Sunday, June 5th, 2016
To be honest, today got off to a rough start. It was gray and rainy, we were moving slowly, and there were some setbacks with bike maintenance and such. The ride didn’t really pick up…the route was pretty as it followed along Lake Erie, but the wind was whipping off the water and our bodies didn’t really speed up too much. A couple of groups (mine included, which if you know me isn’t that surprising) spent a considerable amount of time being lost. Additionally, we got 9 flats as a team today. That’s a lot of time spent on the side of the road changing tires and tubes. Most of us didn’t roll into our 40 mile rest stop for lunch until 2:30. The good news is that we still had fun. Each group found ways to entertain themselves, and a couple groups started asking table topic questions to pass the time. You’d be surprised to learn how long a question like “What does the American Dream mean to you?” or “How will you know at the age of 80 if you have been successful in life?” can facilitate conversation when you have nothing to do but pedal.
After lunch the sun started to peek out, but unfortunately our ride got cut short due to thunderstorms. We managed to pack in like sardines and shuttle the last 30 miles to our stay over in Westfield. So our 93 mile day turned into a 60 mile day, but we still got in a good amount of riding and talking.
We arrive in Ohio tomorrow! We are all excited to cross a state border, but as Lindsey pointed out, it is a bit nostalgic that we are already 1 state down.
DR