Rome to Milan - Grand Tour

 I woke up early this morning with only a few last minute things to pack. I knew I would need to get my tent and sleeping pad from the barn.  I had packed clothes and food yesterday, but I still had to get my tools and my handlebar bag off my Silque and put them on the Trek 520.   I had a few other last minute items to gather up that I could not live without for four days.  

At any rate, it took longer to do all that this morning than I had planned.  I had told Ed I wanted to start riding my bike at 9:00 am to ride today's planned 38 miles and have time to set up my tent and eat dinner.  You guessed it, at 9:15 we were just getting in the car.  

When we got to the planned starting point, the Rome community church in Northern Richland County, we saw a couple of Amish girls on the highway on their bikes. They were wearing the traditional dresses and hats.  I congratulated myself on picking a good route with regular bicycle traffic.  I was wearing my high-visibility yellow jersey, bike shorts, and a helmet. Quite a contrast!  I realized I needed a bathroom, and there were none in sight.  The nearest gas station was seven miles away. I guess the Amish have gasoline delivered to their farms.  So Ed drove me there. Such a nice husband!  There was construction along the way and it took nearly another half an hour to get the seven miles.  I confessed to him about my anxieties of yesterday and we both said that good planning and preparation for any anticipated problems is the best I can do.  I have my tools, my emergency food, clothes, my credit card, my phone, and a backup battery.  

I made an executive decision.  It's my trip and I get to decide where I ride. I can visit Rome on the return trip, since I had planned to go there anyway on the last day to pick up my car.  I told him since I was running an hour late, I would have him drive me 12 miles closer to my destination of Milan.   When we got to the 12 mile point, he didn't like the road we were on because there were a lot of semi-trucks and no shoulder to speak of. So he kept driving.  Eventually we arrived at a road he deemed suitable.  By this time we had whittled today's mileage down to about 25.  

He dropped me off at a farm field lane.  The loaded bike was really heavy to lift down off the rack.  It was also a bit awkward to mount, having to clear my leg and hip over the seat and the panniers and my tent.  It felt a bit unstable.  We said goodbye.   As I rode up and down the gently rolling hills, I realized that the extra weight was quite an advantage as it gave me more momentum on the downhills to carry me up the following uphills.  When I stopped to check the map, I heard the clip-clop of horses pulling an Amish buggy on an intersection behind me.  

The miles flew by.  There were a lot of very gently rolling hills, but I conquered them with the help of my extra weight in the back!  The weather forecast had called for mid-eighties and sunny today, but I am guessing it was more like low seventies, overcast, and there were occasional droplets of rain still coming down.

This is a grand tour of Italian cities, so I am going to attempt to eat at Italian restaurants as much as possible along the way.  I stopped for lunch in Norwalk at a pizza place. They didn't have a bike rack, so I used my cable lock to attach my bike to the metal brace holding their sign on the wall.  I had pollack fish bites and a salad (with Italian dressing)! The fish bites were deep fried, but I picked as much of the breading as possible off.    After lunch I plotted a new course to Milan.  I asked the waitress if Plank road was paved, since on Google Maps it seemed quite narrow.  She confirmed that it would be a nice road for biking. 

It was a nice road.  While I was travelling down it, the sun came out, along with some humidity.  By the time I reached Milan, I was quite hot. I had to cross the highway, luckily traffic was light in the middle of the day.  Being overly cautious, I dismounted and walked the bike across.  When I got to the other side, a Welcome sign greeted me.

 I stopped in the town library to use the facilities, the air conditioning, and the internet.  I checked for an Italian restaurant in Milan.  Jim's Pizza Box has salads, sandwiches, of course pasta and pizza.  I'll go there!   Milan has a beautiful town square.  

While I was still at the library, I spoke to a fellow library patron briefly.  I had some concerns about riding down US 250, the highway I crossed earlier, but it is the only place to cross the river to get to my campground.  He said that probably the state police don't like people riding on it, but that he does, and there is a broad shoulder.    He was quite talkative, seeing my kit, and said I must be a "serious" cyclist.  I laughed, because didn't I just write about that!   and I finally had to tell him that I wanted to use the computer instead of chatting.   

I did, in fact ride up highway 250 to get to my campground. It had a broad shoulder, so it was not bad most of the way.  I had to cross both entrance and exit ramps for the Ohio Turnpike to get there.  My heart was in my throat, but I did it.

I arrived at the campground, found the primitive camping area, and set up my tent.

My campsite was under a buckeye tree.  Birds were chirping, and it was serene, if you didn't count the dull roar of the turnpike less than a mile away.   I learned, later that night, that there was a railroad going through the next field.  I unrolled my Thermarest sleeping pad so it would have time to expand, then I called Ed.

He said my new sleeping bag had arrived.

Oh well.  I showered at the camp bathhouse, and regretted not bringing my swimsuit to take advantage of the pool.

It was getting close to dark.  I found that my sleeping pad had NOT fully expanded, and I remembered the warning on the label to store it in an inflated state, which I had not done.   It took me an hour to realize that I could probably blow it up.   It only took about ten deep breaths to do it, adding to my comfort immensely.

There were a few other bikepackers there, and a few families with multiple cars, children, and pets.