We made it to Mason and didn’t go to Kings Island.
Leaving Xenia was easy, the trail ran close to the hotel. We made a stop at Speedway for drinks then McDonalds for food. That was probably a terrible decision. I later found out there was a United Dairy Farmers nearby, I want one of those stores neat us after we stopped there in one of the previous small towns.
The trail itself was, well a trail. The elevation chart showed it was mainly downhill, but the tightness of my leg muscles beg to differ. The last hill before the hotel was brutal and we both ended up walking it.
We got into town fairly early as the route was only 38 miles, but we didn’t go to Kings Island even though it’s right down the road from the hotel we stayed at. The original plan from last year was to have an extra day in Mason as a break and to go to the park and to have a day in Sandusky and go to the park. We were limited on how long we could extend the trip so the extra day in Mason was dropped. The extra day was going to be a “when we need to use it” day but settled into staying an extra day in Sandusky. We’ll potentially go to Cedar Point, but we’re not sure Plonker will fit into anything. Maybe we’ll go, he’ll sit in the test seats and get the motivation to drop a bunch of weight like the first year we were going to do the bike trip (but didn’t do until the following year).
We were originally going to stay at the Baymont Inn, but after less than stellar stays at other Wyndham properties we decided to change hotels. It turns out Plonker had a shit load of Marriott points so we stayed at the Residence Inn, which is incredibly nice. Kinda wish we were staying a few days here now. Points are also covering Springfield, Sandusky, and Cleveland, leaving Bellefontaine, Upper Sandusky, and Kent. We decided to switch from the Super 8 in Bellefontaine to the Comfort Inn, and to the Quality Inn in Upper Sandusky from the other hotel near by. Food choices are lacking in those locations so I’m hoping that at least the hotels aren’t falling apart.
We were waiting all day to get to Mason and go to Outback for food and drinks. We went, but it seems to be a running theme of here’s your food, here’s your check, thanks for coming. Like I’m on vacation, and traveling by bicycle, with nothing else to do until the morning. I want to eat and drink until I can’t anymore or until closing. At the very least ask if we want anything else before printing out the check. After Outback we ended up going to Buffalo Wings and Rings on the other side of the parking lot and had some appetizers and I had a few more drinks while hanging out for a while.
The previous bike trip years we get to the destination city and head to the bar/restaurant and talk with the waitresses and have a general good time. It was the best part of the trip usually, which is why we decided to do this trip – 2 weeks of new cities with new restaurants and new waitresses to talk to. I find that it hasn’t quite worked out as planned in that either the staff is not very personable, or it’s hard enough just to get our orders placed, and if we do place and get our food they don’t ask if we want anything else. These are tipping locations, and we generally tip well, so the more you can sell us they more they’re going to get in tips. Possibly they’re short staffed due to the Pandemic, but it’s doesn’t appear to be the case.
Today takes us back through the way we came to Xenia and then north to Springfield. It looks like the trail continues almost all the way to the hotel, but the elevation chart is not looking great.
