Escorted Out of Erie, PA.

Today was a beautiful day to cycle to Hamburg, NY. It began with a police escort out of the city of Erie...thank you Roy for the exciting morning's ride out of town. Yes, we were escorted out of Erie by two motorcycle cops who looked like they were having as much fun as we were. I snuck a quick look see at their Harley's.

Within 19 miles we stopped to take our pictures as we crossed another state line, New York. We just keep clicking off the miles! As we headed to Hamburg, NY we noticed that Lake Erie was on our left and looking beautiful. The color of the water near the shore was almost teal. It looked quite refreshing, but I was reminded that it was probably really cold! Ok, I'll take your word on that one Bill.

As we came to the historic light house located by the Daniel Reed Memorial Pier, we stopped to take some more pictures. This picture is of myself, Jan and Janie. We are the three women who have come across country from LA and heading into Boston. Not to be out done, the "Boys of CrossRoads" also got their picture taken at the Light House. That's Doug S. Craig, Bill aka "Mr. Scruffy" and LaVern.The ride today was 78 miles which I rode in 5 hours and 3 minutes at a speed of 15.9. It certainly was a day that was meant for cycling. The roads were great, the shoulders were wide and the wind almost none existent. Another picture I want to share with you is close to my heart as well as my ride. We spotted a local Marine Corps League building in Lakeshore. The Marines are alive and well represented in the northern section of New York.

What is not well represented in the northern section of New York are snakes. The "Snake Report" tonight has no new additions to the smooched snake club.

Rest Day in Erie, PA.

Tired does not begin to describe how my body feels and I'm so happy that it's a rest day. In honor of it being a rest day this will be short and sweet!

Woke up went to a very good "greasy spoon" restaurant for breakfast, then off to do laundry, found a place to get my shaggy hair cut, happy, happy, happy for that, then down to see Lake Erie, had lunch at the Smugglers Wharf, walk back to the room to write my blog and now I will take a nap!!!!

Hope you all have had as good a day as I have!

What a great day to be cycling

Ready to hit the roads. Another day on the road and a beautiful day to ride from Niles, OH. to Erie, PA. So much to write about, it was a full day of cycling and lots of sights to see.

The first was a sign I saw in the front yard of a house as we were leaving Niles. I said it before and I'll say it again, it's why I'm riding 3,415 miles across the country, to support our heroes!


On our way to our first sag we saw a telephone pole that had been knocked down by a very wide tractor, at least I think that's what it was so we had to walk our bikes behind the houses and trailer on the side of the road as there were live wires laying on the road. No fried cyclists today! We want to stay grounded for sure!!!
The roads started out great as we once again cycled through the countryside of Ohio. As we cycled on we came across a sign that read "Covered Bridge Tour" and the next thing we knew there was on of the bridges, the Root Road Bridge.


Our second sag stop was at the White Turkey Rootbeer Stand. What a great place to stop and get a turkey sandwich and something to drink. It's very retro and the sandwich delicious!

After the Rootbeer Stand we headed out to our next state line, PA. We crossed over into PA. and headed to Erie where we took a slight detour to see Lake Erie.

We cycled around the lake for a bit and then headed to the beach to take some pictures. This is my first time seeing one of the Great Lakes and as you can see I may just take a dip...or not, it looked to cold for me! See I told you our ride today was full of fun and lots of new sights. The ride was 89 miles and took me 6 hours and 20 minutes at a speed of 14.8. Guess when you are having as much fun as we did today, you slow down to enjoy yourself!

The "Snake Report" only has one very smooched black snake to report. I think the truck that hit the snake was actually aiming for it!

Talking to the animals

Another day beginning with the threat of rain; actually it was raining when I got up at 5:00 a.m., but by the time we left the hotel at 7:15 the rain had stopped and we cycled out on wet roads. I got a little extra wet as my Cambleback began leaking because there was too much water in the bladder. That would be my mistake, it's always a fine line when I fill up my Cambleback.

As we cycled out of Wooster, OH. I noticed an incredible wood carving sitting in the front yard of a family home. I just knew I had to stop and take a picture of a Mama and baby Eagle. The carving is very intricate and beautiful.

We cycled along more country roads on our way to Niles, OH. There were hills as we began our ride today, but nothing like we rode yesterday that were so challenging. Some of the roads were good and some just plan horrible. Those roads were after the second sag towards the end of the day and made you wonder if your bike was going to shake apart!! That's bad. There were so many holes and torn up roads that we stopped calling out where they were.

During the day we continued to see lots of farms and animals. When I called out to the Roosters, one of them crowed back, guess that makes me the Rooster Whisper, or Dr. Doolittle. Then there were the ponies, a donkey and a Lama, at least I think it was a Lama all in a fenced pasture together. They were all so cute, but the Lama was a bit stuffy, you could just tell by the way it looked at you and stood off from the ponies and donkey. The donkey was very friendly and even came closer to the fence just to give you his best side!

All in all a great day for riding 91 miles, except I could have done without the head winds which always slow me down so slow that it took me 7 hours to finish the ride with an average speed of 13.9.....did I mention how bad the road conditions were? No excuse just the facts.

With all the time I spent watching the road, I'm happy to give the "Snake Report" tonight as a big fat ZERO, no sightings.

One other thing I need to mention is the apology I owe Doug S. for "bonking" him with my CrossRoads and American flag as I stood to climb one of the hills we cycled up today. Seems as I stood up to climb, I rocked my bike back and forth to help me climb and as I passed Doug, my flag bonked him on his helmet. Sorry big guy, next time I pass you I'll make sure I go straight up the hill and not rock my bike!

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!

Our Last Century Plus Ride

Today started out humid which is new for us but happy to report no rain. I know as we get further east, we'll only feel more humidity. We only went less then 3 miles from the hotel and crossed over the Ohio state line.

The ride was a long one, 104 miles but we took our time as the weather cooperated and the temperatures weren't to bad. We cycled through the countryside so plenty to see, lots of farms with beautiful art work on their barns, fields and fields of corn, goats, horses and greetings from all the country "puppies" we passed. A few of those puppies wanted to chase us, thank goodness for strong fences, while others just stood and stared at these strange people passing by. We did encounter a rather large "Rottie" dog on the road who just stared at us and went back the dirt road, guess he was just curious about who was in his neighborhood.

At the first sag stop we rode by a bar and grill with a huge bronze Buffalo statue outside and we just had to stop, it was a perfect "photo op". The statue reminded me of "Ralphie" the mascot for CU so just had to have my picture taken.

Since we weren't in a race today we decided to take our time and just enjoy the ride, the weather, since it wasn't too hot, and there was no rain. We were the last ones into the second sag so we had a few extra treats and our picture taken. Most times you are in and out of the sag quickly, but hey we were having fun right Bill, Doug and Kath....or was it the bribe to spring for DQ once we got to Marysville? Guess it didn't hurt.

As I mentioned the ride today was 104 miles which I rode in 6 hours and 55 minutes at an average speed of 15.5. Hey, when you're having fun on a 104 mile ride, what's the rush. Somebody has to be "tail hook Charlie" and that was us today. Thanks to Bill and Doug for riding with us all day, you guys are the best.

Riding in the rain, I'm riding in the rain.....

It's raining, I mean really raining this morning and there is no way getting around it, we'll be cycling in the rain. I'm ready for the rain with my new rain jacket. Today is the hardest it's rained since we began our ride in Manhattan Beach some 37 days ago. Our computers were covered with baggies and all our lights were on so that we could be seen.

Within 5 minutes my shoes were soaked and over the next four hours it only got worse. I knew by the time I got to the hotel, my feet would be webbed! Can you say "quack, quack!"

We cycled on country roads again and because it was Saturday there were very few cars on the roads. This was good for us so that we could concentrate on riding. Because of the rain I didn't take many pictures today. One picture I did take, as we rode into Richmond, IN. was very connected to the reason I'm riding. In a yard that we cycled by was a memorial for our fallen heroes. It said "In memory of our heroes" and had a helmet sitting on top of a rifle and a pair of boots in front in addition to the US flag. Very moving!

My ride was 83 miles today and took 5 hours and 30 minutes at an average speed of 15.1 mph. Despite the rain in the morning we kept a great speed.

As you can probably guess the Snake Report for today has no sightings of any snakes, alive or smooched.