| Miles and Miles to Go! Week six Illinois to Ohio |
| Day 36 Sunday July 14 Champagne to Crawfordsville 80 miles A perfect day to ride! It was cool, cloudless, and flat with some gentle hills. We started our sixth week and entered a new state. Upon arrival in Crawfordsville, the family of Greg was here to greet us with cake and cold drinks. The only downside to the day is that I regret to say that Christine and John (the Englishman) have gone completely bonkers. They decided that they needed to ride an extra 20 miles so that they could have four consecutive days of 100 miles or more. These people are completely crazy! Day 37 Monday July 15 Crawfordsville to Indianapolis 73 miles The ride today was really terrific. We had several miles of really good road and the country was scenic. About 20 miles from Indy we rode through a park, then got on a bike trail which took us all the way downtown. On the way, we stopped at the velodrome and did a few laps - what a hoot! You have to have some speed to not fall over because the slope is so great. It is really nice to be staying downtown, with Starbucks, Borders, and Ben & Jerry's within walking distance. This afternoon we had a "chain party" and replaced the chains on our bikes. Day 38 Tuesday July 16 Indianapolis Rest! We all took advantage of the urban treats available to us today, and enjoyed the coffee at Starbucks, the post cards and books at Borders, the internet availability at the library, the relaxed lunch at the restaurants of our choice. I pampered myself with a haircut and a massage which loosened a lot of knots that had developed. Of course, there was also the inevitable trip to the bike shop, not because anyone really needed anything, but just because it was there. A couple of Jo Anne's friends joined us for an Indian dinner, which was a most welcome change from the mostly pasta dinners to which we have become accustomed. We have now ridden more than 2,700 miles and only have two weeks to go. Day 39 Wednesday July 17 Indianapolis to Richmond 68 miles An easy ride today. We rode under cool, gray skies on mostly flat terrain with a little tail wind, and the miles just flew by. That is good, because the next four days are going to be challenging. We rode through several towns which are historic, and we rode through Knightstown, whose claim to fame is that the high school gym is where "Hoosiers" was filmed. Surely that must enrich my life somehow. Day 40 Thursday July 18 Richmond to Marysville 105 miles Today was our penultimate century ride and we had an early start not only for the 105 miles, but also because we entered Ohio shortly after starting our ride and thereby entered the Eastern time zone, so we lost an hour. It was misty this morning, and stayed cloudy all day which made it a bit cooler, but the humidity was quite high. In fact, we caught some sprinkles before we reached the motel. With the relatively flat terrain and a tailwind, it was a fast day, and both Christine and Jo Anne set personal bests for century rides. This evening some of Jo Anne's col- leagues stopped by with a beautiful service dog, and treated us to dinner at an Amish kitchen cooking restaurant. A great day. Day 41 Friday July 19 Marysville to Wooster 105 miles This was our last century ride for this trip, and it was a long day! We had lots of hills, and some of them were quite steep. We also had some rain. We sat out the first part of the rain, but got caught in some later rain which was light and actually rather pleasant. The humidity has been so high that we might as well have been riding in the rain anyway. Day 42 Saturday July 20 Wooster to Niles 92 miles And the winner for the worst roads we have had in more than 3,000 miles of riding goes to Ohio! After the rain yesterday, our morning started out wonderfully - it was cool and cloudless. Much of the day was a great ride, but we really had some miserable roads coming into Niles. Most of the ride today was rural, and even though there were lots of residential areas, there were very few places to stop to get food or drinks, other than the SAG stops. This is the end of our sixth week! Tomorrow we end up in Penn- sylvania and then have another rest day on Monday. I will remind those of you interested that on our next-to-last night, Monday, July 29th, our motel has changed from the Radisson to the Best Western Chelmsford Inn at 187 Chelmsford St., Chelm- ford, MA 03881. The telephone is 978-256-7511. |
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