I got this notification last night.
All winter I had planned on getting a couple hundred miles in during March. Oh well. Monday it should start warming.
Author Archives: leastbest
Adding Google Earth
It still isn’t warm or nice, merely cold and raining. I’ve decided to add Google Earth photos to show just how big or small the towns I cycle to are.
Here is Penfield, Ohio. As you can see it isn’t much more than a crossroad.
Penfield, Ohio
Here is Litchfield, Ohio. The first picture gives you an overview. The closer picture shows the restaurant, gas stations and businesses much clearer.
Litchfield, Ohio
Litchfield, Ohio
I’ll be appending these to the previous post about riding there. I’ll be adding Google Earth images to give a clearer idea of where I’m riding. I’m hoping to hit a lot of towns, if the weather ever improves.
Spring?
After breakfast the wife asked if I’d be on the bike. I checked the weather and it was below 30F. I told her I’d wait a couple hours and hit the road. We watched an episode of The Blacklist and let the bacon and eggs digest. Suddenly the windows became opaque and I realized that it was snowing. Within a half hour it was a complete white out. It’s been two hours and it is still coming down.
It it feels more like the end of the season than the beginning. Spring will come. I believe.
Weather Update
As I drove to poker today the sky grew gray and it began to snow. First a few flakes and then heavier and heavier. I’m tired of it.
It is supposed to be in the fifties by the end of the week. I can’t wait.
Weather is Nasty: Time for Spring Cleaning
It isn’t even 20°F out and I’m in a bit of a funk. I think give the bike a nice clean and wax. Give it a once over and dream about better days.
Ride 3: Destination Litchfield
I did this ride on the 18th. I’ve been under the weather for the past couple days and the weather hasn’t been conducive for riding. I’ll post the rides faster in the future.
In the beginning of this adventure I wanted to keep the miles between fifteen and twenty miles. I need to allow this aging body to acclimate to being in the saddle. I chose Litchfield because it is about ten miles away.
As soon as I left the house I found a tough headwind. It kept my speed low and even though it was almost 50°F I was chilled. It took everything just to maintain ten miles an hour. Many of the local ponds were still frozen over.
I headed southeast and passed through Penfield. The township is 21 square miles and has a population of 1700 people. There is no downtown, only a crossroad with a community center, church and park. It’s mostly farmland so I headed east toward Litchfield.
The ride was relatively easy, passing farm after farm. I was on Route 18 which is 55 mph with a lot of trucks but I had a wide berm and felt comfortable. Soon I hit Litchfield Township. The township is 22,4 square miles and has a population of 3250.
There is very little to see out there, just farms and farmland. Here is a view from the above sign.
A few miles more and I was downtown Litchfield.
It is another small town and like LaGrange has a traffic circle in the middle, although it is much smaller than LaGrange. This circle is bigger and has a nice gazebo in the middle along with a memorial to veterans. I should note, by entering Litchfield Township I entered Medina County. Oh boy! Around the circle is a gas station, Hungry Bear restaurant and a few businesses. If it had been a longer ride I would have stopped in to the Hungry Bear.
The Celebrated Gazebo
The Hungry Bear
One of the few businesses in Litchfield
As it was I just rode around the circle and headed home. The headwind had taken its’ toll but once I headed west with the wind at my back it was much better. My speed picked up and I relaxed and headed home.
It was a nice ride, if a bit chilly. I’m far from being in shape. I’ll stick to rides of about twenty miles for the first rides. I hope to expand over the next few weeks and see much much more of Ohio.
Here is the map and the metrics.
As an addendum I’m adding google earth images of the areas I travel. This is to give a sense of where I ride. Much is very rural and some isn’t. This will give an idea to those not familiar with this area. As you can see, Penfield isn’t much more than a crossroad. Litchfield is a small circle with a gazebo with a restaurant and a few stores.
Penfield, Ohio
Litchfield, Ohio
Litchfield, Ohio
The Plan
As I’ve touched on a bit, I was raised by an agoraphobic. My father died when I was ten, leaving behind seven children, three of which were two year old triplets. Due to my mother’s agoraphobia we seldom went more than a block or so from the house. The local library was three miles from home so I never went. I didn’t even go onto a highway until I was sixteen
I’ve had an odd life. I found chess at a very young age and my life expanded to sixty-four squares. Then I got a job at UPS and delivered a small town three miles wide by one mile deep.
The agoraphobia affected all of the children, some more than others. I’ve travelled some but want to do so much more.
The plan is to start in the small town where I live, LaGrange Ohio and bicycle to surrounding towns. As I become more fit I will be able to go farther and farther. Like spokes radiating from a hub I will reach out as far as I can. Once the distance is considerable I will ride out, eat a meal, take some pictures and then ride home. I will write about the town and whatever comes up. It will be fun. I only see good things.
Here is my starting point, LaGrange.
The town is built on a circle with a civil war monument in the center. On the statue are the names of locals who died in different battles of that war.
Plus there is a beautiful old firehouse
This will be my starting point. I’m curious how far I can go.
Chubby For Life? 