July 10, Day 40

July 10, Day 40
Richmond, IN to Marysville, OH
Mileage: 106.44
Weather: Beautiful

Dear All,

All things being equal by the end of tomorrow, we will have broken the 3000 mark. That's a lot of pedal revolutions.

Today started out with lovely temperatures, and because of your good prayers, still winds.

Within three miles of our start, we crossed into Ohio, our 9th state. It may not be hard for you to believe, but it is hard for us to believe that we are into our 9th state.

At least the western part of Ohio, along the route we took today, is lovely. Unlike MO, the hills are gentle rolls that require only modest effort and the back roads are lovely. For virtually all of the 106 miles today, we saw very neat farms and homes that are well kept with manicured lawns. There were sheep and goats and corn and horses and soy all along the route. Unlike the western states there were no long distances without any sign of civilization. It's pleasant to ride and chat about this house or that farm. As the day wears on, being able to focus on something other than those portions of your anatomy which are beginning to scream “get off the bike”, is a real blessing.

We rode for a time with John, from Seattle. John is 69 and is a wonderful guy. He rides at his own pace which is a little slower than our pace, but when we have the opportunity to ride with him for a while we really enjoy it. And, on a day like this when we are in the saddle for many, many hours it's a lot of fun riding with different people. Again, it takes ones mind off one's anatomy.

As we pedaled thru the little town of Covington we passed a house with a father sitting on the porch and his two little kids holding a sign saying “Covington Welcomes America by Bicycle”. We stopped and spoke to them for a while. Dad can't wait for the day that he can join in on a ride across the country.

At the second SAG stop we had a PB&J sandwich and noted that the prior cyclists that had been thru the stop had properly decided to assist the local bird population with a treat. Never let it be said that cyclists aren't kindly folks.

The day ended a little later than normal and our legs were a bit more tired than most days. As we have said before, a century ride is a tad hard. At “route rap” (when we learn of the next day's route) we found out that tomorrow's 103 mile ride would have over 3,000 feet of climbing. So, again, a short prayer to the weather gods asking that there be winds with a W in it would be appreciated.

As always, thanks for the good vibes.

Amy and John