Just the stats: 92 miles, 16.2 MPH average, rolling hills. Cumulative 2,863 miles. No flats today, eight in total. Sunny, 57 to 72 degrees, cooler day today. Rolling terrain.
Yesterday evening we were hit with a bad thunderstorm in Niles, Ohio. This morning we awoke to a beautiful day. The sky was bright blue and the temperature was a cool 57 degrees. It was a nice ride today, complete with smooth roads, sunny skies, cool weather, and beautiful scenery. What could be better? We did have a headwind for the first 60 miles, but four of us riders pulled together in a pace line for 60 + miles so all went well.
Yesterday and today we saw Amish families at their homes and in buggies. The children were very friendly and waved to us. Today we rode through more small farms and rural areas, crossed our 10th state line (we are now in PA), cycled by vineyards, and had our first view of Lake Erie.
We stopped for lunch at an old-fashioned root beer stand - the "White Turkey Drive Inn" in
Conneaut, Ohio SR 20E - the highlight of the day. I enjoyed their speciality, a pulled turkey sandwich and naturally I washed it down with a large root beer float which was served in a huge frozen mug with about 5" of soft ice cream on top. The bill $6.28. What a deal! This place was first opened in 1952 and hasn't changed since it first opened.
We're staying at a downtown hotel right in the heart of Erie. My first order of business on arriving at 2:30 PM (after a recovery sandwich at Subway and showering) was to go to a laundromat. It was about six blocks from the hotel. We had dinner at 6 PM and I was in bed by 9:30.
I am really happy to have a rest day tomorrow as the last five days have been high mileage and my butt needs a break!
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I am writing this on my rest day in Erie. The most strenuous thing I did today on this rest day was clean my bike. The second most strenuous was getting out of bed from my second nap! I made phone calls and wrote the last two days blogs up.
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Tomorrow we ride an easy 78 miles to Hamburg, NY riding close to Niagara Falls. I can't believe it that we are in our last seven days of riding. Goose bumps again. Hope you enjoyed this ride half as much as I did riding it. Pedal, pedal, pedal - miss you Yvonne, Anne and Bob - looking forward to the cruise.
4 comments:
Almost home...WOW!!! When do you hit the 3000 mile marker? Pedal safely!
This has been a wonderful 'ride' for me too...Cruise - hmmmm - one day for Lesa and me. Sean and I are going camping the with boy scouts July 4th week in the mountains in western n.c and will look for a swing over a river.
I was born and live the first couple years of my life not too far from Erie and the family that lived behind us was from Erie.
Larry
Isn't this your vacation? It's good that you had a day to rest and refresh - you'll need it. The honey-do list is growing longer day by day! I'm proud of you.
Wow, I can't believe that you are in PA already! This has been a great ride for all of us too who have been following along with you. Hope your rest day was energizing, it sounds like you really needed it! Alan and I will see you in exactly a week, enjoy your last week of riding. We're so proud of you!
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