Day 10 Defiance, OH to Wabash, IN

Sunday 31 July 2011 Week 2

The only Shade all day

It was a real scorcher today with temperatures again reaching over 95 degrees.  The sun was bright and hot on our already burnt skin.  We all have developed the odd looking tan lines of a cyclist.  The four white paws from having gloves and socks, raccoon eyes from sunglasses and Y shaped lines on the side of our face from the helmet strap.

Even with sun block on you can feel your skin sizzling away. 

We are almost completely exposed with very few trees for shade. You may ride 10 or 20 miles before you can get a little speck of shade from a small roadside tree.  All the trees have been cut down long ago for the planting of corn, soy and other crops.

Staying hydrated today was a serious problem.  The remoteness of our route has us nowhere near any stores or sources of water.  Between us we were carrying 13 water bottles and that was not enough.  We ran out around 4PM and knew we would not see a store for at least 30 miles. Already somewhat dehydrated 30 more miles in the heat without water would have been very uncomfortable.

Ken spotted some people outside a house and pulled in to ask for water. They were happy to let us fill our water bottles. It seemed great at first but as soon as you raised the bottle to drink you could smell it.  Sulfur.  Oh it was nasty.  I do not know how the people around here can drink the stuff.  It stunk so bad we were worried the smell would not wash out of our bottles.  But when you are as thirsty as we were you drink it.

Cold the water was tolerable but after the sun warmed it up it really became repulsive. Again if you are thirsty you will drink it, and we did. 

 It is obvious to us now we will need to get more water on board soon.  The “real” remote sections of this journey are coming up!  We may not have the house to ask for water in South Dakota or Wyoming. There is not convenience store on every corner.  In fact there are not even any CORNERS!  All we have is miles of straight roads and corn.  Water is heavy to carry at 8.33 pounds a gallon but without it you will get in trouble quick.

We crossed into Indiana around 1PM the 7th state of our tour.  A few miles into the state we came upon a crop duster working a cornfield.  We had to stop and watch the action as it dive bombed the fields then pulled up before hitting the power lines. These pilots are insane.

Even the late afternoon sun was still hot and bright.  We are so close to the change in time zone it does not get dark until well after 9PM even this time of year.

111 Miles

2204’ of Climbing

Temperature 85 – 95 degrees