Amish hill country: Part 2

After being fueled on coffee and carrot cake, we leave Fredericksburg to peddle the rural roads of Holmes county for the next 17 miles. But as we leave town, we encounter something that has been mostly foreign to us: hills. But for now that matters little as we pass directly though beautiful farmland. Though the number of Amish vehicles has decreased we can tell that we are in the middle of such farms. Many of the houses have neither electric nor telephone lines coming in. A few have privies in the back. 

A young boy pushing an old cast iron manual mower stops his work and waves me up the hill. A few miles up a young barefoot woman, too, is mowing but with a gas-fueled Toro. 

We stop at the bottom of a  hill where a group of birders have spotted a blue grosbeak, a rare bird for this parts. “I found it by its song,” said one of the birders. Ted was able to get a glimpse though a monocular that was focused on its perch in a nearby tree. 

Reaching the top of a high ridge we stop to view the surrounding panorama. Farms and fields dot the country side with a few cattle grazing fields. But we also saw all the hills in front of us that we needed to climb. A few of the farms we passed had self-service stands selling their wares: eggs, rhubarb, vegetables and maple syrup. 

A warm breeze is blowing sideways and the road is a bit bumpy forcing us to better maintain our balance.  It is hot and we have been in the sun for quite a while. We stop frequently for water.

We pass though Apple Creek hoping that the hills will be mostly behind us. They are not. 

Today seems to be a good day for haying. Many fields have been cut and a few farmers using horse driven rakes are forming the hay into windrows to be bailed later.  As we pass homes, there are many mailboxes with Yoder as a surname. 

The many fallow fields we pass near stand in contrast to those farmed using modern methods that we have passed by in prior days.  But they are far from useless as they have the grasses and wildflowers that feed the birds, bees and butterflies.

We transition from paved to a chipped gravel and tar road that crinkles with sound as we roll over it. Though we are on state highways, cars are few but hills many which continue to challenge us. The day is getting hotter and horses have left prints in the softening tarred road. But finally we reach Dalton and a spot for lunch. We sit down and devour our food and drink. 

We leave Dalton and the road for the last 10 miles of our trip and get on the Sippo Valley Trail. 

The first half of the trail is stone dust but we don’t mind as its shade offers us a welcome change from the last three hours of biking. The ride is easy and soon we have reached our hotel in Massillon where we will start the final leg of our trip on the O&E Canal Towpath Trail, which ends in Cleveland and Lake Erie.