Hello Everyone,

The days seem to be running together and even after a day from posting, I forget a lot of the details of a 93 mile ride to Niles Ohio.

The scenery, while pleasant is quite the same on these last few days – high mileage and plenty of Ohio farmland but after awhile it begins to look the same. We have some nice roads and some very poor including roads stripped of the surface layer and with a waffle affect before it is resurfaced. It makes for a bump ride. Most of the roads though are decent and traffic isn’t too bad except when you get close to the cities.

We left Niles and started the day with a 2mile climb. W had quite a bit of climbing around 3500 feet and most of it occurred early in the ride. I am getting used to the climbing but my legs are tired after 2 centuries. The day started off cool but warmed up quickly and the climbing made it seem warmer than usual. WE are also making a lot of turns on back country roads. We were actually in the 3rd quadrant before we reached the first SAg at mile 35. The staff does a good job of marking obscure turns with orange paint, the queue sheets are very good and often the staff stakes out some of the more- hard to find turns but when you get in the zone on your bike, it is easy to zip right past.

The staff had chocolate milk and other goodies at SAG one probably because of the intense climbing to that point. We didn’t linger too long as the weather is projected to get warmer and there is a chance of thunderstorms later in the day. Our second SAG was at mile 62. It was on a round-about with several exist and the direction we were supposed to go SR 224 didn’t appear on any of the signage. Problem was solved when Barry discovered the sign hidden behind a bunch of weeds.

One of the highlights of the ride as we approached Niles was that we were able to leave the regular road for a bike path and stretched for almost 8 miles. It was through a park like area and in the shade so it was very pleasant. The final ride to the hotel was one some busy streets and it was welcome to get off the bike after riding almost 300 miles in 3 days.

At this point, it seems that almost everyone is getting stronger and riding with more confidence. Michelle has rejoined the tour (her husband is Michael) and we are all anxious to say welcome back.

At this stage, we ae looking at our last rest day in Erie – so we are on the final surge of the trip. It seems like yesterday when we were at the beach in LA, but a lot of the days are just a blur. I feel better now than I did 2 years ago, with fewer ailments and a better idea of what to do. Tomorrow in Erie, my bike parts are supposed to be there and hopefully, I can get the bottom bracket replaced for the last sprint to Boston.

Tailwinds

Chuck