So anyway - we left Richmond with cloudy skies and air so thick it felt like I could barely breathe. Michelle, who is from the Buffalo area of NY, just laughed at me and my affinity for thin, dry Colorado air. Three miles from the motel we reached the Ohio state line - state #9 of the tour!
We all waited in an orderly queue (that's England English) to take our photos with the sign, then cycled on down the road. Well, up the road as there was a slight incline. It was a day on back country roads so we could frequently ride two abreast and just enjoy the day without too much traffic. The motorists were generally very courteous and at least appeared to wait patiently when it wasn't safe to pass us. We had a few riders take wrong turns in the early part of the ride and the staff were kept busy trying to hunt them down and get them back on course. We also had some rain on and off throughout the morning. The temps were still around 70 so most of the time it wasn't too cold and I just rode wet. I did most of the navigating and we only made one very brief foray off course. Unless it was carefully planned. :) For food purposes. The first opportunity for real food (instead of sag food) was about 68 miles into the ride. Before we got there, we got onto a stretch of road that had been freshly graveled. It was awful. Jarring and noisy and gravel flipping out from under our tires and hitting others and, unbeknownst to us at the time, coating the undersides of our bikes with tar. Adventures! Everyone was happy to get off that stretch. So anyhow, we arrived in St. Paris and found Braden's Cafe. Had some nice sandwiches and soda and a break from riding. Didn't really dry out that much though. My clothes were wet and pretty much stayed wet all day. You know you are soggy through and through when your skin is still wet after peeling off the clothes. But after refueling we had less than 40 miles to go. Not so bad! I put on my jacket as we left the cafe as the breeze had kind of kicked up. It felt great for about 2.5 miles and then I got really hot but once you're moving on the bike it's hard to want to stop so I just unzipped it as far as I could and looked like a marshmallow man. We stopped later to take some photos and at that point I packed it away again.
This is a green place! Nice overcast sky keeping things cool.
Happy to be in Ohio!
Trying to capture a shot of the billowing jacket. My shoulders aren't really that big.
As we were riding along Fifth Street through Marysville, we saw an ice cream shop which was not a chain and felt compelled to stop. The Farmhouse I think. We were about 1.5 miles from the motel so it seemed just right. A couple of shakes hit the spot. We both had caramel cheesecake cookie monster shakes. I wasn't crazy about the chocolate chips in my shake - frozen chocolate just seems wrong. Fiona wasn't crazy about the cheesecake bits but the consistency and overall flavor was good. Not as good as Braum's. I think they still win.
When we arrived at the motel, there was a frenzy of bike cleaning going on. After two days of rain and grit, people were taking the opportunity to clean things up. We decided on body cleaning first, then bike cleaning. Priorities are important!
That was when we discovered all the tar from the crappy road. WD-40 works great! And tar is better hidden on a darker colored bike. :)
This is a rare occurence. I've owned this bike 11 years and never done maintenance on it like this trip.
Peer pressure - I'm even cleaning all the gears on the back wheel! Plus the mechanics don't mind helping you as much if your bike is clean. It's all about keeping the mechanics happy.
After hanging clothes up to dry and stuffing our cycling shoes full of newspaper, we walked over to Rooster's for some dinner. Wings were their thing although they also had pizza and sandwiches. I looked at the appetizer list and saw Mac and Cheese Bites and had to try them. Tasty! Completely useless as far as nutrition though I reckon. I also had some wings and a side salad. Nice dinner and I did not go for more ice cream afterwards. Self restraint.
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