Day 11, Thursday, May 1

Massillon, OH, to Killbuck, OH

For the first time we are actually relying on the kindness of strangers, not merely accepting their generosity.

The day started well enough. As usual we awoke before dawn at our free campsite on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath, just north of Massillon, Ohio.

We packed up, had our ritual morning coffee, and backtracked the three miles or so on the towpath and crossing the Tuscarawas one last time. We hopped on the Sippo Valley Trail for ten miles to Dalton. Just as we left the trail outside Dalton it started rained. We donned our raincoats and pedalled maybe a half mile to an excellent coffeeshop where we refuelled ourselves, our phones, and my power bank. (Keeping devices charged is an ongoing task.)

From Dalton we had to get on the roads, but they were not bad at all. Our route kept us off busy roads, letting us see the verdant countryside of Ohio's Amish country.

We had some climbs, but nothing too steep or long. The worst part was the southerly winds often directly in our faces. 

The weather was unsettled all day, almost always overcast, and very often with those southerlies. Fortunately the forecast of the night before, possible afternoon thunderstorms, had been downgraded to merely a chance of rain, but even that never materialized.

After 17 miles or so we passed through Fredericksburg to arrive at the northeastern end of the Holmes County Trail. Like all the other trails we have been in, it is closed to non-motorized traffic, but unlike the others it features Amish buggies.

It also featured Amish e-bikes. Apparently that is an acceptable technology, and you see many more Amish on e-bikes than buggies. I wonder how that will affect the tourism industry. 

We stayed in the Holmes County Trail for 15 miles to the village of Killbuck, Ohio. We passed through Millersburg, a town we knew had places to stay (it has a Walmart, after all) but that would have barely given us a 40 mile day, so we pressed on.

In Killbuck we confirmed what Google told us every time we searched: the is nowhere to camp within fifteen miles, and no hotels. This was a problem with a severe weather alert in effect until 7 PM.

This is where we were helped by complete strangers. I asked a woman in front of a thrift shop if there was any camping nearby. She conferred with her colleagues inside and they all agreed a few cyclists had camped near the terminus of the Holmes County Trail near the water plant, but only with the permission of someone on the town council They also said cyclists sometimes camped in the pavilions at the town park. They tried to text a few members of the council but didn't get a response. They told me to go around the corner to the council office. "Someone should be there."

Fortunately, there was: the fiscal officer, Linda Campbell. She said it would be fine for us to shelter in a pavilion. She would send an email to the other members and the sheriff up in Millersburg to let them know. 

This was very helpful since we would not need to set up camp in the impending storm. We could just throw our sleeping bags down without worrying about packing up in the rain the next morning. We headed for the pavilion.

We needed to do laundry back down the hill, but we didn't want to make the climb again on loaded bikes. So John took or laundry down the hill to the laundromat while I watched the bags.

The storm did hit while he was down there. It was quite the downpour, with some thunder and lightning, but not much and not particularly near. 

While I was sheltering in the pavilion I received these messages: 

He came back with the clothes (and I assume an intact bottle of Bulleit), and later walked down to town and brought back a pizza. I have a good cycling partner.

As we were preparing to go to bed, the mayor of Killbuck pulled up. I'm sure part of his reason for stopping by was to check out the strange cyclists in his town, but mostly he wanted to make sure we were ok. He even offered to open up the bathroom in the pavilion we chose to sleep in so we would not have to walk to the other one. He even gave me his cell in case we needed something. He genuinely wanted to make sure we were ok.