Bicycle Touring in Ohio : Wednesday June 4

Average Speed: 11.4 mph

Max Speed: 29.2 mph

Total Riding Time: 4:44:10

Trip Mileage: 54:27

Total Mileage to Date: 638

Wake Up Time: 7:00am

Leave Time: 9:00am

 

Wrote 8:45pm...

I'm in a campsite in Shelby, Ohio called the Wagon Wheel on Baker Road off Route 39. Route 39 is very nice and I may consider taking it tomorrow.

 

While I was riding today I stopped at a tourist info center on Route 30 just east of Mansfield. I was having a conversation with a worker when a man came up and asked where the nearest campground was. I told him Shelby, which is where I was going. He said he would meet me there and we could share a space. 

 

This was just before noon. I arrived at Shelby around 3pm. Had a very interesting conversation and rode into town in his van. We went to a supermarket and bought a whole chicken and some ears of corn. We then stopped at a local bar and had a round of local brew (Great Lakes beer). Went back to camp and started cooking the chicken and corn on his electric grill.

 

Apparently he drives around the country in a van with such amenities as A DSS television set up, microwave and other items to form a house on wheels. His name is Cal from Colorado, but claims he was originally from New Jersey as well as a lawyer and banker until he quit. He began his journey in January of 1996 and claims to have been a Navy Seal for seven years and was shot down over Nicaragua. His stories sound unbelievable, but somehow I feel they "maybe" true. Regardless he is interesting to talk with.

 

One thing that bugged me and made me glad I left my previous job was this: When we first met I told Cal that I was originally a video electronics salesperson back in New York so imagine my surprise when he starts bolting a satellite dish to the wooden picnic table. He starts to explain how he bought the dish at a Best Buy or one of those big discounters. He then tells me of his experience with the sales person who sold it to him and how he doesn't care about the sales guy because he is "just" a sales guy. This is just about an hour after I told him I was a salesperson! It's because of people like him that I left my previous sales job despite great pay because no matter how smart, helpful or truthful you are with some of them they will never respect you and treat you as if they are better than you. 

 

Anyway, I pitched my tent at one end of the space and called it a night.