109 miles in 8.75 hours – Max Speed 37.5mph
You guys probably know the drill by now… I got up, did twenty miles, and then stopped to get breakfast in the town of Ada. While I was there I saw that I had rejoined the Lincoln Highway yet again. But I knew that after today that would be the end of my time on it because it went more north, towards New York, while I went mostly east and a little south.
The Lincoln Highway makes its triumphant return. The town (Ada) looks like every other small town in Ohio.
My favorite website!
I went through some more cities today, which was nice to see. Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus were both reasonably sized… probably as big as most anything I saw in the stretch from Sacramento to Lincoln. It kept me happy to know that I was getting closer to the east coast. Other than that there wasn’t anything special to really write about, just one of those days where you put your head down and get through the miles.
Oooh, a spot where the Highway Splits.
Historical Marker - Front
Historical Marker - Rear
Despite there being more cities, it was still mostly farmland.
What? This road doesn't go West also?
State Slogan - Ohio: Birthplace of Harding
As the day wore on traffic became heavier and heavier. Once I passed Lexington the road was full of traffic pretty much nonstop going both ways. This was surprising, as well as not optimal, since it was a Saturday. Luckily as soon as I passed I-71 a bike path appeared next to the road, which I took into the town of Butler.
This saved my bacon.
When I reached Butler it was around 6:00, and I had checked my cell phone next to the highway so I knew that there was supposedly an RV Park in town, but I couldn’t find it for the life of me. I did not have signal, so I couldn’t look further into it, so I ate dinner and carried on towards Loudonville (I pretty much didn’t have signal throughout the entire state of Ohio, which was really strange considering how much more populated it was than any state I had been in since California). But as soon as I left town, it was like POW! Hills started, proper hills that required use of my granny gear. And they never give you a moment to rest, it was always either up or down. I guess that meant that I was getting closer to the Appalachians, which was good, but traffic was still really heavy, and going uphill in the granny + traffic is not a good combo.
Anyway, as I was going along I saw a sign for a KOA two miles down a side road that I was totally not expecting. I petaled down the side road and after some nasty hills reached the campground. When I got there the family that ran it came out to see me before I could even go inside. We had a really nice talk because the man of the family had apparently done a tour back in the 70’s. We talked for around 15 minutes, and then she told me the price for a tent spot. $32. Holy crap. That works out to $1000 a month for the right to put your tent on a crappy 10×20 piece of grass with a picnic table and fire pit.
I considered turning around and just stealthing somewhere, but the lady was nice and I didn’t really want to make a scene or anything, so I paid and took the site. I got set up and then went down to the pavilion to get on the internet and charge my phone. Eventually the father came down and we talked about bike touring for around an hour, and they brought me a glass of wine. This made me feel better about the decision, but $32 is still an awful lot for a campsite.
A movie was supposed to start at 9:00pm so at that time I went back up to the tent, and then showered and went to sleep.
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