Erie PA, final rest day

I've just arrived in Erie, the weather turned on us the last two days, so it was rainy and cold this morning. At the first stop I had had enough and chose to get in some dry clothes and get warm. I took the van to the stop at the White Turkey and Root Beer stand and on to the hotel.

This was to be the fourth of four big mileage days, 103, 98, 92 and 89, and this in a seven day stretch of over 600 miles. I was excited and feeling good about the last big push of the tour, but that is getting ahead of the 83 mile ride from Indianapolis to Richmond IN.

Richmond to Marysville OH was a good exercise of my confidence. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I rode with Noreen and Scott, the plan was to go at a very comfortable pace, which worked out to 15mph and we finished right on seven hours on the bikes.

Marysville to Wooster OH was another great day, and we maintained the pace, two down - two to go. Wooster is a pretty big town by this tours standards, and we stayed in the downtown so had lots of dining opportunities. Even managed to get in early enough to see the last few holes of the US Open win by Tiger. Also kept track of the European Cup Soccer match of Germany v Austria, of much interest to Achim and Alex.

Wooster to Niles was overcast all day, and unseasonably cool. It may have been the weather, or the sixth of seven cycling days, but the overall mood was subdued. Achim and Alex had to have their rear wheel rebuilt, and a local person brought them to a bike shop and back to our route so they could ride every mile of the tour. They got in late, but we are all optimistic that their mechanical issues are behind them now. The Niles hotel was well located with a number of restaurants and a Starbucks. Those of us who have missed coffee that smelled and tasted like coffee took advantage of the situation.

Niles to Erie PA, started cool and overcast with rain coming in after 20 miles. I had a good ride in spite of the conditions with Daryl, Rich, Laura and Jim. I didn't think I could stay with them, but they gave me a pep talk and we had a good 33 mile ride before I dropped out. It's a peculiar thing to decide not to ride. it's easy to forget that we have free choice in the matter, but I didn't feel that way at the beginning of the tour. I really wanted to complete this seven day ride cycle, but three plus hours of cycling with soaking wet feet and hands had no allure.

Very few of us have the right clothing/gear to ride in wet and cool conditions. The few that had shoe covers, gore tex gloves and/or rain pants had no problem. If you stay warm and dry the conditions don't matter. To many of us on the ride did not bring this gear, and some didn't think to put it on this morning. We need to be more willing to carry that small amount of rain gear on the few days that are cloudy. That might have amounted to carrying it on three days when it didn not rain. We got ourselves caught to many times out on an 80 mile ride with the wrong gear, because we were riding like racers.

With this final rest day we can't help but realize that in ten days we will be in Boston and the cycling part of this tour will be over. The reflection and memories will continue for far longer. Incredibly we have ridden almost 3000 miles at this point over 35 days. Even after actually doing the riding it is hard to comprehend.