Chelsea, Michigan to Tontonagay, OhioChelsea, Michigan
to
Tontonagay, Ohio
Saturday, July 19, 2003
Back Up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: Lansing to Chelsea Eastbound: Tontogany to Willard
Chelsea, Michigan to Tontonagay, OhioAfter staying up late two nights in a row, I was very slow to get going in the morning. Additionally, with my busy social life for the previous two days, I had not kept up with mail and the like. The motel had advertised a good internet connection in their business center, but I had found no success in using it. Eventually I retrieved my mail using a dial up connection. By 10:30 I was ready to check out and get going. During checkout, I mentioned my experience with their internet connection and received an apology and a ten dollar discount.
From the motel, I continued south on M52 under Interstate 94 and toward Ohio. Initially, the road was pretty good though not nearly as nice as it had been between I96 and I94. I stopped for a hot turkey sandwich at a nice restaurant and continued toward Ohio. South of Adrian, M52 was still older and narrower. In light of M 52's disappointment south of I 94, I might have done well to have migrated eastward a bit toward the route I had mapped south from Ann Arbor.
Once I got into Ohio, I stopped for a drink at an auto repair shop—that is I bought some Mountain Dew from their machine— and got some local advice on the roads. They helped me choose the best pavement to move east and south. Soon I reached U.S. 20 which was lovely. I followed 20 a short way to Ohio 295 where I turned south again. I soon stopped to call home—by then it was lunch on the west coast—and then continued my loop around Toledo.
From experience driving from Ann Arbor to the east coast via the Ohio Turnpike, I knew I did not want to be near Toledo on a bicycle. My route was going to take me nicely west and south of Toledo, but the cost of this excursion was that I would also avoid most of the motels. On the way into Waterville, I stopped at supermarket and got my orange juice and stuff for the night. I then crossed the Maumee River and reached Ohio 64 aimed for Bowling Green. It was around the evening rush hour and I expected to reach a motel before 7 pm.
Ohio 64 paralleled the Whiskey River and was unexpectedly narrow with no shoulder between the lane and the guard rail that kept traffic from straying into the water. My rear tire decided the confluence of (a) traffic, (b) no shoulder, (c) a too-close guard rail, and (d) impending twilight demanded a sudden loss of pressure. I got off the bike and tried to decide which would be easier: change the tire where I was, push the bike a hundred yards or so to the next intersection, or pump the tire up and nurse it along. Before I could implement my tentative decision to walk up to the intersection, a small pick up pulled over (still at least half in the lane) and a mail carrier offered me both assistance and a place to stay. I was moderately tired and stressed from the traffic and lack of space. I remembered my mother’s cautions about strangers but still regretted passing on the offer in Amery. Plus there was the issue of riding the whole trip (save the ferry). I had but one escape from my metal dilemma. I negotiated. If he would pick me up at the corner and return me there in the morning, then I would be delighted to enjoy his hearth and family. He said yes and so we did.
It turns out that the ACA Northern Tier goes through this area and Chuck’s home is just off the route. When we got there, I was able to work on my tire and help him carry some stuff to his junk pile while we waited for his wife, Barb, to get home. I then took the family to a Bob Evans in Bowling Green and spent most of the meal talking baseball with their younger son. (The older, Micah, it happens, lives in the Seattle area.) Notwithstanding his loyalty to the Indians, Seth believed theat George Steinbrenner is the best baseball executive in history. I suggested that maybe Branch Rickey was even better. Seth was diplomatic enough to allow that possibility but he was too yong to have heard of the Gas House Gang and Rickey’s other successes building next the Brooklyn Dodgers and then the Pittsburgh Pirates.
44 miles in 3:59 on the bike for an average of 11 mph.
Back Up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: Lansing to Chelsea Eastbound: Tontogany to Willard