Something worse than pedaling up hills

Across the open roads of Ohio.

I'm a terrible hill climber and didn't think there could be anything worse for a bicyclist -- until we came up against a steady head wind across the farmland of Ohio. On Tuesday, we mostly pedaled along a river trail, protected by trees on either side of us. On Wednesday, we were off the trail and out in the open on country roads. The wind blew from the moment we got on our bikes until we got off and loaded them onto the bike rack.

At least with a hill, you get to go down one side of it, coasting if you like. Not so with wind; it just keeps blowing and even as you twist and turn across the landscape it seems to find ways to mess with you. The worst is when you head straight into it. A side wind can have you wobbling down the road instead of on a straight path. Love those tail winds, but never felt a whiff of one on Wednesday.

Mostly we were heading straight north into a wind out of the north. It wasn't a cold wind, although we had our bright lime jackets on to be comfortable. It wasn't raining. So conditions could have been worse. It was just steady resistance to going forward. There was never a time to coast, no downhill side. Stop pedaling and you pretty much stopped going forward.

I was glad to hear my sister say at one point, "Well, we don't have to do the whole ride." And we didn't.

I was also glad to find out that in the previous five times she has done this ride, one of them was done over four days and two over three days. The only other times she has done it in two days was with Ruth and Evelyn, two of her biking friends who I have ridden with enough to know they are stronger riders than I.

OK, so I'm rationalizing why we pulled the plug at mile 53 of the planned 100 on Wednesday. So be it. I'll come back some day and do the other 50. Or do the whole thing later in the year when the wind dies down. It does, doesn't it?

We ended the ride in the driveway of my cousin's cousin. Tim is the fifth generation farmer on his family property near Indian Lake, Ohio, and even on a busy day of spraying herbicide and doing other farm duties, found time to show unexpected visitors around the round barn on his property. Then his wife, Martha, took us on a tour of the house, built in 1877.

The farm started in 1858, the barn was built in 1908, the property went out of the family for a short time in 1919 but was back in their hands in the early 1920s. Now they grow lots of popcorn (buy Weaver popcorn) and soybeans on 4,000 acres. This year they dug a well and installed a center pivot irrigation system to grow other varieties of popcorn. Thank you, Tim and Martha, for taking time out of your busy day to show us around.

Hay racks inside the round barn.

Arrived in Grand Rapids, Ohio, Wednesday night and spent Thursday visiting relatives and friends and driving around "checking on the crops." The corn is planted and emerging from the soil. The Baumans, who farm our acres, are waiting for the fields to dry out a bit more before starting to plant the soybeans. That might not happen tomorrow as rain is in the forecast.

We have more visits planned for tomorrow, and of course we will be out looking at the crops -- on bicycles in the morning if the rain holds off and the wind dies down.