Road Angels

I imagined what it would have been like to travel the tow path along the Maumee River and the Miami and Erie Canal of 1825-1845 or even earlier when this country was considered the Northwest Territory. What excitement it would have been to explore the landscape and interact with those living there. Wait a minute. That’s exactly what we are doing. 

I’ve put many a mile behind a windshield traveling at 55+ mph only stopping for food gas and the occasional sleep. You don’t explore much. It’s a hard habit to break just to slow down and take it all in. 

We woke a little later than normal today. We didn’t even meet up for breakfast until 7:30. Then it was a leisurely pedal through Defiance. We turned eastward along the north shore of the Maumee River and stopped across from the confluence of its tributary the Auglaize. Protected on two sides by water General “Mad” Anthony Wayne built Fort Defiance as a defensive position in 1794 during the Northwest Indian War. The fort also saw action during the War of 1812(if you recall we visited similar forts on Mackinac Island). 

We continued pedaling downstream through incorporated villages of Florida and Texas…Ohio,  before coming upon the town of Napoleon and its colonial architecture for the county court house. It’s currently under renovation, probably not it’s first. 

Between the River and River Road is the remains of the towpath used in the early to mid 1800’s to haul barges of trade good up and down the River. Today it is a gravel and dirt hiking and biking path. At a crossing I saw a bicyclist that looked familiar. I yelled out, “Is that you Riley?!”  Sure enough, Riley from Uptown Cycles in Defiance was on a training ride on the towpath for the upcoming cyclocross season. We stopped and had a great visit. I wish I had known about cyclocross when I was Riley’s age. Keep up the training Riley. Blessings on your race season. Hope to read about your successes in the CX news. 

As we approached Grand Rapids….Ohio, we pulled into a Metroparks park and dam area created in the 1930’s under Roosevelt’s WPA program. We found some shade where we ate some snacks and watched an older couple swing their feet as they watched the water roll over the low head dam. Relieved and refreshed and replenished we crossed the River and weaved our way eastward towards Bowling Green…Ohio. 

While riding on Poe road about 5 miles from town, a suburban pulling a horse trailer passed us and pulled off the road and stopped. The driver jumped out and raised his hand as we approached. ‘What did we do?’ I thought. Brian, we’ll call him Brian because that’s his name says, “can I talk to you?” Well sure I thought. He asks if we are touring and if we had thoughts on lunch. He says, ‘I live back that way a bit and I always like to invite cyclists on tour if they would like to use our camper to stay the night and use the shower. I can’t today because my camper is at the county fair up the road. I want to buy you lunch.’ At that point he pulls out a 20 and hands it to us. We tried to refuse but he insisted. He goes on, ‘I want to treat you to our home grown fair food. Go up the road to the gate. They shouldn’t charge you. Tell them I sent you. And go to the end of the midway where the locals sell their food and enjoy. I’m headed there now and I’ll let them know you’re coming”. We shook hands and pictures were taken and he took off. 

So we pedaled into town and came to Gate C. The gate attendant hadn’t heard of the scheme but got on the radio and shortly Jim, the fair board director pulled up with two entry tickets. “Brian said you would be here in 15 minutes. You are fast. Y’all are my guest. Enjoy the fair. Park your bikes inside the fence next to the sheriff’s car. They’ll watch over them for you.” Wow! This beats a handshake from a mayor any day. The deputy on post suggested, strongly suggested, we have the fresh corn on the cob. 

First we passed a fresh lemonade stand and had a glass of the best ever lemonade. Cold and refreshing. We walked the midway scoping out the options. We found the corn on cob vendor mill and noted their location. Then we smelled the bbq pork and knew we struck gold. Yes, with the spicy bbq sauce please. Then back to the corn. We’ve been riding along corn fields for almost a week. It’s about time we ate some. The cobs were soaked in water then cooked on a grill to perfection. Then they were shucked and dipped into liquid butter, wrapped in a paper towel and foil and handed to you. We rushed to a shaded table next to some prize bulls. Good thing we were eating pig. 

The pig was good, but the corn was the sweetest and juiciest, umm yum. That deputy knows! As we ate two ole boys were talking cattle breeds and genetics. Good stuff. 

I’m pretty sure we turned heads as we walked in our spandex bike kit in this land of wranglers and ropers. But we felt welcome. One last stop at the 4H dairy shed for a milkshake before we walked through some exhibits. It’s been a while since I worked a fair. I miss these small county fairs. Thank you Brian and Jim. You made today one of the highlights of our entire journey.