Day 37 - June 18, 2006

Richmond, IN to Marysville, OH (I'll try to have new pics tomorrow)

103.3 miles-official miles

6:23 bike time, 17.0 average

2,900 feet of climbing

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3 Day to Erie!!!!!!!!

Today was the first of four hard days in a row.  We rode over 105 miles including a couple of mile detour I took because I got off course.  Just think of it as hitting a drive in the woods.  A couple of guys made the same mistake, but they were off course about 8 miles.  They figured out they were off course when they saw the signs for the lake and Yogi bear campground.  Of course they were men and no, they were not lost, just scouting.

The wind blew and blew, but fortunately it was from the south/southwest.  It was a crosswind most of the time, but really helped us the first 40 miles or so.  This helped us to increase our speed a bit and get us into the barn sooner.  Finishing in less than 7 hours today was an accomplishment.  The long time in the saddle is tough on the bottom and wears on the body.  Tomorrow will be our seventh century of the tour.  Tracy shows it as 98 miles, but her mileage is low and just in case it isn’t, I’ll circle the parking lot a few times just to make the 100.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures today.  It was a working man’s day.  I am just trying to complete the four hard days.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures or stop a lot.  The entire ride was on very nice country roads with very little traffic. I came across a tractor followed by a pickup truck today.  They were going up a hill, so I grabbed onto to the pickup and let him pull me up the hill.  Then I passed both vehicles on the downhill.  Now that was a blast. 

The countryside was very pretty with rolling hills.  We climbed about 2900 feet today.  Not an extreme amount, but just enough to let us know that a lot of hills are coming tomorrow.  We saw a lot of homes in the country.  It’s like all the farmers are selling out to the housing boom.  It seems that the percentage of homes that are new is very high.  Except in Woodstock which seems to have been left out of the boom.

Today, one of the guys walks into a store and buys water to put in his bottle.  Another of my friends is proud that he buys a gallon of water for 99 cents.  I fill my bottle up for free at the coke dispenser. 

I would give some of Marysville’s history, but all I know is that Hondas are made here.

Signing off…….. 

An Amish farmer.		Note the Texan socks. Yes they make me go faster. O h and these are the shaved legs.		The Madonna of the Trails on Highway 40
I love these old barns.		Tom relaxes after a hard day.		I believe this was an old hotel on Highway 40.
Barry and Susan with their matching outfits. Every day they match.		Matt and Laura who are crossing the country self supported.		Visitors that I biked with today. Ty, Jed, Stuart and Brett. Brett and Stuart are from Richmond, IN.