7/28/05 Monroeville, IN to Maumee, OH 96 miles
Today was the flattest ride I've done on the tour so far — only 210 feet up. I heard Western Ohio was still part of the plains, but this was great. Especially since I underestimated the mileage by about 10 miles which made for a long day.
I tried to get started early. Got up at 6:30 and started packing and had almost decided that I would ride to breakfast when the route took me right past the bar I had eaten in last night. They were open for breakfast, too, so I went in and plopped at the bar. It took a whole 40 minutes to get 2 pancakes & sausage, but in some ways it was worth the wait. The pancakes were hugh — glad I only ordered 2 — and the sausage was about an inch thick and as big as a t-bone steak. No wonder it took so long to cook. While filling, the extra time again got me off to a late start and I wasn't out of Monroeville until 8:45.
There's not much to say about the route today except that it was flat and that Ohio corn and soybean fields look very much like every other state's. I did stop for lunch in Defiance, OH and got a short history of it's role in the French & Indian wars and saw a marker for Pontiac's birthplace and another marker for Johnny Appleseed's first orchard. After Definance, I rode mostly along the Maumee River road, though the river was very muddy from the recent rains.
I arrived at Jean's & Mark's around 6:30, ready to be off the bike for a couple of days. I was treated to a wonderful meal, excellent libations, and slept in a wonderfully soft bed, feeling fully lubricated. (Have I used the Waldorf-Astoria analogy yet?).
