Meeting Donkey: the Uphill Ride, into the Wind, on Gravel, Backcountry Roads is Worth it!

Just past halfway into #30daysofbiking I decided it was time to increase my riding distance. Seventeen miles won’t seem like much to some, but it was my longest post-surgery ride. A beautiful spring day made it possible.

Riding in April, however, can mean rain, snow, wind, and other adversities. I was lucky, this time, to only have to contend with breezy winds. There is also surprising satisfaction in dressing appropriately for a bike ride. I’d gotten my layers just right and I was on my way to meet a dear friend of the cycling community in central Ohio – Donkey!

Gravel is not my preferred surface to ride on. I’ve had a fair number of experiences on gravel, at the beginning of a week-long, memory-making group trip through Glacier National Park and on a haunted cemetery ride that ended in a trip to the emergency room.

I suppose the latter ride was also memory-making. I witnessed cyclists coming together in a crisis – bandages, gauze, and flasks quickly materializing. I declined the flask, thinking it best to arrive at the hospital with a blood alcohol level of 0.0%. I accepted the varied (in age, color, and effectiveness) Band-Aids, the companionship of a new friend who sat by my side, and the chivalry of my partner, who rode quickly home to change vehicles so that he could accompany me to have four stitches sewn into my right pinky finger.

My hands are rather small, matching my frame – I can never pull off claiming to be “big boned” when the scale is unforgiving. I now have a large scar cutting a diagonal across my smallest finger, which did not appreciate being smashed between the handlebars of my purple Trek and the gravel road that cut through Greenlawn cemetery.

So, gravel isn’t my favorite, though the trip from Apgar to Polebridge, Montana almost makes up for the fishtailing back wheel, gritty dust in my gears, and increased risk of losing control of my bike. I experienced serene solitude when I dropped back from the group, in the foothills west of Glacier National Park, quietly enjoyed the sun filtering through the trees and the Flathead River running down below the ridge we rode on. We were on an old logging road, in forested land, feeling pretty remote.

You get to see some pretty amazing scenic overlooks and meet lots of unique characters when you get out into the country. Donkey is one of those characters!

I first heard about Donkey from fellow cyclists who rather enjoy riding on gravel. There’s no saying who first introduced me to Donkey, through their Facebook posts, videos of him running from the barn to the fence for apples and carrots, or links to his Instagram feed. He’s become Instagram famous – see link below!

Donkey lives in the rolling hills of rural Ohio. Waiting for a late morning start, to let warmer temperatures roll in, we’d parked at a Kolacheez bakery, in Centerburg, OH. The plan was in indulge in pastries and coffee before beginning our ride on the Heart of Ohio bike trail. This second breakfast was delicious! I highly recommend the traditional cream cheese pastry. Who can ride without coffee?

Halfway to the small farm that Donkey lives on, my wheels hit gravel. Riding off the trail, out of the protection of the trees, the wind hit us from behind. That’s a good thing, actually. A tailwind was about to help me up the hills that faced me. An experienced cyclist knows to use the momentum of one hill (or roller) to propel them up the next one. This is a challenge, in gravel.

Well, for someone with my history with (and attitude toward) gravel it’s a challenge. I rode the brakes on the way down the first hill, intent on staying upright. Success! Hitting deeper gravel, at the bottom of the hill, made my back wheel slide out from under me a bit, to the left then the right, in a fishtail. I maintained control, with a firm grip on the handlebars.

Starting the next hill at such a slow speed was not to my advantage. My Salsa Journeyer has a lot of gears, and the Glacier trip on a friend’s Vaya had taught me how to use them, so I should have been more confident about climbing this hill. But… well, the gravel. I was in my lowest gear, going so slow that there was true concern (founded or unfounded) that the bike would just tip over to the side. I got off and walked. There’s no shame here – it’s early in the season, after all.

“You’d better be worth it, Donkey,” I thought.

He was worth it! Seeing our donkey friend’s sweet face, with his donkey-sized ears and his donkey-soft nose, was worth the couple of miles I’d ridden on challenging roads. (To be honest, the ride back to the car was more challenging, as our tailwind turned into a headwind. Spring is known for that!)

We’d run into a couple of cycling friends back at breakfast, who guided us on how to make the most of the donkey experience.

If you yell “Donkey! Donkey! Donkey!” he’ll bray a greeting at you. So, even though Donkey was standing right there on the other side of the 4-foot barbed wire fence, I hollered “Donkey! Donkey! Donkey!” I wish I’d had the video camera running when Donkey returned a hearty “Hee-haw! Hee-haw! Hee-haw!”

My heart was full, in that moment. What a sweet, silly creature! I suspect that he was confident that it wouldn’t be long until I offered him a crunchy carrot or a crispy apple. He could probably smell those very treats in our bike bags.

Donkey isn’t afraid of bikes or the sound of gravel being crushed under their tires. He doesn’t mind the sight bike helmets, the smell of sunblock, or sound of excited chatter — he can sniff out the carrots, apples, and other treats!

We know, from all the social media shares of folks visiting Donkey, that this is a common occurrence. The scene is of cyclists, still in their helmets and bike gloves, with bikes leaning against a nearby tree. They are taking selfies and scratching a donkey behind his ears while he chomps on their offerings of fresh produce. This must be familiar to, and hopefully welcomed by, the neighbors.

The owners of the farm Donkey lives on, alongside chickens and big fuzzy white dogs (possibly a pair of Great Pyrenees), waved to us from across the yard. They are well aware of the activities of Donkey’s followers, including Ohio cyclists. Donkey’s family are the ones who run the Instagram page, after all, from the house – there is no Wifi in the barn.

Visitors have brought gifts, including a copy of the book The Wonky Donkey. It’s a must-read for anyone who likes to laugh or enjoys life in any way. Check out the YouTube video of a grandma reading the book aloud to her infant grandson. She can barely make it a quarter of the way through the book before she is in tears, chuckling, then laughing, then fighting through the silliness to finish the book.

The Ohio Gravel Grinders are thanked, on Donkey’s social sites, for coming by and feeding Donkey, providing him with company and companionship. Apparently he gets a bit lonely in the winter months, when many cyclists hibernate a bit. So, keep on riding and take a small detour from the Heart of Ohio Trail – it’s really worth it!

Here are a few things I’ve learned about donkeys, from The Donkey Sanctuary (link below):

Donkeys are very intelligent! They have a good memory and excellent ability to learn. The more things a donkey learns, the faster they get at learning things in the future.
Donkeys aren’t colorblind – but they do have different vision than us humans. It is likely that donkeys can see blue and green but cannot distinguish red. This means that a juicy red apple would look green to a donkey, but just as delicious!
Donkeys are affectionate animals. However, it is important to understand that every donkey has its own personality.
Braying can be from excitement, anticipation, loneliness, territorial response, boredom and healthy communication between donkeys. When a donkey learns braying is effective at getting human attention or food, it can become a learned behavior.

There’s no question that I will visit Donkey again, gravel be damned. I have half of a bag of carrots left – they may actually be left behind in the bike bag. We should check! We didn’t want to be the ones to give Donkey a tummy ache. He brought such joy to my day, to my weekend, to my week! I’ll need more of that one day!

One lingering question I have – has Donkey ever experienced a Honeycrisp apple? If he has, he might never go back to any other variety. #applesnob