JULY 15 BUCKEYE BILL

We rode our 8th "century" of the trip today; 105 miles from Richmond, IN to Marysville, OH. It was actually a great ride. The weather was favorable for a long bike ride: low humidity and not too hot on a sunny day, however we did have some wind.

Buckeye Bill and Mason

Our route for at least 70 miles was the Cardinal Trail Bike Route--not a bike path--but a series of state and county roads that weaved through the Ohio farm country. Just a few miles out of Richmond we had crossed the Ohio State line and changed our watches to Eastern Daylight Time--our 4th time zone.

Having lived in Cincinnati for a couple of years, I thought I had seen quite a bit of Ohio. The area we covered today was "back country," way off the beaten path; soybean and corn country that I had never seen before. That's what was so enjoyable about it. We could ride 2 or 3 abreast and talked. There was no worry about traffic, as we saw only the occcasional car or truck, and they gave us wide berth. The time (6 hours 50 minutes riding time) passed easily.

Cornfield break

Our first SAG was in Covington at the 42 mile mark near the Stillwater River. In the 4 corner town of St Paris we stopped for lunch at the Main St Cafe. I'm sure they wished we hadn't! Twelve hungry, thirsty bikers caused them to run out of ice, chicken salad, hamburgers, lemonade and wheat bread. The 2 young waitresses were overwhelmed--they may have quit! We are always polite, but just TOO MUCH for these little diners which are our only option for lunch.

Meg entering covered bridge

The "new guy" Dale from Tucson rode with us again most of the way. He is an attorney with IBM and a CATEGORY 3 bike racer. Very STRONG! We also have Paul and Barb with us the rest of the way. They have ridden the Cross Country Challenge in segments and will finish with us. They ride a tandem bike and are very fast.

Rest stop at 90 miles

We entered Marysville this afternoon on some of the most pot-holed streets we have encountered, but we are told the town council has approved funds for repair. Marysville ("Where the Grass Is Greener") is home to Scotts Lawn Care Co. and the Honda plant where cars and motorcycles are made. I think the tax base will support some road repair.

Someone in our group insightfully mentioned that the conversations have changed over time. We've all been through the "introductory stages" and of course by now know quite a bit about each other. We now talk about what is AHEAD, instead of what we have seen, and what is BEHIND us. What we are going to do immediately following the wheel dipping ceremony in the Atlantic, and in the months and years ahead have become the topics. It has been an interesting and important transition.

We have another 104 mile day tomorrow...and a lot more to talk about.

         - Bill

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