Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Day 13, July 4, 2011

Norwalk to Bowling Green (62 miles)


                                Ohio, yep, that's pretty much it for mile after mile!


I didn’t get an early start as I had intended; I overslept, but I probably needed the extra sleep. I had a quick granola bar breakfast, broke down my campsite, and got on the road. Riding in Ohio is, well, boring. While the roads are flat (but there is wind to with which to contend), they just go straight off into the horizon. There’s nothing much to see but cornfields and such. There’s no shade between towns and taking a break in the hot sun is not much of a rest at all--might as well keep pedaling until one arrives at a town.

Just when I was about to find a place to stealth camp (stealth camping: to camp secretly on a piece of land without prior permission from either public authorities or private owners.), I came upon a travel trailer park. I went to the office and spoke to the owner, and asked if I might camp there. He does not typically allow “tent camping” but makes an exception for motor cyclist and bicyclists. I was very pleased since I was in dire need of a shower (an amenity that stealth camping seldom provides). I was not preparing my campsite for five minutes when the nice folks in a travel trailer next to me invited me to come over to their site for a 4th of July picnic. I, of course, said yes. I stayed and chatted for about an hour or so. They insisted that I take a bottle of Gatorade with me. In the morning, I noticed that they had left another bottle on my picnic table. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I’m constantly meeting generous and friendly people about every day.

There were no trees to set up my hammock. Since there was no risk of rain and few mosquitoes, I just slept on my sleeping pad under the stars.

Ron "Watchin the Stars" Occhiuto

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