Saving the hills for last

Leaving Marysville this morning we were all wondering if we were going to be riding in the rain or just over cast skies. We hit the jackpot for weather and only had cover cast skies and mild temperatures. The weather Gods have been good to us once again.

After we got out of town, we cycled on country roads with lots farms and cute farm animals. In fact we saw a Mama cow with a small Calf and Papa Bull. The Calf was very inquisitive and seemed to be begging for it's picture to be taken so I started snapping photos., he was sooooo cute! Papa Bull was slowly moving along the fence and just after taking my picture, he stood in front of his Calf for protection. It was so cute!

The roads were great today and we were all enjoying our ride, even took a picture of a Mexican Restaurant in Marengo, OH for the fun of it. I saw this at our first sag stop and got a laugh from their mural. Wouldn't expect to see a Mexican Restaurant in Marengo, it's a rather small town, but the mural on the wall was quite interesting and you can see in the picture.

Then after our second sag, it was frightening to see the 12-18 percent grade hills that we had to climb for the last 25 miles into Wooster. They were "ugly hard". I would have taken a picture, but I don't think it would have done the hills justice and I didn't want to stop!! I don't know what happened to me, but I just put my head down and climbed using my granny gear. Jan said it was like I was possessed and Roy was very complimentary of how well I did after we had already ridden 73 miles. I'm just happy that I had it in me today, especially after our 104 mile day yesterday!

My ride today was 97 miles and took 6 hours and 34 minutes at an average speed of 15.1 mph. I am very happy with that considering having to ride those hills the last 25 miles or so.

The "Snake Report" is adding one snake today, it was rather plump but not smooched. So forget what I said about there being no snakes in Ohio. There is at least one.

I also want to mention the article that was written about my cycling adventure and my fund raising efforts for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. I am honored and thrilled that they wanted to write about my trip. You can check it out at the Richmond Times Dispatch in the Sunday June 13th Business section. The article is entitled "Henrico woman bikes to aid injured Marines". For all of you who have already read the article, I appreciate all your good wishes and yes I am doing fine and still having a blast!