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Back to Fast Meet the Riders Bamacyclist Home Day 26
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Back to Fast Meet the Riders Bamacyclist Home Day 26
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| ROUTE: Wooster to Niles OH | DISTANCE: 96 miles | WINDS: N-10-15 Headwind some and cross the rest of the time |
| WEATHER: Partly cloudy...cool...Hi 65/Low 42...windy | TERRAIN: Hilly in spots | TOTAL CLIMBING: 2800 feet |
DAILY
REPORT: The day started out tame enough...early breakfast and early
departure into the misty Ohio countryside. It was a bit on the brisk side
with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s with the promise of a bit of a
headwind challenge. That wasn't the biggest worry I had...we've never come
through here that they weren't working on the roads. That means lots of
detours usually await us...today was no exception.
We were moving along pretty well when I went
forward to mark some easy to miss turns. I got a call from Barb and Karen
who were forward getting to the first SAG telling me that they had run into some
construction and a detour around the Akron airport. They were trying to
check to see if the riders could go through so I thought I'd get up to help out.
Barb drove the detour while Karen, with a can of paint to mark the road, got on
her bike to try to get through 
the
construction. I was getting phone calls from all directions. Barb
told me she didn't think the riders would be safe going through the published
detour. Just after that call, Karen called and said the workers didn't
want the riders to come through the work area...Yikes! We need a new
route. I charged up to look at an alternate way around the north side of
the airport. I was midway through that process when...guess what...I ran
into a construction area too...this won't work. Luckily, Karen called back
and said she'd found a way through on her bike and was returning to the
beginning to mark the road for the riders. Whew...everything was back in
control...not so fast. With that news, I started back to the rear of the
group to check on the riders...they were barreling toward the work area but I
was under the impression that Karen had everything marked. As it worked
out...a large pack of riders had beaten her to the initial point and had worked
their way through the construction and had come to the next turn point...on the
cue sheet it was a "T" 
intersection...can't
miss that can we? I got a call from Shane who was riding with the lead
group asking if they needed to go to the freeway or away from the freeway...I
told him if he'd stayed on route, he should find a T and turn left. Well,
unfortunately the construction had included a new road straight through the T
intersection. Not seeing the T, the riders pressed on looking for a dead
end to turn left...it wasn't there. As it worked out, everyone either
stumbled on to arrows Karen had put down, found their way through the
construction, or just lucked out and ended up on route. It was a hectic
half hour of turmoil but we all made it through. Little did we know that
we would not be through with the construction later in the day. I
anticipated that and made my way to the front just after the SAG and found
another road that was closed. I drove to the work site and convinced the
workers that 28 cyclists were ascending on them and needed to come through, but
the vehicles needed to take the detour. I rushed back and directed the
riders to go through and then called the other van and got Barbara an alternate
route to intersect our course down track. Another disaster diverted.
I needed to ride. After the long morning scrambling to keep everyone on
track, I swapped with Shane and got to ride the last 20 miles to the motel...I
needed that.
In spite of all the diversions and distractions, everyone got in fairly early. When we got in, we had a couple bike shop issues to take care of, rap to do, maintenance, and dinner...whew...a tough day. Oh yeah, everyone had to make a Dairy Queen run too.
Some
of the ride today was in more urban areas, but the majority was still rural.
The terrain wasn't flat either by any stretch of the imagination. The hills
today were short and steep and they were continuous in some areas especially
midday. We had it all today as far as road surface...smooth country roads,
complicated urban streets, complicated construction areas, beautiful quiet bike path, but the biggest challenge
with today's route was a section of rough road surface after the first SAG
stop. Ohio has some of the most beautiful countryside, but in contrast, in
spots it has some of the roughest roads one could imagine...some said pothole
was the word of the day. Karen had so much fun riding one stretch of bumpy road
that she threatened to call the county road commissioner and file a complaint.
It's hard to tell everybody about all the bumps because they seem to be in a
different area every year. Every year they fix one section and another section
gets worse from the freeze and thaw of
the Ohio winters...there's no getting
around it so we press on. One good note though, they fixed one of the worst
roads so they are working on making these roads better. We will be overjoyed
when they finally fix the rest of them on our route, but by then the good ones
will be bad. Soon we'll be in New York where they have the best road surfaces
in the country...at least where we ride. Hey! That's tomorrow!
Everyone got in fairly early in spite of the pesky headwinds they encountered...they are getting strong. Also, the route challenges didn't keep us from our destination. It's amazing what the group will go through to get to the next meal.
We had rap early since we have a long day tomorrow and we'll be riding to breakfast down the street. Tomorrow we head to Dunkirk...it will be a 3 state ride...Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. At 137 miles, it will be our longest day since Kirksville...but it will not be nearly as strenuous...depending on the winds. Hopefully, we'll have a favorable day. See you then.
| DID I REALLY SAY THAT?: "The bike path was a welcomed stretch." "When I woke up this morning my tire only
had about 20 pounds of pressure in it. Do you think I will be OK?" "My teeth rattled out on that road." "Are there any roads in Ohio that aren't being worked on?" "I thought 603 was hilly...then I got to Van Buren." "I didn't get lost once today!! Several times, but not once!" PS: A report on AJ and Dave's intuitive navigating...today I passed them just before the construction and they were close to the front riders...well ahead of the back end. After all the confusion at the detour...a time when intuitive navigation should reign supreme...I found them bringing up the rear only 2 miles farther down the road. Wonder what threw them? Must have been the fact the correct route was down hill. Not sure their experiment in alternative navigating techniques is going to catch on. We'll see how they do tomorrow...we're going down wind.
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DID I REALLY DO THAT?: When everyone was standing around at the construction wondering which way to go, Jud and the Poodle Boys rode up. Jud yelled, I'm making a decision to go this way...off he rode with all in tow. When they got down the road and found they were off the published route in a work zone, everyone started blaming Jud for a poor decision. "I didn't tell anyone to follow me!" He said. I guess you're right they all agreed. Right out of the motel, I was approaching Jerry, Geoff, and Dave about to make a turn...Geoff, and Dave turned but Jerry pressed on. He was going down hill about 35 MPH and was having a ball. I took off after him in the van but couldn't catch him until he got to the bottom of the hill about a mile down the road...maybe I could have driven a little faster. When I finally caught him, I informed him he had missed a turn...bummer...now back up the hill he went. When he arrived at the missed turn he found Dave and Geoff waiting patiently for him to return. They weren't about to ride after him...he was flying...especially when they saw me in the van chasing him down...why bother? When he joined them I advised Dave and Geoff that Jerry didn't know where he was or where he was going, but he sure was making good time. I wonder if there was a porta potty down that hill? |
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DID I REALLY SEE THAT? |
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 Just before all the excitement in the detours, I got a surprise visit from an old ABB alumni...Keith Hamsher drove up and threw me a hug. Great to see you Keith...Karen and Barb say hi too. |
 Just a nice shot. |
 The photo I took of Jerry, Geoff, and Dave just before Jerry (front) missed the next turn and flew down the hill. |
 Steve on a mission...Niles or bust. |
Copyright © 2007 by Bamacyclist
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