The group poses at the finish line

Liz, Katey, Simon, Amy, Rosie, Noah, Steph, and Ed at our last camp breakfast

We did it! We’ve completed the Ride Across America. Everyone is in and all are safe. What an amazing, uplifting journey this has been. I would like to thank my sponsors for their support— without you we would not have been able to make this trip that benefits the Lung Association. Together, we have raised over $270,000 in support of this worthy cause. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.

Austin, Ed, Noah, Simon, and Steven leave for one last ride

A special thank you also goes to Mac and Marge McDonald, who drove 150 miles in 110 degree temperatures in Montana just to say hello and take me to dinner. Another thank you to Keith, Bev, Lynette, and Val Burrows for hosting me in their lovely home in Billings– still dreaming about those ribs! Thanks to my mom and dad and my sisters, Joni and Lynnie, for their encouraging emails. And  a thanks to the other riders’ friends and family who started reading this blog to see the pictures of their loved ones and ended up checking in each day to take part in our journey.

We saw this tree full of turkey vultures... something dead somewhere!

A huge thank you and note of appreciation to Sharon, Mark, Amy, and Nick, our marvelous support staff that kept us fed, watered or gator- aided, our bikes tuned up and kept us moving down the road to this goal. There are no words to show the appreciation felt for your patience and the care you gave us.

The Seneca Schoolhouse Museum

Finally but never last in my heart I would like to thank my fellow riders. You started this journey as strangers to me and along the way you have become much loved friends. Your tenacity and strength have moved me. Your antics have made me laugh until I cried and we have developed a bond that can never be broken. We have been together day and night for 48 days and now the thought of not seeing each of you every day seems so strange! It will be quite an adjustment to go back to a life where all of you aren’t around all the time. Enough said– I’m getting teary eyed just writing this …..

Thanks to Costa (center) for a wonderful post-ride lunch!

Diana and I at the finish

And now, the blog of today’s ride—– We have so lucked out with our weather on this trip! We spent last night enjoying each other’s company and rose this moring to cool temperatures and clear skies. The temperatures could have been in the 90′s with the same for humidity but we got temps in the 70′s and low humidity. Perfect riding weather for  our last day. Knowing I was going to send my black bag back on the truck, I repacked things so that I’d have what I wanted to take home in my red bag and the rest of the stuff went into the black one. We loaded the truck and enjoyed one last camp breakfast, made extra special by lox and bagels as well as some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The ride started out pretty hilly and we wondered if we ever would get to some nice flat roads. However, the countryside was gorgeous, with many large horse farms– we could tell these folks had lots of extra cash by the size of the houses and barns. Plus one person had a zebra grazing with the horses!

Barb, Janet, and Diana celebrate the ride completion

We rode the first 40 miles on road, then 10 on trails that brought us right into DC by the Watergate Building. From there, we circled around the Lincoln Memorial and over to the Post Office Pavillion building where Costas, a rider from 1998, provided lunch for all of us. And it was a huge lunch– gyros, a big skewer of grilled meats and veggies, and some delicious baklava for desert. Once lunch was done, we were unsure of how we should go to the finish line. Some people said we were to go in groups of 2 only and others said no. I wanted to finish with Diana but we’d been riding all day with Samuel and we didn’t want to leave him to finish alone. Finally, it ended up that Ash and Pauline lead our group of Diana, Samuel, Tracey, Liz, and me in since Ash knew the way from his previous ride. It was great finishing to people’s cheers. The Lung Association banner was there for us to sign and everyone got a certificate of accomplishment from them. Plus Mark gave everyone cards. Mine is one of those music cards and it plays “I’m So Excited”.

What a wonderful group to ride the country with. Thanks all!

Of course we all had to have a group shot and we ran around hugging each other, too. Then it was off to the hotel and one last unloading of the truck. I loaded up my black bag and left my bike there to go home on the truck. Its strange to be here in this hotel room by myself. I keep expecting the others to walk in but instead, I am off to the reception that Ash and Pauline are hosting for us this evening. This will be an early evening for me. My flight leaves from Baltimore at 7:30am tomorrow and the Supershuttle will be here at 4:30 or 4:45.

Waiting for cue sheets in front of our cabin this morning: Samuel, Liz, Rosie, and Diana

Janet, Tracey, me, and Diana at state #12!

Dinner last night: Diana, Rosie, Tracey, Janet, and Liz

The 1/2 century club: me, Tracey, Liz, Rosie, Janet, Pauline, and Diana

Janet with the light-up picture on top of our cabin, also known as the Silverhorse Saloon

Chad and Greg reuinte with Greg's folks

We had a wonderful picnic last night at our little camping cabin. It started to rain just as we were putting the finishing touches on dinner but the cabin has a wide front porch and the wind wasn’t blowing so we moved a picnic table under the shelter of the front porch and ate there. It was really fun just sitting there yakking with our bread, cheese, and wine. Of course we took lots of photos to commemorate the event and since we had 4 bottles of wine for 6 people, things got pretty jolly.  I even boosted Janet up onto the roof of the cabin so she could pose with the Rosie photo that lights up at dark. We just had a great time goofing off.  We were just finishing tidying up after dinner when a woman I knew I hadn’t met walked up to me, said “you’re Barb!” and gave me a hug. Turns out she is Greg’s mom, and she and Greg’s dad had just driven 1100 miles to surprise Greg with a visit. They had always planned to meet him at our finish but they decided to show up just a bit early. When Greg and Chad came back from dinner, they hid behind us while we lured the guys over to the cabin for the big surprise. It was very sweet to watch their reunion. This is obviously a very close family, with Chad just about being one of their kids.

Douglas, Ash, and Rueben celebrate Gettysburg

Simon and Rosie

Chad’s folks broke out more wine and pretty soon we had most of the group that was camping over at our cabin talking and enjoying one of our last nights together. But like good campers we kept things reasonable and we turned in as usual at 10, since we knew we’d have to ride today.

Catey, Rachel, and Letty celebrate state #12

Douglas, Jim, and Joe at the coffee shop

This morning dawned clear and beautiful, with temperatures only in the 70′s. We have been SO BLESSED with good weather on this trip! Yes, we had that incredibly hot weather back in Montana  but by now that seems years in the past. And it could be incredibly hot and humid here right now, but its not. We left for Clarksburg and I only got a mile or so down the road before spotting a heron in a pond. Since today was a short day, we all took every opportunity to take photos and have fun. The next stop was the Maryland line– welcome to state #12. I posed with Tracey, Janet, and Diana then the young women posed in a cheerleader pile. We all had a great time taking each other’s photos. Then it was off to Taneytown where we paused for coffee.

We rode on until we got to Mark’s lunch stop but since Janet’s gluten-free breads are all gone, we decided to patronize Toney’s Town Stop instead. Most of us had their delicious crab cakes, which are made with Maryland soft shell crabs. Not quite as good aas dungeness crab but not bad, either!

Frekericks row houses

The Best Farm at the Monocacy Battlefield

Moving on after lunch, we passed through Frederick, which has some excellent examples of rowhouses. We thought we might stop there for ice cream, but we never found a place so we kept moving on, and then passed the Monocacy Battlefield. The road was narrow here and traffic was fast so we wanted to get to camp.

My tent at our last campsite

Tony works in the luxury and privacy of his tent at our last campsite

Bruce, Patty, and Clifford

Steven, Ed, and Austin spiff up their bikes for the last day's ride

For our last night of camping, we’re staying at Little Bennet campground, which supposedly is a private campground but feels like a state park. Its very comfy and quiet. The showers are very nice and so are the camping areas but there is no power. However, in Loop D accross the road for us, there are trailer hookups so Diana and I are sitting here blogging. One more day…. just one more day remains of this ride…. but I still can’t talk about that…… The ride isn’t over yet.

Diana, Darrell, and Barb are riding today only because guns are being held to their heads!

Chappie, Tracey, and Janet at breakfast

Gettysburg architecture

Ok, so there are 0 miles that count toward the ride across the country but we did get on our bikes today, for the first time ever on a rest day. Usually, our rest days put us close enough to services that we can just walk to laundry, shopping, or restaurants but this particular campsite is a bit further out. So we had to ride into town for breakfast. I woke up early as usual– 5:30 which is about when the sun comes up here. It was a beautiful morning and I had a great sleep in our little cabin. The mattresses are just about brand new and even though someone was snoring, I had no trouble sleeping because I have ear plugs for just that case. Sharon made us some great coffee when she got up and once the others got up, we started doing our chores. I cleaned up my bike– flithy after 2 days of the limestone trail plus the wet roads yesterday morning after the rains. Meanwhile, Diana and Tracey did  laundry so our cabin porch was soon festooned with drying clothing. Once that was all settled Darrell, Diana, and I biked into town to join Patty, Chappie (her friend who is riding with us these last few days) and Janet at breakfast. I had my last big breakfast of this trip, a feta cheese and bacon omlette. We are all talking about having to cut back on our eating right away when the trip starts and since the next 2 days are fairly easy, or so I’ve heard, I think that will happen right away for me.

Gettysburg town squre

Diana and another visitor are shown the sights by President Lincoln

After breakfast Darrell took off to go see some of the battlefield sights but Diana and I walked the town to see what was closer by. There are lots of historic old buildings in the central area of Gettysburg that date to the civil war period, some with bullet holes from the 3-day battle itself. Most interesting was seeing the building where Lincoln composed his Gettysburg Address. The building isn’t much to see right now as its undergoing restoration but the town hopes to have it up and running again in a few months. Outside the building we ran into President Lincoln himself and Diana posed for a picture but forgot to ask for an autograph.

One of the battlefields

On the way back to camp, we got a sandwich for lunch at Subway and stopped at a grocery store for stuff to make a picnic dinner for the cabin. As I mentioned, we are pretty far from town here and we really didn’t want to have to get back on our bikes a second time to go to dinner. So the vote was picnic dinner tonite. We got wine, some good bread, sliced turkey and cheese, and for a salad I got some basil, tomatoes and motzarella cheese. Liz is going to get something for dinner so I think we will survive the night until breakfast tomorrow morning.

Seeing the value of higher ground

Pennsylvania war memorial

Some of the guys play in the storm

Taking refuge from the storm at the bathouse

Greg enjoys the lull between the 2 storms

Noah, Douglas, Chad, and Simon drying off

This afternoon, we took a 2-hour bus tour of the battlefields that was really interesting. This tour company picks you up right here at the campgrounds so we were spared the pain of more bike riding. They drive you around and show you the main battlefields and explain how the terrain worked for the different regiments of the 2 armies. Its really impressive how there are monuments scattered all over this area documenting all the regiments from all the states that fought in the war. The monuments are placed where the regiment had its heaviest fighting. The land here rises and falls, plus there are some high spots that reach approximately the height of a 13-story building. These changes in terrain worked for and against soldiers as they fought for possession of the town and the tour guide kept reminding us “do you see the value of high ground”. As the tour progressed, I couldn’t help but notice that the sky to the west was getting darker and darker and darker. A storm was fast approaching. We hustled off the bus when the tour was over and into the van that would take us back to camp, hoping to beat the storm. When the lady driving said she’d take us right to our cabin, we dumped money in her tip jar in gratitude. We arrived at the cabin just as the wind hit and the first few drops of rain began to fall. Noah, Austin, and Rueben were playing cribbage in front of our door and I told them our front porch was going to be hit by the rain so they rain for their tents. Just a few minutes later, the rain poured down and the wind blew like crazy. Our door faces west and we had to shut it and the windows on that side of the cabin because the wind was blowing the rain so much. It was nice and cozy inside though, and nice that we weren’t in our tents. The guys however were running around and staking down their tents. Then they rain around and played in the rain– we laughed as we watched them. Now its an hour later and you can hardly tell it even rained!

The lake at Cowan Gap State Park

View from the top of a climb

Diana reaches the top of a climb

What a day to oversleep! I set my alarm last night for 4:30am, which is only 15minutes earlier than I normally get up, but for some reason, I slept through my alarm. So there I was laying in my tent wondering why everyone was unzipping their tents when I realized… maybe its time to get up! But it worked out ok. I was able to get everything loaded up and on the truck in time. We had a thundersquall last night and everything got soaked but we didn’t mind too much, especially us “golden girls” as we have our little cabin to sleep in tonite.

First road sign to DC!

The climb was worth it!

But about the day–the ride is billed on the cue sheets as “Huge day on the bike. This is the “final exam”. The first 40 miles features several big climbs and descents and the last 60 miles is more rolling”. But we weren’t scared off. We’ve been riding 7 weeks now and if we aren’t in shape for what PA can dish out, we’ll never be! Its true that the ride does have some huge and VERY steep climbs that first 40 miles. I definitely worked hard to get up them but the scenery was so pretty that I didn’t mind. And these last 7 weeks have gotten us into good enough shape that we can grind our way up anything. Hills that would have scared the !@#$ out of me a few weeks ago don’t daunt me at all– just gear down and go!

Samuel reaches the top of a climb

Today we mostly followed the “S” Pennsylvania DOT bike route that was developed by Tom Ridge, a former governor who is an avid cyclist. Many of the roads are great for travelling but a few have very high traffic and marginal shoulders.

Jason and his snapping turtle

I rode most of the day with Janet and Darrell joined us close to the end. We had our first stop at Breezewood and went through the second busiest truck intersection in the country. I had to wait for what seemed like forever for the stoplight to change– they must extend them so that all the trucks can get through the lights. It was worth it once I finally got through the light and could reach our rest stop because Sharon had put it in front of a Starbucks! We hadn’t seen a Starbucks in several days so I went in for a chai latte which powered me up the long climbs that came after we moved on.

Janet, Samuel, Rosie, and Liz at first lunch

Douglas (for his family!) and our wonderful mechanic, Nick

About the time we came to the Hustontown area, there was a little country store where Janet and I decided to stop, along with some of the others. We started talking to Jason, who is a local, and he showed us the snapping turtle he’d caught, which he plans to have for dinner sometime soon. I got a great turkey sub at the store for just $2.50 and it was so big that it fed me, Samuel, and Janet. Fortified, we headed out down the road.

The grist mill outside Burnt Cabins

Later in the day, we rode through Burnt Cabins, where British soldiers burned settler’s cabins in the pre-Revolutionary War days in order to appease the Indians of the area who were unhappy about losing their lands. This was followed by a view of an old grist mill and then, we rode  toward Cowans Gap State park on a beautiful road alongside a creek. It was so pretty that we didn’t even want to hurry. Lunch was  at a lake at the State Park where I had my daily ice cream, and then we headed out as there were still 50 miles to go and it was 11:45am.

Documentation-- there ARE big hills in PA!

Gettysburg memorial of the Civil War

Happily, by then we were through the big climbs but there were still plenty of rollers. Its true that there are lots of hills in Pennsylvania and for a while today, it seemed like we were going over all of them. We stopped at Nick’s rest stop at 75 miles and filled up with water but knew that we’d need to make another stop so at 85 miles Darrell, Janet, and I stopped at a grocery store for a cold drink. We also decided that since camp was so far out of town, that the best thing to do would be to eat in town, then head out to camp. Soon after we left the store, we crested a hill and began a long, long glorious descent into Gettysburg that was made even better by the tailwind. Janet stopped us at the Appalacian Brewery and Restaurant where we had a great meal before travelling the last few miles into camp.

So…. WE DID IT!  We passed the final exam! We’re in Gettysburg in our little camping cabin. Its pretty rustic: just a queen bed and 2 sets of bunk beds but we are thrilled to be out of our tents for 2 nights. This means when we leave here, its just 1 more night of camping out and then we’re at DC. Our tents have been dried out in the sun and we’re doing laundry. It will be nice to enjoy our last rest day tomorrow. We are pretty far from town here– about 2 1/2 miles so we’ll have to ride our bikes to get our meals. One task for tomorrow is to figure out what to do about dinner, as in who will deliver here so we don’t have to go back into town for dinner.

Ed, Greg, Austin, Dwayne, Letty, and Steven enjoying dinner

Amy and Sam

We were disappointed not to have cell phone or internet access last night but I have now posted for yesterday. Sorry about not too many pictures in yesterday’s posting. For some reason, they won’t upload.

The dam outflow at last night's campsite

How many golden girls does it take to change a tire? Patty, Tracy, and Janet give it a try.

Bob, Rosie, and Liz blast down the trail

A little toad beside the trail

Last night, our weather report said 30% chance of storms during the evening and 50% during the day today so we were a bit concerned about bad weather. We lucked out and no rain last night at all, although it was very damp out due to the humidity. When I got up this morning, I realized that I was assigned breakfast duty so I rushed through my packing and went to help with breakfast. There was a big discussion today about which route to take. For the first time we were offered a choice: either continue riding on the trail or to take the road, which was faster but went to the highest point in PA, 3125feet. Most of us opted for the trail, which is much easier being much flater. And besides, the day was very cloudy and the chance for a view was not too good. Still, the young fast guys and some of the older fast guys took to the road. I started riding with Tracey, Janet, Patty H, and Dianna and almost immediately, Tracey had a flat for us to change. I helped a bit but since there were plenty of hands, I got a quick shot of a little toad along the road.

Greg and Chad display the trail manager's cautionary sign

Once the flat was changed, Janet and I started to ride a bit harder. We were worried about it raining and turning the trail into mush so we kept moving along as fast as we could. And we offered the weather gods a deal: No rain until we are off the trail– just let us finish the trail and then we won’t care if it rains! Last year, the folks who did the trail, which is crushed and hardpacked limestone,  said that it was REALLY hard to ride on after the rain. Of course, they had tons of rain last year. This year, we have been so blessed. We have had those 2 thunder storms but as far as rain is concerned, we have really lucked out.

The deer we saw yesterday

Darrell and Janet check out the hills in this area of PA

Lots of covered bridges in this area!

Letty and Katey cross one of the railroad bridges on the trail

 So Janet and I rode hard to make it to the end of the trail, sometimes with Rosie and Liz and sometimes not, depending upon who stopped to take a picture. We exited the trail at Meyersdale and grabbed some snacks and refilled our water bottles before taking off again. We thought about getting something to eat there but we weren’t that hungry so we decided to try for something to eat in Berlin so we headed out. Immediately, the route turned hilly. Up and down hills we went and along the way, we picked up Darrell as well. When we got to Berlin, the 3 of us started to looking for a place for food. Both Darrell and Janet wanted breakfast food and surprisingly, we were able to find a cafe in that small town that serves breakfast all day. As I was sitting there, I realized my legs were covered with grit from the trail. Darrell referred to this as his 200 grit sandpaper legs. The trail is awesome but it does get you a bit dirty! So we all had  a  second breakfast. I haven’t mentioned this to you yet, but on this trip many of us are like hobbits: we often have a second breakfast after our first. In fact, alot of the fast folks take off from camp and immediately head for the nearest cafe for eggs and coffee. Anyway, the 3 of us really enjoyed our eggs and I was glad I had them instead of a burger as we still had some HUGE hills to do. In fact, Darrell said one of them was 14%! I don’t know about that but I do know it was a tough climb. We saw a sign on Route 31E for the Flight 31 Memorial and thought that we would be going by it but were disappointed that the Big Ride route does go by it. We wished we had been given the option to drive by and pay our respects to the very brave people who died so that others could live.

Rosie and the river from one of the many bridges we crossed on the trail

We climbed one final hill, and then glided down, down, down into camp. By the way, our deal with the weather gods worked! Janet and I got to camp just in time to get our tents set up before the rain. Of course, later on it stopped and now its looking like it might even clear! Friendship Village Campground has laundry facilities and I was SO RELIEVED to get my bath towel washed. In this humidity things just don’t dry so everything seems to be getting damper and damper as time goes on. Fortunately, tomorrow is Gettysburg and I have a little camping cabin reserved for 6 of us “golden girls” to share. We are REALLY looking forward to NOT sleeping in our tents, which are getting a bit disgusting after being damp for so long. Can’t wait to dry everything out! Tomorrow is supposed to be a really hard ride, in fact past riders refer to it as the “final exam”. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Noah, Chad, and Simon reviewing the day's ride

Tonite is the first night on our trip that we haven’t  been able to get internet access. We’re camped in kind-of a hole here in Confluence and nobody has cell phone service so I’ll write this tonite and post tomorrow. Sorry about that, folks!!

We got up to a camp breakfast  and hit the road about 7:10am. The campground last night had some very sharp rocks and broken up refractory glass as paving that was really hard on our tires so most  folks walked their bikes to the road.

 The route today took us through some really hilly areas almost from the very beginning as we rode through Washington, PA.  The town made us think (because its so hilly) that we had somehow transmitted ourselves to San Francisco.  We did have a very nice view of a hot air balloon as we rode through.  Once through town, we made our way to Mingo Creek Park which was just lovely. We really enjoyed not having to  deal with many cars and we got to ride beside a lovely creek and admire 2 covered bridges. Unfortunately, my camera memory card got full about then so I had to wait until I got to Rite Aid to get another.  Rite Aid has been a real lifesaver to us on this trip. They carry tons of stuff and it seems that every little town has one and if not, there’s a Walgreens.

 I continued on and caught up with Janet, Samuel, and Diana just as we got to some very serious hills, with one being about 3 miles long and a grade of 12%! Whew, I was glad I didn’t know about that one in advance! We all managed to get over them and rolled into West Newton Station (that’s a town) for our lunch stop and our entry to the Youghiogheny River Trail. For the rest of the afternoon—that’s 50 miles– we rode on this lovely trail, enjoying the low grade and the lack of cars. It really was nice to be off the roads for a change. The trail is crushed, hardpacked limestone and its an old railway that’s been reworked for hiking and biking. Even though this was a Monday, we saw tons of people of all ages out riding bikes and hiking along. And the river was in use too by folks in canoes and rafts. At mile 61, we came to a rest stop that was sponsored by  Big Ride Alum Fred Husak. He did the ride in 2000 and ever since, he has supported the ride with a rest stop each year. Even though we all had lunch just 20 miles ago, we devoured the sub sandwiches and ice cream he had for us as though we hadn’t eaten in days.  He also had birch beer for us, which tastes like root beer but isn’t as sweet.

Leaving Fred’s rest stop, the trail crosses 2 old railway trestles, one of which is very scenic. Then it continues along the river, climbing so slowly you don’t even notice it. At about 15 miles out of camp, I met up with Rosie and we rode together  the rest of the way. It sure made the trip a lot easier having someone to talk to. We even saw a deer beside the road that was so used to people that it didn’t even dash off to the bushes when it saw us.

We’re camped tonite at  a campground  in Confluence right below the dam. There are train tracks nearby but the dam is letting out water due to the recent rains so it mostly drowns out the sound of the trains. Keep your fingers crossed for us that it doesn’t rain tonight because  tomorrow we want to ride the trail and not take the road option, which is quite difficult. We know from what folks said last year about the rain making the trail a huge muddy mess that if it does rain, it’s the road for us. Unfortunately, the road goes to the top of the highest point in PA and since we have a tough day on Wednesday getting into Gettysburg, only the young, the wild, and the crazy are currently planning on doing the road. Stay tuned…..

Our big white truck, loaded up and ready to go!

For the Tsameret Family

Greg and Chad generally win the "last tent down" award each morning

We keep a pair of sandals or shoes stuck just inside the truck door so we can get out of our cycling shoes when the day is done

 Last night at our campground in New Waterford was so nice and quiet! We really liked how pretty it was, too. The facilities were fairly primitive but it was easy to overlook that when we had such a lovely setting to enjoy. And when I got up late last night to use the restroom, there were tons of stars in the sky. I didn’t hear any noises in the night but several other folks said they heard coyotes so I must have slept heavier than I thought! We slept in today– breakfast was at 6am and cue sheets were at 7am after another camp breakfast.

James, Patty, Steph, and Jim wait for cue sheets

Tracey, Janet, Pauline, and Rosie (all members of the 1/2 century club) at breakfast

On the road again!

We left camp and headed out for Pennsylvania, our 11th state, which was only 23 miles away. We have just 1 more state, Delaware, and the District of Columbia to travel on our journey. And just 5 more days of riding… whew, the countdown has begun but most of us are avoiding discussion of that. Too much emotion, we don’t want this to end, or maybe we DO want it to end and we’re afraid it won’t! I could imagine a form of hell for cyclists– you are condemed to ride forever with saddle sores, bike stuck in the biggest gear, lots of steep rollers, and 100 mile days. That would do it for me! Oh yeah, and crummy campsites right next to I-90 and constant trains. Whatever the reason, I think we all are just taking things one day at a time right now but I expect things will change once we have arrived at Gettysburg. And I do thnk that we have learned to take things one day at a time because that is really the way to get through a ride like this– we are living solely in the present and not dwelling on the past or thinking what the future will bring us. But I wax philosophical. Back to the ride…..

The barn is in Ohio, the nukes are in PA

Greg enjoys that awesome downhill

Greg, Chad, and I greet our 11th state

We rode up and down a few hills and enjoyed the view from the top of one that showed Midland’s nuclear plants off in the distance. Then we enjoyed a very steep descent. Greg stopped to take pictures and was later disappointed that he had stopped and not tried for a new speed record down the hill. And one of the towns we passed through was East Palestine so I had to take a photo of my bike against the sign. In no time at all, the “welcome to PA” sign was in view. Ash, Pauline, Greg, Chad, and I stopped for a few photos to commemorate the next on our series of states and then headed out. Our first break stop was in the town of Midland, a poor-seeming town with the  nuclear generators we’d seen from the hill. Quite a few folks stopped for breakfast and/or coffee but I really like to keep moving to I grabbed a few fig bars and moved on. We crossed the river and got a good view of one of the power plants, then there was a long climb back up away from the river.

The fast young guys at lunch

Hmmm coal AND nukes!

Incredible heroism

A PA barn

By the time I got to the top, I was starting to think about lunch in Burgettstown which was about 14 miles away. But a few miles outside of town, Mark and Amy had set up our lunch stop in a cemetary, of all places! This cemetary has the gravesite of one of our Congressional Medal of Honor winners and the description of his heroism to earn the medal was certainly impressive. There was another collection of young fast guys, plus Dwayne and Jim at the stop when I arrived and I listened and laughed while they gave each other grief. Darrell arrived, grabbed some food, and was off for town. I decided to travel along with him so that we could stop in Burgettstown for ice cream. I was feeling a bit of withdrawl because I didn’t get any yesterday! After asking for directions from a local, we found Bimbo’s Ice Cream where the girl who waited on us had that East Coast ‘tude—- that is, we were interrupting her day to get our ice cream and she didn’t seem happy about it. But we persevered, got our treats, and sat out front to enjoy it. I took a photo of the “Welcome to Coal Country” sign and wondered why we were in coal country with 4 nukes not 30 miles away.

Diana on her way to tonight's internet cafe

Are they cute or what? Steph and Jim rock out at camp

Tonite, we are camped at the Whispering Pines Family Campground which doesn’t have much for facilities but its another pretty site. It does have power so we can recharge our cell phones and hook up our laptops.

Not looking forward to tomorrow’s ride… Sharon has written “prepare to climb and descend” on our whiteboard!

At camp: Steven, James, Nick, and Douglas

Noah, Greg, Chad, and Katie

Wow, nice easy day today! We are delighted to have a couple of shorter days this week that allow us to kick back a bit and have some time to relax and enjoy this trip.

A giant bull at the fairgrounds... maybe their mascot??

Horsebarn feral cats

Last night after dinner, I had some time to stroll around the fairgrounds and take a few photos to show you some of the sights.

Windmill at the fairgrounds

A cicada dried its wings on Kathleen's tent this morning

We went to bed last night wondering if there would be a thunderstorm and we didn’t have to wonder for very long. By about midnight, we had quite a bit of lightning and the wind started blowing very hard, then the skies opened up. We had quite the storm for about an hour or so– lots of lighting and heavy rain. Then it stopped and things just dripped for the rest of the night. When we got up, the sun was shining and you hardly would have known that we had a storm. Except… that our tents were really sodden except for those smart folks who had put up their tents under the pavillion. But we packed up and hoped that it would end up being a dry day and that we’d have a camp that would allow us to dry things out. We had a camp breakfast and hit the road knowing that our miles were very short today.

Amish buggies and bike riders ahead!

Note stop/turn lights on the back of the buggy

We saw quite a few Amish buggies on the road, trotting along with their lights on the back. The roadsides in this area even have special signs to alert drivers that the buggies are on the road. It makes things nice for us as the drivers are used to looking out for slow moving objects on the roads. Overall, the Ohio drivers continue to be very polite to us and the roads are in good shape, for the most part. One of the first things I saw was a huge mother turkey with a couple of baby turkeys but by the time it registered what I’d seen and I turned around, they had snuck off into the bushes so I missed the shot. Next came Warren, which has a Packard museum and lots of things named after Packard.

The "fast young guys" from left: Nick, Noah, Steven, Ed, Austin, Simon, and Reuben

Greg at breakfast

I reached our lunch stop at Canfield fairly early and found the fast young guys there, along with Dwayne and Patty. I continued on to camp after eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich because I wanted to get my tent and other things dried out. We’re camped in Terrace Lakes campground tonite up on a hill. Its a bit primative for showers but we have tons of room for camping and there are lots of trees for shade. Keep your fingers crossed that we don’t get rained on again!

And now, some photos from camp of our group……..

Jim does some repair work on his sumo squeeky

Our ride leader, Sharon, fixing yet another wonderful dinner

Ed and Patty are on the kitchen crew tonite

Diana and Darrell blog at one of our internet cafes

Here's Ed charging his cell phone while contemplating his laundry

The Goodwin Home, built in 1835

Greg at his tent, checking out his mail

Barb with Amish buggy

Old schoolhouse at the Century Farm

One of the century farm homes

Rosie inspects the dryers at the laundromat

Jim checks his bike over

We’ve walked a bit today but mostly today is a laid back rest day— a chance to pick up anything we’ll need for the next 8 days, time to clean up your bike, do laundry, hang out with our  37 best friends, and  (what else?) eat ice cream!

Greg and Ed, with Dwayne in the background, at our internet cafe

The Burton Sugar Shack

I woke up about 6:15 and went into town with Diana, Janet, and Rosie to do laundry and have breakfast. Burton is very small so even us lazy rest day folks can walk into town and back to the fairgrounds without complaining about excessive exercise which we avoid at all costs on rest days. The laundromat here is the only one I’ve ever seen staffed by an Amish woman. Its spotless there are tons of washers and dryers, and my clothes felt really clean for the first time in a while. As I’ve mentioned in the past, our needs right now are very simple and the find of a good laundromat makes us very happy. We tossed our laundry into the washers and went next door to Belle’s American Grille for breakfast. Burton is known as “Pancake Town USA” and the pancakes at Belle’s were very good. The town operates the Sugar Shack which is a working  sugar house that makes maple syrup each March and is a huge tourist draw for the town. The Burton Log cabin, patterned after the cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born, is used for selling the syrup, maple candy, t-shirts, and other goodies. Its a fun place to visit and you can pick up some syrup to take home.

Greg, Noah, and Chad enjoying a game of cribbage

We brought our laundry back to camp after breakfast and I hung up my cycling gloves to dry. In this more humid weather, my gloves get just disgusting after just a day or 2 so I’m really glad I have 2 pairs so I can trade them off but by the time laundry day comes, they always need a good washing.

The Burton water tower

Later in the day, Diana and I toured through the town and enjoyed the Century Village. We also did a bit of shopping and now we’re just hanging out.

The view from the Century Farm

The older folks enjoy a joke

Heron and waterway, Lake Erie in background

Great night’s sleep last night despite the trains and the kids coming back from the amusement park late. Thank heavens for ear plugs! We got up to clear skies and a camp breakfast. I have started to use my protein powder in the mornings rather than after riding and its working very well that way for me. We don’t get much protein for breakfast and since I need it anyway, the protien powder does the trick. Otherwise, I’m starving for lunch way before lunch time– no kidding!

Greg unlocks his bike

Ash and Pauline at the market in Vermillion

Today’s ride was in way more traffic than we’ve ridden in so far on this trip. We left our KOA campground in Sandusky and headed toward Cleveland. Fortunately, the Ohio drivers are very polite and even when there wasn’t much shoulder, they gave us as much room as they could. We had our first water stop located in the parking lot of a small store in a town called Vermillion. They were baking bread and it smelled SO GOOD that I just had to get something to eat so I got a turkey and swiss sandwich and it kept me going until lunch. Pauline and Ash posed for me in front of the old wooden wagon in front of the store. Then off I went. I was anxious to get through Cleveland.

Lake Erie

Outside the Rock 'n Roll all of Fame

We got to the town of Rocky River about 48 miles into our ride and were supposed to cross the river but we couldn’t cross where we planned because the drawbridge was being worked on. The detour was really poorly marked and our road directions were non-existent so everyone ended up taking a different route. I finally stopped at an auto repair shop for directions and was given a very nice route past some nurseries on a quiet road that got me back to Route 6. Unfortunately, Route 6 has lots of traffice but as I said, the drivers here are very polite. I met up with Ash and Pauline just as we entered Cleveland and rode through town with them. You really need a couple of people to navigate through the bigger towns. Its really hard to watch the road, watch the cars, and read the cue sheet to see where to make the next turn. And the last 2 days, our directions have been pretty sketchy.  We had a couple of places where we weren’t sure if we had accidently passed our turn or if there was an error but we finally started to get out of downtown (where we passed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and into the suburbs. We passed some gorgeous houses today– some of them were more estates than homes. Just as we thought we were home free and out of Cleveland there was a “detour- bridge out” sign in our path. We got directions from a Parks and Rec guy around the detour that took us through a lovely residential area and then we were  on our last 15 miles to camp. This was a pretty difficult 15 miles, lots of very steep hills. I like the kind where you can just get into your small chainring, get up the hill, and then shift back into your large chainring for the downhill but these were the type of hills where you were constantly shifting.

Patty and Tony

I thought I had the route licked at about 3 miles to go and was just about to stop at Dairy King for a celebratory ice cream when I looked forward to see where our road went next. I was horrified. It wasn’t a steep hill– it was a cliff. YIKES! I couldn’t imagine trying to climb it after eating ice cream so I forgot about stopping and decided to get my butt over the hill. Like many hills, it wasn’t nearly as bad when I was climbing it as it looked like from a distance. And at the top of the hill was Burton. This is a very small town but it does have the basic necessities: a laundromat and a coffee shop. The fairgrounds where we are camped is nice with some trees for shade and the showers are pretty good. I think we’ll be ok here for our rest day.

These pictures are from breakfast this morning…..

Brendan

Brendan, Tony, Dwayne, Chuck, and Patty wait for cue sheets

Joe enjoys his latest concoction: oatmeal mixed with hot chocolate

Rachel with Ed in the background wearing his favorite pink shirt

Steph gets a few extra moments of sleep while Kevin contemplates the upcoming day

Rueben's INCREDIBLY UGLY cycling clothes

Catey contemplates breakfast

Diana and Janet wait for cue sheets

Guess what– today is the first day since I can’t remember when that I haven’t had ice cream. Hope I don’t wake up in the middle of the night with withdrawl!