Ohio - a surprising state....

I have driven back and forth from New Jersey to Detroit via the Ohio Turnpike any number of times over the years. And the impression I have always had is of a long, straight, flat road with virtually nothing to see for miles and miles. Well, today we saw Ohio from a whole different perspective. The border was exactly 2.7 miles from our hotel and from the beginning it was great ride. We were on a series of state roads that curved and dipped and twisted and led us into quaint little old towns and through Ohio farm land - a scene that was totally unexpected for me.

The day started out overcast, and even a bit threatening as a couple of the pictures indicate. We did pick up a few drops but for the most part it was the sun peeking out from behind the clouds and considering that it was a 105 mile day the clouds were just enough to keep it from getting really hot.

We went through probably fifteen to twenty small towns all with their main streets and little business sections and older, well kept houses for the most part. The older houses are a delight to pass. Lots of wrap-around porches with swings and in most cases nicely landscaped with flowers and neatly cut lawns - almost picture perfect middle America. In all honesty there are a few towns that also show decay and problems but not many - and even those usually have signs that some one does care and is trying.

And I continue to be amazed at the farmhouses - the one house picture I put up tonight is one of the prettiest I saw today. And behind it was the barn and a couple of sheds with all the farm machinery neatly stowed away - and, of course, the whole thing was surrounded by hundreds of acres of growing corn and soy beans. These folks were also the owners of the cattle across the street - I thought it was pretty funny to find a longhorn in Ohio and he posed so nicely for me too.

We also had a few more glimpses of the Amish today. We saw a couple of buggys with the occupents dressed in their Sunday best and probably headed to services somewhere. More interesting, we came across a couple, man and wife presumably, riding a tandem bicycle in the same direction as we were heading. She had on the traditional long dress and he the beard and straw hat. They were just ahead of us on the road and they were moving. (For those not familiar with the Amish they do not drive cars - or have electricity or even tractors).

One of our SAG was in the little town of Covington in the police station parking lot...the picture is downtown Covington on Flag Day about noon - not much was happening besides the bike riders getting their rest stop.

I've had a long run without a flat - I think since New Mexico and that was only my second - but today my luck ran out. The unmistakeable and sudden hisssssssss had me to the side of the road very quickly. I had taken a good look at the front tire last night but somehow got distracted and did not move to the rear - big mistake. Anyway the back tire was pretty much shot so I replaced both tire and tube and we were back on the road. And was a good thing I had the new tire because within a mile we ran into a series of new chip and seal (very gravelly and tough on tires) and I felt much better with the new one.

And last little note on the ride...Somewhere around mile 87 we ran into a series of up and down hills and expected that we would have a kind of laborious process of finishing a long ride climbing. Well, Tom grabbed an energy jel and attacked one of the hills with a stand up in the pedals energy that caught me by surprise. I watched him for a second and then decided to respond and we were both off and running and for the next six or seven miles we litterally raced up and down the rolling hills like two ten year-olds on our first bikes. I have no idea where we found the strenth after 85/90 miles but we kept it up for about five or six miles hitting 20 and 22 mph and just having a ball. We finally came into a little town with a light and stopped to catch and then rolled on into Marysville for a DQ root beer float before checking into the hotel.

Tracy really outdid herself planning the route today - it was a long day but one of the best days of riding we have had. Now the only question is whether the legs will be there again tomorrow for a virtual century - 97 miles. Stay tuned....and good night.