is a type of lake formed by remnants of glaciers as they melted at the end of the last ice age. A bizarre feature of a kettle is that you invariably have to climb a hill to get to it. My GPS shows me I'm coming to a lake, and then I have to climb a hill. It's very bizarre.

Here is tonight's camp site, in the fabulous Econo Lodge.



Here is the track for today.

Post RAGBRAI Day 2 - Lisle, IL to Niles, MI

Today was a day of obstacles.



The obstacles were:
* My digestive system is better, but still a mess.
* I discovered it wasn't my legs getting shorter, but my seat has been sliding back.
* The fabulous route.
* My rear tire exploded.
* The pavement on the road went away with no warning.
* There are no motels in Buchanan Michigan.

All obstacles were overcome, resulting in a very long 113 mile day.

The Digestive System
It's better, but not good. My food intake for the day was
1 cup of coffee at Murray's
1 McDonalds Sausage McMuffin, hash brown, and 16 oz orange juice.
1 small bag corn nuts
1 apple pie flavor Clif Shot
8o oz Cytomax mixed from powder
20 oz Blue Gatorade
80 oz water

Basically, I sustained myself on liquids. I threw caution to the wind when I got in, and had takeout Singapore Rice Noodles for dinner. I'm either going to be over the stomach bug, or I'm going to really regret it tomorrow.

The McDonalds for breakfast.


The Chinese food (down the strip), your basic deal where there are pictures of the food over the counter. It was actually pretty decent.


I wanted to do the Home Plate Restaurant, but it was closed when I got there. I lost and hour entering Eastern Time today.

The sliding seat

It's the little things that creep up on you that really cause problems. Normally, the T-Bone is incredibly comfortable, and a perfect fit. I have no aches and pains. But the last couple days, my butt has been sore, my legs have been achy, and the idler wheel has been pinching my leg. Today I finally realized the seat was sliding back. It was about an inch and half behind where it should have been.

Before and After, in the McDonald's patio.


As soon as I fixed this, I picked up 2-3 mph. My legs had been stretching to reach the pedals, and I was not in the optimal power position.

The Fabulous Route
In just one day, I got to ride through all these extra-special places:
* The south side of Chicago
* Calumet City, Illinois
* Hammond, Indiana
* Gary, Indiana
plus 40 miles of heavy industry on the Indiana lake front, with all the railroad tracks, truck traffic, and beat up roads that implies. This was the industrial wasteland tour.

I did get to see a lot of cool trains.


The Exploding Rear Tire
Riding 60 miles of industrial wasteland on the shoulder of a major highway is a problem waiting to happen. I was almost to Michigan when the rear tire exploded. It sounded like a gunshot. The tire and tube both had a half-inch gash.

I was very sad, because I was riding these obscure Hutchinson 26x1 racing tires that have a fabulously smooth ride. I don't think they've been made for years, but I found a pair at Mount Airy last fall. I put them on the bike for RAGBRAI, and hoped they would not fall apart from age. My previous experience with these tires was they wear out after about 1000 miles. I got 900 miles out of the rear one, so I shouldn't complain I guess.

It took me about a half hour to fix the tire. I am carrying two spare tires and four spare tubes. I'm down to one spare tire and three tubes, which should get me home no problem.

The Vanishing Pavement

I headed inland from the lake, with 23 miles to go to get to Niles, my chosen end point. I had a nice back road that was a straight shot. First, though, it started to get surprisingly hilly. Then I came to this:


This is only one lane wide, and it's totally bumpy. Why bother to pave it at all? After four miles of this, they didn't pave it at all, the road became dirt. It cost me two miles to find a paved road, plus about a half hour fighting that mess. So I decided to shorten the day, and stop in Buchanan, and be happy with 107 miles. But wait...

There are no Motels in Buchanan
I swear there was one when I looked at the route last night. But no. The iPhone says no motels in Buchanan. The nearest motels are six miles away in Niles. Starting with a steep climb out of Buchanan.

But here I am, in my room writing blog updates with a happy full tummy. Obstacles are overcome.

I crossed two state lines today, into Indiana and Michigan.


This is my first time riding my bike in Michigan.

I went by a giant nuke plant in Michigan City, Indiana.


And here is my very cheap and ugly but perfectly satisfactory motel room at the Nile Motel and conference center, run by an Arab guy named Jamal, who apparently just sold off the camel herd a couple weeks ago. He's trying very hard, and he's a really friendly and nice guy, but he's obviously new at this, and this motel appears not to have undergone maintenance since the 60s.


Here is the track for today's ride.

Post RAGBRAI Day 1 - Freeport, IL to Lisle, IL

It was so brutal today that I forgot to take a picture.

I am in Lisle, IL, at Murray's house, our friend from RAGBRAI. Today was 103 miles of mostly flat corn fields, mid 80's, mostly sunny, no wind.

Not a problem, except I ate something bad recently, had stomach cramps all day, and had to stop for the bathroom every hour. I still did over 100 miles. :-)

Here is where I tried to eat lunch, in the town of Sycamore.



That's it for today. My stomach still hurts, but I have clean laundry, and everything is recharged thanks to Murray.

Here is the link to today's map.

RAGBRAI Day 7 - Waterloo to Manchester, and beyond to Freeport, IL

Here I am in the Super 8, after 116 miles, with hills. 65 of the miles were in loaded touring mode. It was one tough day.

I look a lot better at the end of RAGBRAI, after only 51 miles.



This was a very hard last day. The RAGBRAI planners thought it would be cool to put in a hill 15 miles from the end that had a 19% grade for a half mile. Almost everyone was walking their bikes up it. I rode it, and I hear Jim and Laura did too, but Suzanne and Murray walked.

Laura had to assemble everyone who was awake for one last photo before I left.



Here is a picture coming in to Dubuque. The end of RAGBRAI is cool because the locals all line up and cheer for everyone.



Here is the sign at the "wheel dip". It's a tradition for many people to dip their rear wheel in the Missouri River at the start, and the Mississippi River at the end.



Since I started in Omaha, and am going to finish in Baltimore, I did not bother with the wheel dip.

I got my bags from the charter, and carried on. Here is the view of the wheel dip area from the US 20 bridge over the Mississippi.



This is a very vertigo-inducing bridge. It's nice they have a bike lane, but it's very scary to ride across.



At the foot of the scary bridge.



I stopped for lunch here at George and Dale's. Lunch was awesome, although I did have to put up with some ranting about RAGBRAI from the other customers who got stuck in traffic across the river.



I continued on into southwest Wisconsin, in a futile attempt to fine a flat route.



I did find Art for no apparent reason in a cow pasture in Wisconsin.



I stopped for a break and to get water in New Diggings. This place was mobbed with bikers. I must have passed 500 Harleys today.



Back to Illinios.



I checked into the Super 8 in Freeport. There was a Chinese restaurant across the street for dinner.



They had a bar, so it was quite a score.




Here is the RAGBRAI part of today's ride.
And here is the bonus loaded touring segment afterwards.