August 17 Max and Larry

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/100108505

Our Warm Showers host rode his bicycle from the west coast to Ohio back in 1981. When passing through Davenport, Iowa, he stopped at a grocery store and there were two puppies outside that he started petting as he had always dearly wanted a dog and his dad was a cat person.  Someone told him, "You want 'em?  Someone must have dropped them off here."  He scrounged around behind the store and found a banana box that he strapped on his bike and put one of the puppies in it. He took that 20+ pound yellow lab puppy all the way back to Ohio, about 600 miles. The comedy comes in that he would call his parents collect once weekly and he told them that he was riding with Max. They noticed that he wasn't traveling as far, but he didn't tell them about the extra weight and having trouble with broken spokes, he said that Max was new to cycling and he was getting him up to speed.  The next week he reported that he was still riding with Max who wanted to see the museum that was near their home and if it was ok if Max stayed there. His parents got the spare room ready and bought some extra food. When their son pulled in the driveway, they found out to their surprise that Max was a dog. Max ended up staying and was the ring bearer when our hosts got married.

 Bicycle with wood frame (see yesterday's post)

Larry was a person we passed a number of times on the rail trail today and then he would pass us whenever we stopped.   The back of his shirt had the word Turtle on it.  We chatted with him a little and found that on multiple days each week, he drives about 15 miles to the trail and then bicycles about 40 miles total. He decides which direction to go on the trail depending on the wind: he goes into the wind first so he has a tail wind on the way back.  We estimate that he was about 10 years older than Jim. 

The town of London and the surrounding county have really embraced having a rail trail.  Some other riders told us that its the best section of the trail to ride on.  They have even set up their trailhead for bicyclists to camp there with a very nice restroom, a shelter with plugs to charge phones,  and even some sort of camp shower in the woods!  We were going to check it out but forgot.   

In Columbus, we rode through part of Ohio State's campus.  The marching band was practicing on a field next to the stadium, and we stopped and enjoyed watching for a bit.

Tonight we are "city camping" with our tent set up in a small backyard.  Our Warm Showers host just recently bicycled the Great Allegheny Passage trail, which we now will be riding, so we were able to get our questions about it answered.