Detours and Other Distractions Provide a Frustrating Day in Central OhioWillard, Ohio
to
North Canton, Ohio
Sunday, July 20, 2003
Back up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: Tontogany to Willard Eastbound: NorthCanton to Monaca
Detours and Other Distractions Provide a Frustrating Day in Central Ohio
Sunday my start was not overly delayed but not nearly as early as my arrival Saturday should have assisted. The movies cost me. Breakfast was something from one of the fast food joints, another miscalculation. None of these decisions was reckless, but they all suggest a diminished focus. Physically, I felt good. The ankle was still tender but not a major annoyance. Emotionally, I was confident that I was very likely to arrive in Washington, DC the following Saturday with two and a half days to spare. Mentally, however, I was not as sharp. I think it was mostly uneven sleep but it might have been also a need to do something different after five weeks on the road.
My federal highway continued to be adequate at best and in parts truly deficient without any shoulder. The pavement quality and shoulder changed with each county line. Luckily, this was a quiet Sunday morning and I reached the turn off without having to fight traffic for the pavement. I should mention, however, the country side was quite attractive and the light traffic was not hostile.
I had to abandon US 224 west of Akron because it merges into a limited access highway. I had purchased maps from Columbus Outdoor Pursuits for most of their routes across Ohio. The Cardinal Trail, so called, followed back roads and would get me to Pennsylvania. I carried both the strip maps and my DeLorme version.
Shortly after leaving 224 on Ohio 301, I stopped for lunch in West Salem. I had a good hamburger at a restaurant and a lovely milkshake down the street at an ice cream stand.
Once again, as I headed south, I managed to miss a very short connecting road. Taking the two legs instead of the diagonal cost me a mile or two on my way to the intersection of Ohio 539 and CR 48 where I joined the Cardinal Trail.
The Trail is actually a route along back roads. At times one even sees small signs confirming one is on the right route. At first it seemed nice, but I soon met an annoyance, at least for me. Killbuck Creek near Armstrong has a fairly deep ravine. The down hill run into the ravine is reasonably steep but also blind. Never having been down it, I did not feel comfortable letting the bike roll. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, the road crosses the narrow valley and takes a left up a steep, blind hill on very narrow pavement with a canopy of trees that blocks the view of traffic on the downhill lane. I might have been able to climb the hill using the full road for wobbling, but the curves and overhangs from the trees did not leave enough visibility for my taste. I couldn’t see oncoming traffic and neither oncoming nor overtaking traffic was sure to see me. For the only time in the entire 3000 mile journey, I got off the bike and walked it up a 300 yard hill. I was furious with frustration when I crested the hill and left the trees behind.
At that point, I encountered a gentleman mowing his lawn. He asked how I was and I shared my frustration. A conversation ensued. While we talked I also saw a milk truck trundle up the hill using both lanes. That confirmed my apprehensions and made me a bit less annoyed with fates and a bit more annoyed with the route maker. At the same time, my host was so genial that it was easy to get beyond the annoyance. He refilled my water bottles from his deep well and off I went in a much better mood.
Having regained some altitude, it seemed like a good time to call home. It took a try or two to find a strong signal, but Verizon delivered again. After checking in, I made pretty good progress until about 4 pm when I arrived at a closed road. They were replacing a culvert or bridge for a very small creek and had the road closed for about fifty feet. I was able to find a path through the mess and walk the bike back to pavement. Shortly afterward, I reached a nice subdivision where a younger man—mid 30s?—waved me down. Aware of the interruption in the pavement, he was curious whence I had come and where I intended to go. I gave him the quick summary of the trip so far and my estimate of what remained. Somehow we then got onto other issues and talked about government and stuff for nearly an hour. Now I was facing time pressure because I needed to reach exit 100 on I 71 to find a motel.
I crossed Ohio 21. Even though it looked like the kind of highway theat might have a motel nearby, I resisted temptation and coasted down the hill into Canal Fulton. Once in town, I wanted help to ensure that I exited town on the road that would lead to the Interstate Interchange and the motels near North Canton. It’s only about ten miles from Canal Fulton to the highway, but no one I found could give an authoritative answer. Finally I took Locust Street, the consensus guess, and continued east into the dwindling twilight. Again I turned on my blinker. Ohio, being civilized, the street had pretty good lighting,. I was motivated to make time and the road was smooth with a decent shoulder most of the way.
About a mile and a half from the Interstate, I reached yet another detour. I had three choices: try to walk through it, detour to the north through a residential area that might or might not go through, or follow the Highway Department’s detour signs. I elected to take the sure loss of the official detour rather than risk getting lost in a never-before-visited maze. After all, if I couldn’t find my way efficiently in Okemos where I had lived for eight years, my chances were likely to be slimmer in an Ohio neighborhood which I had never previously visited. Besides, the detour might lead to a motel I didn’t know about.
The detour ended up being nearly two miles down and almost as much back. I believe I reached the other road I could have taken from Canal Fulton. Along the way, I passed a campus of Kent State University and thought back the decades to that sad time. Since passing through, I’ve learned that I went by the Stark County branch campus and that the main campus is closer to Cleveland. Regardless of the details, the reminder of history distracted me from the frustration over the detour. Just beyond the campus I regained the prior eastbound street and soon reached both the Intrastate and my Motel Six. They had a room and all was well.
The room was large and well equipped. Once I was inside, it was but a few moments to call home and then head out to the nearby Pizza Hut for pasta and a beer.
After I got back from my late dinner, I turned my attention to trying to locate the next night’s lodging. From the earliest stages of planning this tour, it had been challenging to find a good route with good lodging in the Pittsburgh vicinity. The best solution appeared to be stopping at Columbiana on the west and traversing to Canonsburg on the south. It would have been a full day but doable. Now, not having reached Columbiana, Canonsburg was no longer a viable next stop. Instead I would need something before the Montour Trail or good fortune in finding an exit from that trail with nearby, findable, affordable lodging.
As a start, I tried getting a room at the Holiday Inn in Monaca, north of Pittsburgh where the Ohio River bends back to the south. No luck, the reservation agent reported. They were fully reserved. The corridor by the river seems not to have much lodging. We discussed a place on the Pittsburgh side of the river, a bit further south, but she did everything she could to discourage me, albeit indirectly, from going there. With that place also somewhat out of the way—I wasn’t sure how easily I could cross and recross the big river on a bike—with my own doubts about the location, and her coolness, I didn’t pursue it further. As I called it a night without the next night secured, I hoped my decision was not unfair and that I could make it far enough up the Montour Trail to take advantage of the motels near Pittsburgh International Airport.
About 80.57 miles.
Back up to Manitowoc to Washington
Westbound: Tontogany to Willard Eastbound: NorthCanton to Monaca