July 21, 2016
Day 49 - Columbia City to Leipsic
90 degrees.
90% Humidity.
90 miles.
(Well, it's 90 miles when you include my tooling around Fort Wayne.)
The end is near.
Or so I’m beginning to feel.
(Not to mention that my Amtrak ticket is for August 2nd)
Good Lord! The dew this morning was six feet deep.
Everything was soaked! Wet, sticky & disgusting.
I was riding before sunrise and dripping wet.
So much for clean clothes.
The sunrise was beautiful, but Old Lincoln Highway got busy.
I was glad to switch off to Leesburg Road with a 40 mph speed limit.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
When I got to Fort Wayne, I stopped right off at Cindy’s Diner.
It was a classic, stainless steel, single counter affair.
The waitress had purple hair and tattoos.
The cook was a picture of nonchalance.
Afterwards, I stopped by the Presbyterian church to practice.
Then it was off to the visitors center for maps and wifi.
Another “Must” for me was to visit Lincoln Tower -
A 1929 deco mini-skyscraper than predates the Empire State Building.
Brass door trim and bannisters, ceiling murals. A jewel.
Then it was onto the St. Joseph River Trail.
Such a pleasant way to get through a city.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
When I got to New Haven I had a choice to make.
There was a nice southwest wind with temps pushing 90F.
Did I want to swing south towards Monroeville?
Or did I want to shoot straight east - off the planned route?
The answer was “B”.
Hot. Humid.
But thank the FSM for the angled tailwind.
Not only do you get a boost, but you stay a bit cooler.
I stopped for a late lunch of lemonade and bananas at Payne.
When it’s that hot and muggy, I just don’t have much of an appetite.
The local policeman gave me an Ohio map - so I was really ready to run.
More miles, more heat, but then it started getting darker.
And it sure wasn’t 8:30.
I looked behind me and saw a big storm gathering.
So I planned to stop at one of the little towns along the way.
It was Oakland - the only store in town.
My timing worked out perfectly.
The storm hi a few minutes after I got there.
Today's ride: 85 miles (137 km)
Total: 2,713 miles (4,366 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |