Ohio redeems itself

Today's Google Earth file: http://tomerceg.googlepages.com/NilesOH.kmz

I knew yesterday had to be an aberation. The good folks of Ohio came through today in a couple of ways.

We started off this morning under the threat of morning and afternoon thunderstorms. What we actually got this morning was our daily dose of mayflies. They fly around in huge swarms and stick to you all over your body. I decided to take Jerry's advice. I ate some just to get even.

We've put in a lot of tough miles over the last couple of days. 5 straight days of riding, with back-to-back centuries in 90 degree heat and humidity left us feeling a little ragged this morning. I heard a lot of complaints about dead legs. Most of them were coming from me. I had no "push" left. After figthing the inevitable for awhile I just accepted the fact that today was going to be a day to spin easy gears and stop a lot. So be it, that's all the gas I had left in the tank.

Late in the day I was cruising down the road when I came across an odd little building advertising itself as an Ohio Indian Museum. I turned the bike around and decided to take a little break and check it out. I met Joe, the owner. He's an artist who has dedicated himself to producing artwork reflecting the history of the Ohio Indian tribes. I hung out for about half an hour hearing stories about the various tribes and looking at his pieces. He paints, sculpts, creates maps and silkscreens, and researches the history of this area. This is his passion, and it shows.


As I was entering the main parts of Niles, an offshoot of Youngstown, I missed a turn on the cue sheet. I figured it out about 1/2 a mile up the road, but I didn't feel like backtracking. I was only a couple of miles from the hotel. Instead I decided to see if I could find my own way back to the main road. Of course I got completely lost and decided that I ought to actually ask for directions. Negative "man points" for that move.

I saw what looked like a school and a couple of parked cars and decided to knock on the door and ask for help. This gentleman in the picture, who's name I forgot to get, stopped what he was doing, got me a bottle of water, busted out the local map and hand-wrote me directions to get to the hotel in the shortest way possible. While he was working on that I talked to the two ladies behind the counter about the trip and some of my adventures along the way. They were all really nice and supportive of what I was doing, and wished me a safe journey along the way.



Here's one final story from the day. The threatened afternoon thunderstorm came on in a hurry. I was in my hotel room watching the sideways rain coming down in sheets and listening to the thunder. Jac got caught riding in it. He had to stop. He literally couldn't see where he was going, and figured the cars couldn't see him either. A guy in a pickup truck saw him by the side of the road, made a U-turn, picked Jac up, and gave him a ride to the hotel. This was a total stranger who just saw somebody in need of help. Kind of reaffirms your faith in humanity.