Day 26 - July 12

Clipping in, I gaze into the distance and wonder for a brief second: What will it be like when I see the Atlantic Ocean? Will I laugh, cry, or perhaps silently ponder the feat? I don’t know, but I do wonder... Ahh well, there is really only one way to discover that answer; so I pedal on.

During the initial 30 miles I found myself skirting the edge of an Ohioan storm; the smoky grey sky is full of anger and rain; but no lightening. I hoped that I would be fortunate and could find a way through this storm cell without getting hit by its burst of raw, wet power. Cranking the pedals even harder, I set out to do just that; but alas it was not meant to be. Soon the clouds opened up and down came the rain, falling upon me and my recently cleaned bike. Pausing at the SUV to see what the weather was going to do, the rain soon subsided in intensity and I was back on the leather and moving down the asphalt. The floodgates finally blew away as we entered Glandorf and we wisely sought sanctuary at a local convenience store. While the current cell blew its self out on the cyclist free streets, I fueled up on coffee and a taco salad. Not an overly efficient fuel stop, but the calories were great and the coffee core warming. Once again the rain subsided, and I climbed back on the saturated seat in saturated shorts and pedaled on into the rain. The rain was not overly miserable; while it had me drenched thoroughly in a few brief minutes, the day remained warm and the precip not particularly stinging. It could have been much worse. Pushing the wheels on the wet streets, a few concerns slid across my minds eye. I reminded myself to stay on the defensive, keep a firm grip on the handlebars, while riding on these recently wet streets as slick spots are highly probably. I also worried about my hindquarters, as a wet seat and wet shorts can make short work of it. There was nothing I could really do about that, so I ignored the discomfort and focused on the road in front of me.

Around mile 75 I rode out of the steady rain, and was able to finish the next 35 miles in relatively dry conditions. The weather was starting to cooperate again, but the roads remained treacherous, and not just because they were slick. During the last several days I have noticed that I am riding into the more populous part of the Land of the Free. While this is great when it comes to finding a place to stop and fuel up for lunch, it is making the riding a bit more challenging and painful. The roads I have frequented on this excursion reside in the rural countryside, are not major highways, and recently their condition has started to rapidly deteriorate. Several of the other states I have ridden through have had roads in much better shape. My guess is that these country roads, in Illinois, Indiana and now Ohio, see a higher amount of traffic but do not have suitable funds available to keep them adequately maintained. Thus, biking on them becomes less about cranking out miles, and more about finding my way through a mind filled maze. For the most part, I can see the potholes coming and respond accordingly, but there are times when they sneak up like an old fox and I have no choice but to nose dive into the crater and feel a shocking sensation burst through my wrists and course up to my elbows. At times such as this, pleasantries do not come out of my maw; the words that escape lie on the other end of the spectrum.

The ride wrapped up in Willard, Ohio 110 miles from where the day began. With today finished, there remains only a week of riding left; a week to complete this cyclone adventure. That is a hard fact to fathom. So, for now, I’ll leave it alone.

Physically, the body is still doing great. These last few centuries have not been all that demanding; the land is flat and the weather accommodating. I have been vastly fortunate with the streak of blue-sky/stay-dry type of riding conditions that this trip has consisted of. If today is the worst day we encounter for rain, than I will have been truly blessed. The knees have been behaving themselves, and the legs feel fairly strong. The butt is doing as well as can be expected (often the hardest part on the ride is forcing myself back onto that brick hard saddle for the first time each morning). The lower back and neck are a little tight from all the miles hunched over, but still operating well. With all things considered, I am quite pleased with the way my body has responded over the last 4 weeks. Now it has to do it for only 7 more glorious days. And then I shall wonder no more…