The OHIO PHOTOS are up to view on the Fast Title page.  Hope you enjoy the captions. 

The day started out tame enough...early breakfast and early departure into the misty Ohio countryside.  It was a bit on the brisk side with temperatures in the mid 50s an promising wind most of the day.  That wasn't the biggest worry I had...we've never come through here that they weren't working on the roads which causes us to have to deviate from the planned route.  We didn’t have any detours today, but we were wishing they were working on some of the roads...we had a couple that have been neglected for quite some time.  Patrick even commented that he had 2 extra miles today just climbing out of the potholes.

Everyone got out of the motel in short order and was enjoying the cool morning ride.  I worked my way up through everyone in the van and found a place to get some photos.  It didn’t take long for the riders to appreciate the fact they should be looking at the route sheet as several of them had made wrong turns within the first couple of miles.  Lasse was MIA for most of the morning, but he finally found his way back on course after a couple map checks...he wasn’t the only one though as every time I would pass through the riders they were in a different order.  That made the morning interesting...but they all finally made it to the first SAG.

Some of the ride today was in more urban areas, but the majority was still rural.  The terrain wasn't flat either by any stretch of the imagination.  The hills today were short and steep and they were continuous in some areas especially midday.  We had it all today as far as road surface...smooth country roads, complicated urban streets, complicated construction areas, beautiful quiet bike path, but the biggest challenge with today's route was a section of rough road surface after the first SAG stop that I alluded to in the first paragraph.  Ohio has some of the most beautiful countryside, but in contrast, in spots it has some of the roughest roads one could imagine...some said pothole was the word of the day.  Karen had so much fun riding one stretch of bumpy road that she threatened to call the county road commissioner and file a complaint.  It's hard to tell everybody about all the bumps because they seem to be in a different area every year.  Every year they fix one section and another section gets worse from the freeze and thaw of the northeastern Ohio winters...there's no getting around it so we press on.  One good note though, they fixed one of the worst roads so they are working on making these roads better.  We will be overjoyed when they finally fix the rest of them on our route, but by then the good ones will be bad.  Soon we'll be in New York where they have the best road surfaces in the country...at least where we ride.  Hey!  That's tomorrow!

Everyone got in fairly early in spite of the rough roads they encountered today...gee, they are getting strong.  Also, the route with all its navigational challenges didn't keep us from our destination...Lasse even made it in spite of all the extra miles he amassed.  It's amazing what the group will go through to get to the next meal. 

We had rap early since we have a long day tomorrow when we head to Dunkirk...it will be a 3 state ride...Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.  At 137 miles, it will be our longest day since Kirksville...but it will not be nearly as strenuous...depending on the winds.  Hopefully, we'll have a favorable day and for now, the forecast looks good.  Just another day in paradise...See you then.