Day 36 miles: 101
Day 37 miles: 109
Day 38 miles: 74
Day 39 miles: 0
Total miles: 2,413
By bike:
Day 36: Leaving Doug and Danielle’s I was rejuvenated and didn’t look at my odometer the entire day for the most part.
Getting out of Jackson, I went through other towns in Michigan. Most of the ride in the morning was country roads and being alone with music and podcasts.
Blissfield, MI
Before I knew it I was in Ohio. No welcome sign but I did mark where Michigan pavement ended.
Michigan Ohio
Things didn’t get too spicy until I went into Toledo. Like Jackson, I went through some shady parts but did make it over the Maumee river.
Traffic after this started to be terrible. Car after car with no scenery or photos to take. I met up with Lauren in Fremont in the Comfort Inn and gladly went to bed.
Day 37:
I did not mean to go 109 miles this day but I guess it was in my nature.
Toledo seemed like a terrible place to live but Fremont was a cute town. I took some pictures of it and for the first 30 miles and enjoyed paved bike paths.
Fremont, OH
Alone on the trails
I’ve noticed this multiple times on the trip on paved bike roads. Little paw prints here and there and I started to see it in Minnesota.
I had no idea what critter caused these prints. Possibly a dirtbag.
When I had gone 20 miles I noticed the best dirtbag so far on the trip. I saw him in the distance and once I got off my bike he felt comfortable coming over to me. It was the best, but what to do with a big pile of dirt? I tried to put him in my handlebar bag but it didn’t work. I then called Lauren to see if we could take him or give him to an animal shelter. To make a long story short, an animal shelter wouldn’t take him in and we reasoned based on his behavior someone was tricked into feeding him. Nevertheless, it was an honor and a privilege to see him.
EXACT same mannerisms as Henry.
Taking Ohio 303 was fine but when I hit the Cuyahoga national forest it progressively had gotten so bad with cars I was looking forward to meeting up with Lauren. Many would pass me at 50 mph even on bike roads with inches to spare. I had to take a detour in the middle of the park to get out and go to downtown Kent.
At 109 miles I was smoked when I saw Lauren. We ate Mexican and I died in the hotel.
Not necessarily my favorite.
Day 38 + 39:
Getting out of Ohio was great, mainly because 3 days of terrible drivers with no respect was wearing on me.
I was greeted in the morning by a hot air balloon as I made my way out of Kent.
Luckily, it was a 75 mile short day and I used that time to call Hamilton and prepare for the fun ahead.
Even on country roads trucks seemed to not care. It was a bouncy ride too with a patchwork quilt of asphalt to navigate.
Very bumpy.
However, my persistence paid off and the near-death experiences from Ohio 32 quickly changed as I entered Pennsylvania to State Highway 51 with wide shoulders and rumble strips like in North Dakota!
This, turned into 
this!
I noticed, however, that the state highway lost its shoulders in Beaver Falls. This is the section of the trip where 2 cyclists have died. I called on my road angel (Lauren) to pick me up and we high-tailed it to Hamilton’s.
The rest of the day was spent being lazy and playing disc golf.
Hambone
The next day we went to Picklesburgh and played video games.
Hamilton is an amazing friend. He has done well for himself and I was proud to see how far he came along. Not to mention, he was a great prom date at our restaurant.
My prom date.
The real prom photos.
By car:
Days 36 + 37: Ohio was just a blur for the both of us, mainly because that’s what we wanted it to be. There weren’t any sites we wanted to see and we were already aware of the dicey cycling conditions Ohio had to offer. Busy roads, no shoulders, angry drivers. If we could have done Ohio in one day, we would have!
I woke up extra early to drive Matthew to his spot in Jackson where he would pick up the ride, then I left to meet another good friend of mine for coffee. Alisha was the first registered dietitian (RD) I worked with at Garden City Hospital, and we hit it off immediately when we first met. Between Alisha, Maria, and my own mother in law, I think I’ve hit the RD jackpot in my life! Thankfully she shares the same amount of love for Cultivate, my favorite coffee shop in Ypsilanti, and agreed to meet me there.
Two hours blew by as we updated each other on our lives. While I love seeing the country at this pace, I really have to practice cutting myself off from socializing sooner than I’m used to. It’s always hard peeling myself away from people! Alisha informed me that there’s a chance she could be moving to Roanoke, which is where Matthew has been trying to convince me to live. Maybe now I’ll consider it…
I’m sad (sort of?) to say I have no photos to even remember Ohio by. It was truly a set of work days for us both. We made time to find an excellent local healthy restaurant to eat dinner together…otherwise there’s not much to say about this state. Between being Michigan Wolverines for a brief moment in our lives and accepting the warnings from other cyclists around Ohio drivers/bike conditions, this was just not a rose we wanted to stop and smell.
The hotel in Fremont was similar to a water park resort, which unfortunately meant many screaming children and loud quick-beat stomping all night as the little monsters ran down the halls. Pittsburgh could not come soon enough for either of us!
Days 38 + 39: Pittsburgh used to be where I met up with Matthew when he lived in Michigan while I remained in Virginia, so it already holds some romantic memories for us both. One of Matthew’s best friends lives here as well, which made it even more worthwhile!
Hamilton and Megan wined and dined us with local eateries, brews, and ice cream. We started with a tour of Pitt, where Hamilton is currently studying.
I could have spent the entire day getting lost in these buildings. What kept me from allowing myself to do that was the pickle festival! Each year Pittsburgh transforms into Picklesburgh. Anything pickle related can turn from dream to reality in Picklesburgh. I enjoyed a pickle infused pretzel while Matthew nommed away at pickle enhanced mozzarella sticks with pickle dip!
Tickled my pickle
Matthew and I had the honor of witnessing the inauguration of the new mayor of Picklesburgh. No one votes for the mayor Picklesburgh- this is far from a democratic society. Mayorship must be earned by guzzling an entire jar of pickle juice faster than your opposing candidates. Joe George triumphed and claimed the new title as mayor in a speedy 6.4 seconds!
After celebrating Joe George’s victory in the race to such an honorable distinction, we quickly went back to Hamilton and Megan’s place to dress up and enjoy some fine dining at an old train station.
Pan seared scallops coated in my drool.
It was another excellent end to our final rest stop before we reach the finish line in Virginia. Because we’re now in the portion of the country where we have friends, family, and multiple towns/cities to visit, our journaling has been placed on the back burner. We also realized that Ohio didn’t give us much to write about, hence this four-day post.
We’ll be approaching the famous Great Allegheny Passage trail (GAP trail) which links up to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Towpath) tomorrow! This is a 333-mile carless set of biking paths from Pittsburgh to DC. THIS is my dream route. If I could ditch my car here I would gladly ride this entire path with Matthew, but instead I secretly plan to ride parts of it to surprise him where ever we end up running into each other. He and I will likely take the time to do this entire ride together with all of our gear loaded on our bikes sometime in the future.
No Jobs, No Home, No Worries. A Shared Journey by Bike and Support SUV Across the U.S. 