Day 24
Wasn't it just summer yesterday?

Can you believe it, we entered our 10th state today...Ohio.  Welcome to the east I guess.  We crossed the state line about 4 miles into our ride today and the riders had to stop and record the event.  We only have 4 more states to go...seems like we have been on the road for a week...not 3.  Did we start in California?  Ohio is one of my favorite states as we are mostly in the rural countryside surrounded by family farms and pastureland.  Much of the route was perfectly flat, but we had some areas that broke the monotony with a hill or two.  We rode most of the day on the marked Cardinal Bike Trail, a stretch of lonely country roads many of which didn't have any lines.  These are the roads that they pour crushed gravel down and then put on a coat of oil to make it into blacktop.  It makes for a great road to cycle especially in the cool winter and spring.  In the summer, however, the heat makes the oil soft and sticky which sticks to wheels...fun to ride, but messy sometimes.

With the rural riding comes lots of turns to make our way across the state.  Lots of turns usually means extra miles as the riders tend to miss a turn now and again.  I'm not sure if anyone got through the day without at least missing one turn.  The good news in Ohio is that most of the roads run north and south or east and west and are laid out in nice squares.  If you miss one turn, just go to the next intersection and get back on route...well, that works most of the time.

Besides great roads and the farms that dot the countryside, my favorite things are the homes and the endless number of barns we rode by today.  We passed some beautiful old structures that must have some interesting stories to tell...wish they could talk.  Many times I've thought I'd like to just go inside a rickety old barn and spend the day listening to it tell me of what went on in it's earlier life.  At left, Pam and Vic passed by one of the more stately farm houses early in the day.

I spent the morning in the van...most of the time looking for lost riders and making sure everyone was moving OK.  At the first SAG, I switched with Shane and rode with Karen to the motel.  I couldn't let Shane have all the good wind riding.  Seems like the last 4 or 5 times I've been on the bike we've had headwinds so I enjoyed the day very much.  Karen and I were just cruising today giving our legs a break until about 10 miles short of lunch when we saw a pretty black cloud bearing down on us from the rear.  It looked like we could skirt around it and out run it if we hustled...it sprinkled on us for 9 1/2 miles until the lunch stop...it quit raining about 300 yards from where Barbara was parked.  She was parked in a church parking lot and when we got there she said she'd been watching that cloud coming her way and had been reciting the "dry lunch SAG" prayer for the past hour and it seemed to be working.  It must have as we ate in dry conditions amidst threatening clouds all around.  She must have added a "keep the riders dry" clause in there too...we finished the last 30 miles without a drop.  Just a good day all around.

Tomorrow we trek into Wooster...one of my favorite days.  Remember 603...the riders will after tomorrow.  I'll be in the van but I'll try to get some good photos if the sun comes out.  Hope you've had a good day...we sure did.  See you tomorrow.  M