A Ride Against Lymphoma

day 10 - lisbon, oh to shreve, oh - 75ish miles.

today started out great as i raided the breakfast room at the days inn. anything available i ate and i continued to graze as i made trips back and forth to my room as well as the hotel computer.

with a freshly wiped bike and dry clothes i set out into the rain. it was a slow start as my left knee has developed some pain but as i got riding it stretched out and i was moving. And by the way, whomever said ohio is flat is full of it. i rode up and down all day just as i had done in PA.

after a couple of hours the rain began to subside and as i crest the top of a hill, i heard a sharp hissing and before i knew it my back tire was flat like roadkill. so i changed it out and by the time i was finished by body temp had dropped and i began freezing and my hands were numb.

the first restaurant i saw was a subway where i sat for over an hour in an attempt to warm myself and dry. and of course i ate footlong meatball sub.

i knew i had roughly 40 miles to go and it was already 3:15. i'd be rolling in late for sure. i rolled through canton, oh and stocked up on bike tubes and co2 cartridges as i was going into somewhat of a no mans land for the next day.

eventually i found myself rolling through wide open country, still hilly of course. the number of horse-and-buggy trumped the number of cars i saw. i was in amish country. i thought that if i shaved my stache and put on a straw hat, i could disappear into this community. i'd have to learn how to build barns and pray, but it could be done. also, these amish gave cool waves compared to what i thought they'd give. i figured them to throw up a stagnant hand but instead they gave a flick of the wrist and point or even toss up a peace sign.

one bearded fellow weirded me out and a bit and made me wary of his presence. he came up beside me in his blue van, and not a mini-van but a kidnapping van. he watched me the whole time as he passed. as i came over the next hill he was sitting there in his van in an intersection with his cell phone out pointing at me as if taking a picture. as i passed he pulled out behind me and began to follow - not to close but close enough to make me a bit nervous. at the next pulloff i pulled over and the man kept on driving but slowly. i grabbed my knife from my handlebar bag and placed it in my front pocket. think i'd be travelling alone and not carry protection? i looked down thd road and saw the van just sitting there on the shoulder. jeebis, i thought, what is this dude doing? i was ready to shank a fool. as i rode closer and closer to the van, he kicked it into reverse, flipped around and started towards me slowly. as we were about to cross paths i could see that cell phone out again. suddenly, he lowered the phone, put on a big smile amd waved. i nodded. he drove away. dude, please be more tactful and less creepy the next time you stalk some one in an abduction vessel.

it was beginning to grow dark and i still had a ways to go. i pulled into the lake wapusun campground at about 9pm. i was welcomed with a smile and given directions to a cabin. i'm loving these cabins, such a great place to dry out.

as i stood eating dinnet, watching transformers 2 on this fancy phone, and drying my wet clothes over the hot burners of the stoved, a knock came on my door.

it can be a bit quiet out here, so it was cool when my fellow cabin dweller invited me to his cabin to hang with his girl and him. they were a nice couple, definitely in love. we discussed politics, traveling, work, the ride, the legalization of marijuana (which should be legalized) and many other things. they gave me some of their leftover dinner and dessert - my second within 30 minutes.

as i yawned and my eyes began to fall i excused myself and went and crashed for the evening.