Thank you to Colette for the ride along yesterday. She started my playlist of the day with Ventura Highway. Love that song. We rode 80 miles from Oberlin to Newbury, basically south of Cleveland through Cuyahoga national park. This is what I can say about Ohio. There are a lot of bees and horse farms and rolling hills. We are starting to climb again which I’ve done- remember Big Horn?! That seems like forever ago and a different kind of climb. So I got Jeffrey to work with me on shifting and power zones so now I know to use the free energy of the descent, pedal and distract my brain on the side of the road so I don’t freak out by looking up. Thanks Jeffery!
Last night we stayed at Punderson manor at a state park. There’s a number of these places to stay in Ohio with these great old hotels and cute cabins. I was in #3 overlooking the lake with a screened in porch and two bedrooms and full kitchen. Not all the guys liked them but it reminded me of the old Rogers family cottages on Rowley’s Bay where we stayed when we were little. Oh, and George’s #13 cabin was haunted. He was so disturbed by the noises that he slept in the van! Poor George.
We had a rare late morning starting off in an overcast sky at 0900 and it promptly began to rain. Which is fine, but we were going through Amish country and horses leave behind a mess that mixes with rain and splatters ALL OVER. I put my previously white socks in the trash at the hotel upon arrival as the guides de-pooped our bikes. I also washed my sopping bike shorts with multiple rinses and squirts of detergent in my sink. The water never cleared from muddy brown. Ewwww. And rain is in the forecast for tomorrow too.
So now I’m in Meadville, PA, two days to Corning, 200 miles. I can do this…
