Saturday, June 27, 2009

Days 11 and 12: Granville, OH

After an incredibly restful night at Anne's house we rose to a marvelous breakfast. I love breakfast. Then, while getting the tour of the garden, I played with the cat. Jillian took photos.

Then we were off to the bike shop. First task of the day was to get the wheel fixed. After several days of constant work at keeping the back true there was a chance we could put a new tire on the back wheel and avoid having any tire rub. Before we'd gotten there, Anne did a bunch of research and found a shop that worked entirely on recumbent and tandems. So we threw the bike back in the truck, Anne left for work, and her mother drove us to the bike shop.

Our tire had an unusual wear pattern. Good tread up on the outside of the tire, but well worn on the side wall.

We left the bike at the shop to fix the wheel and investigate our chain, which by now was actually looking brown. On our way back to the house we actually experienced some car problems, as a brake locked on the truck, causing a good deal of smoke as we pulled into the driveway. Fortunately it turned out to not be too big of a deal - otherwise it would have been hard to pick the bike back up.

While we were in Granville we met with Bob Rush, a local cyclist who had completed a number of long tours. He had a lot of advice for us, notably a route to St Louis. We decided to follow his advice, and until St Louis we'd be following US-40. The only tricky spot would be in Indianapolis, where drivers are rumored to be rude and some neighborhoods are known to be bad. He recommended stopping at a bike shop just inside the Indianapolis beltway, but I decided the better option might be to just ride through the city really early.

After receiving a lot of helpful advice Jillian started blogging and I took a seat on the easy chair in the living room.

Several hours later, Jillian woke me up to go pick up the bike.

The bike shop had determined the real problem of our rubbing was the size of the tire. We had been using a 2 1/4 tire, which gave us less than 3/16 clearance on either side. Our new tire would be 1 1/2, meaning we'd no longer be rubbing and giving us less resistance on the road. We also discovered that the chain wasn't bad, it was just very poorly lubed. Those problems fixed, we loaded the bike in the truck and were off to be tourists. Anne's mother drove us out to Newark to see the Longaberger Basket Headquarters. It fit perfectly with our random buildings (shoe house, giant coffee pot).

Unfortunately, we arrived too late to see the inside. We tried peering through the windows longingly, but it didn't really work.

Then we got a brief tour of Newark, which highlighted the bike path we'd be riding to get out of town. Our next stop was the library where Anne works. They had an awesome arch.

We wandered around the library (which was very nice) and Jillian took a lot of pictures.

We switched vehicles, and Anne's mother took the bike home while we went with Anne to the barn. As we pulled into the barn driveway, I heard a sound I loved. Dogs! And big ones!

Anne went off and did something with the horses. Jillian wandered away with her camera. I played with the dogs. Anne was working a new horse, so Jillian and I camped out on some chairs and took pictures (and played with the dogs, when they weren't hiding in the shade).

Eventually I was able to talk Jillian into brushing a dog for a photo. She was smiling through, so I think she enjoyed it.

Jillian also got to feed a horse (when it behaved).

The horses were fun, but it was time to get some ice cream. We went into town and got some delicious ice cream with the dogs, who hungrily ate their own dog sized ice cream at our table. On the drive home we received a tour of Denison University and Granville. Nice campus, pretty town. Apparently a bunch of New Englanders just packed up and moved to Ohio. Since they built the whole town together it has a kind of New England feel that Jillian and I both liked.

Dinner was delicious and afterward we went out with a few of Anne's friends, sharing crazy stories. It was a delightful way to end out first rest day in Ohio.

The next morning we got up in time to go to the farmer's market. On the way downstairs we noticed a ridiculously large spinning wheel. Anne has progressed from knitting to making her own yarn.

At the farmer's market we had some delicious lemonade and pastries. One of the really cool things about a lot of towns in this area were the brick streets. Apparently they run a bicycle race on this street every year. I can only imagine how that must go.

The pastries really were amazing, plus they had fruit on them. We at a ton of fruit at Anne's house. One of the problems with being on the road is a total inability to find healthy food. By the time we'd arrived at Anne's house we'd worked up massive cravings for fruits and veggies.

Back at Anne's house we were treated to a wedding present - massages! We actually got them outside at Anne's house, which was a very peaceful setting. Thank you Anne!

Right next to where we had our massages was the laundry rack. This was on it.

At a distance it looks disturbingly like a dead animal. But it was just wool drying. We decided that we'd just need to get Anne a sheep, so she could do the whole wool making process.

Anne took us back in to town to see the Newark Earthworks. The one we saw was the Great Circle, which at just over a thousand feet in diameter, is the largest. I stopped to read all of the signs.

Jillian took a lot of pictures, so I'd get bored and take pictures of her taking pictures. I call it metaphotography.

On the way back from the mounds we took a look at the grounds of the Bryn Du Mansion.

Then I took another nap.

After another delicious dinner, which was made extra delicious by the fact that it was grilled and not fried, like all the road food we ate, it was time for bed. Since we hadn't quite made it to Newark on the previous ride we'd need to do an extra 15-20 miles tomorrow, which meant a very early start.

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