Dalton

After packing up I left my little spot along the river that was home for the night. By 6:30 I was rolling through quiet suburban neighborhoods that had not awakened yet. A few people walking out to get the newspaper waved and said a quiet good morning as i passed. By 8 am many people were moweing their lawns, the smell of fresh cut grass filled the warm humid air. The old song by Pete Seger, Little Boxes was stuck on repeat in my mind. At a stop sign I pulled it up on YouTube and listened to it. In dover I saw a sign on a house that said Swim Hunter Swim. Curiosity got the better of me so I Googled that. On August 4 Hunter Armstrong from Dover Ohio won a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. I assume that was his parents house.

Soon I was back on country roads.

It was great riding and perfect weather. I made good time and had done the 20 some miles to a branch of the OTET by 10 am.

Shortly after getting on the trail I stopped to cook lunch or breakfast. Im not a morning eater. Usually I don’t eat my first meal until I’ve been awake a few hours. Rarely do I wake up hungry. So usually I make coffee bike a few hours then eat my first meal. Jason (cool recumbent trike) the man I met on the montour trail talked highly of intermittent fasting for losing weight and I’ve been thinking of trying that out. Anyway I enjoyed my past couple days road riding but im glad to be back on shaded trails with no vehicles

Somewhere a little past the town of Navarre, I stopped at a bench to put antiseptic and a bandage on my blisters. Two cyclist stopped to talk. They both were cross country cyclist. Brad had done it twice. Brian was getting close to finishing his east bound ride . He had started in California and had been out 63 days. Brad had went east to west, Nags Head to Huntington beach I think he said. Him and Brian had crossed paths out west and kept in contact so when Brian passed through Brad’s hometown they could ride together for the day. I rode with them into Massillon. It was great talking to people who knew so much about bike touring. The other great thing was Brian treated us all to Dairy Queen! I had a large cookie dough blizzard it was excellent.

Brad has podcast of his trip. There very interesting. Here’s a link to check it out. https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/biking-across/id1566937382 . Some of Brads stuff has gone viral and was commented on by Will Smith and other famous people.Another unique aspect of our meeting was at one time we were all over 300 pounds. I still am. I weighed 347 the day I left. There has been no way to weigh myself to see if I have lost any but I feel pretty healthy and I have more energy lately.

After our ice cream we parted ways. I headed Southwest towards Cincinnati and they headed Northeast towards Cleveland. I think so at least, I rarely look at maps. In 10 days or so ill be back through here. When I get to Cincinnati I’ll turn around and then head to Cleveland. I really want to do the whole Ohio to Erie trail so thats the reason I’m adding all these miles.

I made it into Dalton today just before a thunderstorm hit. I got to the village park just in time.

Under the pavilion I made dinner. Macaroni and cheese with a pouch of tuna. I need to shop tomorrow. I got about 2 meals left, brown rice and oatmeal. The lightness of my “kitchen” pannier is noticeable. Groceries are readily available so I don’t really need to pack 5 or 6 days worth of food but is easier to be frugal if I do.

After dinner and after the storm past I headed back the way I had came. I had past a spot that looked ok for a stealth camp. It was a abandoned bridge over a little creek. It was overgrown with brambles and uninviting. In the middle were the thorns and weeds couldn’t grow, I hung my hammock from the old wooden handrails and fell asleep to the sounds of the creek below me.