Day 36, Monday, August 4.
(Kent), OH to Conneautville, PA
Daily Mileage: 76.67 miles
Total Mileage: 3,227.5 miles
Daily Time on Bike: 5:44 hours
Average Speed: 13.3 mph
Maximum Speed: 38.2 mph
Outside it was thunder storming when the day began all too early at 6:15AM as Ryan's alarm went off. David didn't want to leave the nice dorm room; however, Ryan, needing to be back for a 9:30AM rehearsal, hurried us along. The drive was nearly an hour long, so I made use of the back of the station wagon, next to the bikes, to sleep while David and Ryan talked and ate McDonald's breakfast. When we finally arrived at "the place," we unloaded our equipment rather hurriedly in order to let Ryan leave for his return trip to Kent. I took a few pictures of David and Ryan and then he was off. Thanks, Ryan!
We started down the road and after about six miles, started looking for a café because I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. We ended up in Kirkland at Billde's with a breakfast for $5.36, but I think the lady forgot to add my other two pancakes to the bill. I read the newspaper (UPS is on strike as of 12:01AM this morning) while David looked over the maps. As we continued our push for Pennsylvania we started to move through more farmland. At one point, we blew past two Amish guys in a buggy.
Today, we were chased by more dogs then we ever have been on the entire trip. David almost was knocked over by this huge black dog that flew through the air looking like he was about ready to hurdle David's panniers. We think the dog caught a whiff of the pepper spray though. (Side note: I hate using pepper spray on dogs, but you never know what kind of temperament one has as he’s sprinting towards you. People have been killed by an attacking dog because they couldn't get their feet out of their clips or the dog knocked them down and they couldn't do much after that.) David also caught some of the spray on his arm as the wind blew it back at him (boy, did that burn).
We finally made it to our first non-land-locked state in a while—Pennsylvania! David was actually more excited than I about this one. I think once we cross this large state with its many hills, I'll feel much better and be more excited. It's a bit depressing thinking that this state is about the length of North Dakota, and we know how long that state took us to cross it.
We have been in contact with the Doug’s parents on and off throughout the day trying to plan our meeting spot this evening (and I don’t remember us using our cell phone, so I’m not quite sure how we stayed in touch with both of us on the move). We landed in Conneautville, PA, a town of about 900 people, because of time and distance considerations. Not much besides the IGA grocery store, two gas stations, and a pizza place, much like all the other towns we've been through along the way.
His parents arrived right on time and after David and Doug’s dad searched for a place to stash our bikes, we jumped in the car and headed for a restaurant near Conneaut Lake. We really enjoyed our time with them, were fed extremely well, and afterwards were returned us to our bikes. Thanks Doug's parents!
The lady who let us stash our stuff by her house didn't offer to let us camp in her yard, so we made our way to the park. We’ve been getting increasingly more anxious about safety as we get closer to the East Coast and more populated areas, so we didn't feel comfortable sleeping in the park. Tonight was the first time that we camped in a baseball diamond dugout. It's actually a really great place to camp. We could lock up our bikes, set up the tent (to keep animals away from us as we slept) without the rain fly, and have a safe, hidden, place for the night.
(Photo: Tim with the “Welcome to Pennsylvania” sign.)
Daily Mileage: 76.67 miles
Total Mileage: 3,227.5 miles
Daily Time on Bike: 5:44 hours
Average Speed: 13.3 mph
Maximum Speed: 38.2 mph
Outside it was thunder storming when the day began all too early at 6:15AM as Ryan's alarm went off. David didn't want to leave the nice dorm room; however, Ryan, needing to be back for a 9:30AM rehearsal, hurried us along. The drive was nearly an hour long, so I made use of the back of the station wagon, next to the bikes, to sleep while David and Ryan talked and ate McDonald's breakfast. When we finally arrived at "the place," we unloaded our equipment rather hurriedly in order to let Ryan leave for his return trip to Kent. I took a few pictures of David and Ryan and then he was off. Thanks, Ryan!
We started down the road and after about six miles, started looking for a café because I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. We ended up in Kirkland at Billde's with a breakfast for $5.36, but I think the lady forgot to add my other two pancakes to the bill. I read the newspaper (UPS is on strike as of 12:01AM this morning) while David looked over the maps. As we continued our push for Pennsylvania we started to move through more farmland. At one point, we blew past two Amish guys in a buggy.
Today, we were chased by more dogs then we ever have been on the entire trip. David almost was knocked over by this huge black dog that flew through the air looking like he was about ready to hurdle David's panniers. We think the dog caught a whiff of the pepper spray though. (Side note: I hate using pepper spray on dogs, but you never know what kind of temperament one has as he’s sprinting towards you. People have been killed by an attacking dog because they couldn't get their feet out of their clips or the dog knocked them down and they couldn't do much after that.) David also caught some of the spray on his arm as the wind blew it back at him (boy, did that burn).
We finally made it to our first non-land-locked state in a while—Pennsylvania! David was actually more excited than I about this one. I think once we cross this large state with its many hills, I'll feel much better and be more excited. It's a bit depressing thinking that this state is about the length of North Dakota, and we know how long that state took us to cross it.
We have been in contact with the Doug’s parents on and off throughout the day trying to plan our meeting spot this evening (and I don’t remember us using our cell phone, so I’m not quite sure how we stayed in touch with both of us on the move). We landed in Conneautville, PA, a town of about 900 people, because of time and distance considerations. Not much besides the IGA grocery store, two gas stations, and a pizza place, much like all the other towns we've been through along the way.
His parents arrived right on time and after David and Doug’s dad searched for a place to stash our bikes, we jumped in the car and headed for a restaurant near Conneaut Lake. We really enjoyed our time with them, were fed extremely well, and afterwards were returned us to our bikes. Thanks Doug's parents!
The lady who let us stash our stuff by her house didn't offer to let us camp in her yard, so we made our way to the park. We’ve been getting increasingly more anxious about safety as we get closer to the East Coast and more populated areas, so we didn't feel comfortable sleeping in the park. Tonight was the first time that we camped in a baseball diamond dugout. It's actually a really great place to camp. We could lock up our bikes, set up the tent (to keep animals away from us as we slept) without the rain fly, and have a safe, hidden, place for the night.
(Photo: Tim with the “Welcome to Pennsylvania” sign.)
