Surprises in Ohio

We are in Ohio! Pennsylvania is done- we went through 16 counties, 3 mountain ranges and it took us 7 days.  I miss it already.

One of the first things I noticed about Ohio was the distinct lack of roadkill. The amount of roadkill is directly proportional to the volume of cars on the road, as well as the speed the cars go.  It also obviously depends on the amounts of wildlife in the area.  We were on a small road with not a lot of cars, but there also could just be less wildlife here because there is so much farmland. 

Zoey was thrilled to cross into Ohio. We are a really good lunch under a shady tree outside a church in Kinsman OH- a perfect lunch in a perfect state, she said.

When planning the route my main  consideration was to find the straightest route to our destination, a campsite in Punderson State Park.  We ended up staying on route 87 west for almost the whole day in Ohio.

Little did we know that route 87 took us right through a sizeable Amish and Mennonite community around the towns of Mesopotamia and Middlefield.  It is actually quite a tourist spot- the Amish operate little penny candy and ice cream shops, as well as fancy cheese and wine stores.  We did stop for ice cream and chatted with an older couple who were kind enough to watch our bikes while went in.  We also replenished our supply of trail mix. All of the stores, even the supermarket have designated areas for horse and buggy parking- how cool!

The Amish communities and ways of living are so interesting to me! They wear extremely modest clothing and the men grow long beards. As bikers on the road they were extremely friendly towards us.  They rode in horse and buggy, and there were indentations in the roads where the horses tread to show for it.  When the buggy passed each other going in opposite directions they would pause for a minute to greet each other and talk. 

The terrain was overall much flatter, although the second surprise came when we saw hills. Big hills. People had warned us that they would be steep, but we kind of dismissed their warnings. Zoey had promised that Ohio would be really flat, so we assumed that Ohians idea of steep was a bit skewed. But it did look vertical from a distance, and even the horses had trouble.

We did around 70 miles today, our longest day yet. We are definitely tired, but not completely beat the way we were the first week.  I don't really feel sore anymore, although some parts hurt depending on the position I ride in.

Tomorrow we will get to Oberlin, and hopefully the ride will actually be flat this time.