Another day another state

If all went according to schedule, today should have brought Sue and her group to Hamburg, NY. Hamburg is one of those little New York towns that likes to call itself a village, and since I don't know the criteria for a village, I let it go, but I'm watching you Hamburg. If I see anything unvillage like, I''ll yank your village status faster than you can say "Where quality of life, Afford ability, and Innovation are the Norm." On to Canandaigua tomorow. I don't want to live in a place named that.

Welcome to Erie, PA

Wow, one more century yesterday to make 4 in a row--first and hopefully last time ever! Although I'll have to say it feels pretty darned good to get it done. We got to Erie about 3:30, the lake front is only 8 blocks away from the hotel but I couldn't drag my tired butt down there, will do that today--so excited to see my first Great Lake.We had a great meal last night and actually went to a pub down the street for a drink since we're off today--managed to stay up past dark--barely. I have somany mixed feelings right now, can't believe we only have 8 days left, has passed so slowly and yet so quick. Wondering how I'm going to feel when I get home, suspect there is going to be a huge letdown and wandering around aimlessly for days, wondering where all my new buddies are and shat the route for the day is. I'm not sure how long it will take to ship my bike home, probably take it out for a spin when I get it, maybe just a measly 50 miles or so.The last couple of weeks cycling al l the back roads has been spectacular, really gives me a feel for small town America and I'm impressed.Tomorrow we actually cross into New York for 3 days I think(whoops, hit some strange key and it changed the letters, oh well)I'm trying to figure out how to maintain this level of fitness when I get back, have probably dropped 5 or 6 pounds even tho I've been eating nonstop, have increased my speed on the bike by 2 or 3 mph--don't know,maybe you guys can drag my ass up a few mountains.I definitely don't want to keep riding 90 to 100 miles a day, least I've figured that out! Will probably take the whole month of August off and regroup--bring those missions on!My niece is having serious surgery the day I get back, will likely make a quick trip to Little Rock once I know the house is still standing. I can;t WAIT to see everyone and catch up with all of you--your support has kept me going and I truly could not have done it without every one of you. Thank you SO much- -I'm going to head down to the lake and relax, see if I can stay out of trouble. Talk to you soon. Love-----

Wooster to Youngstown, OH

Saturday took Sue's group from Wooster to Youngstown, OH. Here's her view on the whole deal.

"wow, one more day and one more century, three in a row, a record for me. One more to go tomorrow and then we're into Pa and Erie and dy off on Monday. I've been really impressed with Ohio, some of the most beautiful lwns and old farms I've seen, also some of the roughest roads, feel like I've been on a mountaain bike half of today!Lots of the old above ground swimming pools, thought about jumping in several .Hills initially this morning then flattened out some, looks better for tomorrow, long but more flat.It's raining tonight, hope it blows over by tomorrow. Things are pretty good, everyone is tired and a little cranky, including me, can't wait to get home and veg for a few days--maybe do walk up to the mailbox and see if I can still breathe!I'll write more tomorrow when we get in, right now the ed is way too inviting. Tom, sorry I missed your sister but thanks for the thought--I think Niles is fairly close but couldn't get much info about it. Sleep tight,y'all, t alk soon."

richmond to marysville to wooster

So, I just realized I missed a post. I thought I had done it but it apparently wasn't there. So, to get you caught up, here's the post from a couple days ago.

"Didn't have enail access last night, sorry about that.Had a long day--109 miles but mostly flat, beautiful old farms and backroads. Was a pretty good ride all in all. Today was much tougher, another 107 miles and the "Missouri Hills" have come back with a vengeance. somebody today with a gps said the angle was 20%--whatever it was they were steep! So tired tonight I can't move and this town looks really interesting--Tom(Wood) where are you from?????Tomorrow is our last day in Ohio then on to Pennsylvania, boy, we are moving East!Another lond day tomorrow, 95 or something like that, hope the hills disappear.Good luck for all you guys doing the Triple tomorrow--I'll be thinking about you!"

Relief for now

Yesterday was actually a really nice day, crossed over into Indiana and one more time zone--now I'm REALLY confused. Don't think I've lived in the eastern time zone in 25 years.Still pretty flat but fewer cornfields and bigger trees, towns a little closer together and beginning to get more interesting. Rode with the "hot shots" yesterday for all day--3 guys, a German, Aussie and Brit, who amazingly slowed their pace down for a day so a few of us middle of the roaders could keep up with them. It was fun,rolled into the hotel at 1:00 in the afternoon after doing 85 miles--"short day" ha!Today we woke up to popuring rain, thunderstorms and lightening all around and after breakfast and much deliberation they started shuttling us in the vans into Indianapolis so we might actually wind up with 2 days off because tomorrow is our off day. Probably not a bad thing and I mostly just want to get home safely, isn't worth the risk. I don't know what I'm going to do with 2 days off the bike , probab;y go into wirhdrawals! At least we're right downtown and there is tons to do--just rest up and enjoy walking around.We have only 13 riding days left, really hard to bel;ieve. The rest of this week is hard, 5 days and 500 miles(wow)and the hardest thing at this point is the mental challenge ogf getting on the bike every day doing 80 to 100 miles each day--it ranks right up there with dangling from that Blackhawk! The ultimate goal , tho, is finishing,= and boy is that gonna feel great. Thanks for all the support--you guys are my inspiration for all you do and I know that everyone is rooting for me. It's a wonderful feeling to have you all in my life- I am one VERY fortunate woman.

happy 4th my friends

Not too bad a day for 106 miles, finally got out of the hills nd into more flat country with nuthin but cornfields. Good weather, high 70's and no rain, thank God. Even tho it was longer it was far better than yesterday, encouraging. I think all of us right now are at the point of a serious love-hate relationship with the bike--can turn any given moment!Happy July 4th to everyone, unfortunately it's not dark yet so the fireworkds haven't started but I'm down for the count. Can't wait tillI get home nd actually can make it to 10:00!Another century to orrow then 2 more days before the next rest day in Indianapolis, slowly crawling East--I think we actually change timezones again tomorrow. Yeehaw!

chillicothee to kirksville to quincy

Not sure what happened, I emailed from chillicthee a coupla days ago but it must be floating out there in cyberspace somewhere. Did send some more pics, hope they're on the blogsite. Anyway, the last 3 days have been tough, Missouri is known as the land of a thousand hills and I have no doubt in my mind where they are!Big roller coasters that go on endlessly as far as the eye can see, like doing interval training for 85 miles a day 3 days in a row, I'm so tired tonight I can hardly move Mostly rolling hills, beautiful farms, lots of corn and soybeans, all on back country roads, some rough, some very narrow but tons better than big highways. I actually get the feel of smalltown Ameica, would love to come back in a car, a convertible at that! Somehow at dinner one night in the midst of this, we came up with an idea for a coffee table book about all the varieties of roadkill, sure to sell like hotcake!You can see how the discussion quickly deteriorates after dinner, then goes immediately to what the route is gonna be like the next day followed by how soon can we go to bed, haven't made it till after dark in a while.Today was about 65 miles in rain and the rest with headwinds, next two days are 2 century days--wow. Crossing the Mississippi today was interesting, really high, they had to shuttle us across the bridge. So--guess that's it for tonight.