Day 12: Brunswick, OH to Upper Sandusky and Day 13: Day off: (J's Version)

The red dot is Upper Sandusky

Evening!!! Even though we were "off" today, we needed the extra time for errands, paying bills, laundry, phone calls, etc. I much rather have blogged this morning instead of taking my School Law Final. It was 50 True/False questions, and it took me 2 and 1/2 hours. The questions were hard and required you to sift through Eight 20 page units for the answers. I had a mini heart attack at first because even though my professor gave us a week and 1/2, I waited until the day it was due to do it, AND his email did NOT have the exam attached to it. I emailed him right away and got an automated response that he was out of the office for the next few days. (Insert explicative of choice) Then, I emailed my entire class, and thankfully due to technology AND nice people I got 15 copies of the same exam. Apparently, he had sent a second email that did have the attachment, but I must have trashed it (my trash deletes automatically after a few days) thinking it was a duplicate. This is why I'm not a total hard ass on students because sometimes stuff really does happen.

Yesterday though, I did get two copies of the bike rack key. The locksmith was really cool and down to Earth. Walking into her house turned shop was pretty interesting. It's been a family business for over 30 years, and all sorts of keys were hanging on the walls. She was done with the key copies in 3 minutes. Take that Home Depot!

Also, the route yesterday was extremely rural. We've been on A LOT of farm roads, but the trek to Upper Sandusky from Brunswick was by far the longest we've gone without anything. I'm talking a good 60 miles!! (That's about 6 hours bike time!) Luckily for G, there were 2 small gas stations spread out over the 60 miles, so he could go to the bathroom and re-hydrate if he needed to. Me, on the other hand, just had to keep driving. Normally, I don't like to be more than 20-30 miles behind or ahead of G incase he needs me. Roadie Support Crew at your service! We even provide massages at the end of the day to alleviate cramps for a small added charge of $9.99. I didn't have any choice though but to keep on driving. I very well couldn't just pull off in a field of corn and wait for him to ride by. I did; however, almost run over a goat. I kid you not.



Jalapeno SPAM = Happy G

There wasn't even a warning sign posted. This little goat appeared on the side of the road and startled me. He didn't jump out into the road, thank God. I think he must have wandered away from his family because there were more goats on the far end.

In any case, since I kept on driving, I ended up going straight to our destination in Upper Sandusky. I went to Walmart and got G another pair of cycling gloves. Honestly, anyone who cycles at least 10 miles in a sitting should get a pair. They are only about $16-18 at Walmart or Target. The gel in the glove makes your  palms more comfortable. I mean, I even wear them!

Special clip in pedals and shoes

If you're a more serious rider, wearing clip in cycling shoes is beneficial because you're pushing the bike forward when you're pulling up on the pedal. Basically, you get more power in your pedal stroke. I have no idea what I just said in this paragraph. I'm just trying to make sense of what G just told me.

It was another long, hot day for G though. He didn't get back until 6:45!!! 95 miles!! That's his most yet. We were thinking, that from this point on 90 + should be the norm because when he gets to the Rocky Mountains those days will probably be shorter.

Although, the irony is that today was so COOL out. It would have been great cycling weather. We slept in a little  and went to Walmart because G said we needed a cooler to put in the truck (much to my dismay) . He said that since we are getting to more isolated regions, we should have a cooler full of ice and drinks (V8 and Vitamin Water) handy for when I pass him on the road. This will be another responsibility added to my morning Roadie Support Crew Routine. I was thinking of starting a union.
Then, I realized HE WAS RIGHT, and I WAS WRONG. You saw it. In writing. :o)))



Doggie to go cup! I love it!

This afternoon, we treated ourselves to Red Lobster thanks to the Haggerty's (from Fulton). Thanks, guys! We had to travel 20 miles via TRUCK to the nearest city. Our waitress, Emerald was SO cool! She gave us a to go drink cup for G's iced tea before we left! I never heard of such a thing before! Plus, she was really in awe of our cycling journey and wished us well. Also, we bought a Triple A membership (not at Red Lobster), so we could get maps. lol You know how hard it is to find maps??? Harder than you think. I'm sure you're all just thinking, "At a gas station." We figured with Triple A, we could get the exact maps of the states we needed (2 copies each) all at once. It really did work out nicely. Although, despite buying the membership in Ohio, we had to pay Connecticut's Triple A membership, which is 20 whole dollars more than Ohio's price.

Padded for the bum

Then, we passed by a store called, Spokes, so naturally we had to go in. Even though, he vowed to never wear Spandex, G has finally succumb to the padded shorts of Heaven. He's been in the saddle for almost 2 weeks straight for at least 6 hours a day, so it's only natural that the tushie is hurtin'. The Spokes guys, Jim and Nathan were SUPER cool and helpful.

ANDDDD.....remember the phone interview G gave to the local paper in Fulton last week about his cycling trip? It made the online edition of the Valley News paper!

Just think. You knew him when.

Tomorrow, our destination is Fort Wayne, Indiana. I can't believe we'll be in Indiana!! Indiana is only about 145 miles wide, so we really should only be there for 2 days. We already have a hotel (Yibby Skibby!) because 1. We wanted to be sure we got a room reserved for July 4th and 2. G needed an address for Amazon to send spare batteries to. He did make sure ahead of time that that was okay with the hotel because it seems kind of suspicious getting this package addressed to a man who isn't even in the hotel. The package is set to arrive there today.

Have a good night!!