On to Hudson, Ohio

One steep roller in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

It is Labor Day 2010 and I’m looking forward to a fantastic day. We are on the way to Hudson, Ohio where we will spend a layover day. At 7:20 a.m., it is fifty degrees as I start out on US 20. The leaves on several trees are beginning to change color. I ride by homes decorated in red, white and blue.

When I turn onto SR 303, I start cycling by soybean and cornfields. No matter how many times I see them they peak my interest because each field is unique. They are all viewed in a different light. They vary in location, color, height, and orientation. Some are still and others sway in the wind. Some have wildflowers bordering them, others have colorful grasses. So each time I cycle by a field it’s a new discovery.  

As I cycle through the town of Camden, a horse trailer passes me and two fillies standing in the back moon me. I ride by an odorous pig farm. If I wasn’t awake, I am now. God must have blessed pig farmers with special noses. When I leave the town of Valley City, I see the sign “Leaving Frog Jump Country”. They have a Frog Jump Festival every August, warts and all.

I pedal through the city of Brunswick, Ohio. The streets are lined with flags and porches are decorated with flag bunting. When I reach the town of Hinkley, I start a long climb. This is followed by several difficult, steep climbs. I roll down a hill with a 17% grade and pray I don’t flip over. In all of my years of cycling, I’ve never seen a grade that high.

I was just riding through rolling cornfields. Where did the gut wrenching hills come from?  My question was answered when I discovered I was cycling through Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I didn’t realize Ohio had a national park. I rolled my way through Richfield and the town of Peninsula and exited the park. A few miles later, I arrived in the quaint town of Hudson for a layover day.    

A highlight of the layover was getting to meet Kathy from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. When Kathy found out that, the Cycle for Dystonia route went close to her hometown she contacted me to ask if we could get together. She came to Hudson and treated me to lunch. Kathy also has cervical dystonia, so we had a lot to discuss. Kathy, thank you for a wonderful afternoon!

God Bless,

Kathy

Luke 1:37

A harvested cornfield.

Another Ohio barn.

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