Monday July 15:  Erie, Pennsylvania to Buffalo, New York
Distance:  95.4 miles
Total time:  8 hours 8 minutes
Riding time:  6 hours 41 minutes

Today was a glorious day of cycling.  We spent the whole day riding east and northeast along Lake Erie.  The temperature was in the low 70s and there were times, especially early in the day, when I felt chilled.  That's a good thing in mid-July.  Okay, sometimes the road surface was absolute crap - fire Governor Cuomo - but there wasn't much else to complain about.  We had a tailwind for long stretches and sometimes found ourselves scooting along at 18 miles an hour uphill.  That's cycling.

The city of Erie gets a bad rap, and maybe it deserves it, but we rode through downtown and it was kind of magnificent.  Lots of those stately 19th century public buildings - city halls and libraries - that we did so well in those days.  And large neighborhoods of what could only be called mansions.  Erie clearly had its day.

We saw much more of the lake today than we did yesterday, and it was beautiful.  Maybe it's my sunglasses, but the water had an aquamarine hue that I didn't expect.  It looked like this.

And the shoreline was dotted with more vineyards, like this one.

Upon close examination, I was able to determine that the crop looks very promising this year - a vintage year without a doubt - but it isn't yet ready for the harvest.

At 23 miles we left Pennsylvania behind us and entered New York, our home for the next six nights.  While an improvement over the "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign that so offended me yesterday, I'd say the Empire State could up its game as well.  Come on, brag about your favorite sons and daughters, maybe Alexander Hamilton or Susan B. Anthony.  Something, um, Trumpian for goodness sake.  Something huuuge.  Here's my inexpert selfie and part of the sign.

Here's a more official Welcome to New York photo.

And here's the traditional Three Amigos shot.

We only had one SAG stop on today's 95 mile ride, so we had to seek calories on the road.  We found the Barcelona Cafe in Barcelona, New York.  Not much that brought to mind the city in Catalonia.  No Holy Family Cathedral.  Not even a Leonel Messi poster on the wall.  But the breakfast sandwich was tip-top and we had a good time talking to some locals.  Some older women ... well, women our age ... told us that their church group puts up cross-country cyclists for free.  Good to know for next time.  Here we are enjoying the local delicacies.

Meanwhile, our bicycles rested outside in the shade.

The New York shores of Lake Erie were just as pretty as the Pennsylvania shores.  We saw many lighthouses - presumably the southern shore of the lake is treacherous - like this one.

We briefly passed through a portion of the Seneca Nation.  The Seneca were one of the famous "Seven Civilized Tribes".  It appeared that many of the businesses on their land were Indian-owned (they use the term Indian) which was good to see.

I bragged in a previous posting that we'd covered thousands of miles and crossed hundreds of train tracks, but had only been stopped once by a train.  Well, we got stopped for a second time today as we neared Buffalo.  One of the restraining gates kept going up and down, which you can see to the left in the picture below.  The locomotive is to the right and is about to cross in front of us.

But the best part of the day was the visit from our daughter Maureen on her birthday.  She was in Toronto visiting friends and took the two-hour bus ride to Buffalo to visit.  We'll go see Niagara Falls tomorrow on our rest day.  Happy birthday to Maureen and her twin brother Liam.

So that's the end of the fifth stage of the journey.  Looking back I think this was tougher than the Rockies, though we're all in better shape.  But we averaged 97 miles over the past five days with a lot of hills.  After the rest day we begin the seven day run to the Atlantic Ocean, less than 600 miles away.  I can almost taste the lobstah roll.

Sunday July 14:  Youngstown, Ohio to Erie, Pennsylvania
Distance:  94.5 miles
Total time:  7 hours 34 minutes
Riding time:  6 hours 35 minutes

Today was a beautiful day for cycling.  The sky was a deep cloudless blue, the temperature was in the low to mid 70s, and much of the day was again spent on country roads with little traffic.  Much of the day it looked like this.

We did meet our old friend the Headwind of Determined Ferocity and Contrary Direction, but only for parts of the ride.  For most of the day the wind wasn't a big factor.  After some early hills as we headed north out of Youngstown, it mostly flattened out as we neared and then rode parallel to the shore of Lake Erie.  We were within spitting distance of the lake for much of the afternoon.  Well, world record spitting distance.  We were within a mile of it but couldn't see it because of the trees.  So we eventually turned down a side street to get a look.

And good news, the lake was not on fire.  No smoke to be seen.  Before taking the turn to see the lake, Jamie had the brilliant idea of buying fresh strawberries at a roadside stand.  That's Jamie, your humble servant, and Magic Mark the Mechanic eating strawberries.  The lake is barely visible through the trees.

The shores of the Lake are dotted with vineyards, like the one below.  Apparently some is used for wine but a lot of these grapes go to jams, jellies and juices as well.  It seems we've left the corn and soybean belt behind.

At the 70 mile mark we left Ohio and crossed into Pennsylvania.  Have you ever seen such a lame "welcome to ..." sign in your life?  Come on Keystone State, up your game.  The sign is tiny, gives no information, and it's bent like it got hit by a truck.  Not an impressive way to welcome anyone.  Here are the Three Amigos with the de rigeur selfie.

And here I am manifesting my disgust with the signage.

One of the highlights of each day is finding something to eat on the road that fits the moment and hits the spot.  Today it was the White Turkey Drive-In, established 1952, and with a nice '50s feel to it.  I got a vanilla shake and a hot dog.  Here's a very jealous Mark ogling my hot dog.  He should have gotten his own.

Never ever to be outdone in the food department, here is Michael posing proudly with his root beer float.  It's worth mentioning that this is only the second largest ice cream concoction that he ate today.

And here are the Three Amigos enjoying the atmosphere at the White Turkey and reluctantly thinking about getting back on the bikes.

So, 97 miles tomorrow to conclude this very long stretch from Indianapolis to Buffalo that has taken us through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania and into New York tomorrow.  In Buffalo we'll take our final rest day and gear up for the seven day run for home.  Just puny New England states after that - puny but mountainous.  It's hard to believe that we've covered 3,200 miles in 39 days of cycling, and that we only have eight days left on the bikes.  I continue to feel very strong when I'm on the bike and very tired when I get off of it.  Looking forward to the rest day.

Saturday July 13:  Wooster, Ohio to Youngstown, Ohio
Distance:  89.3 miles
Total time:  7 hours 36 minutes
Riding time:  6 hours 21 minutes

So a lot of the riders are experiencing something similar, including me.  We've clearly gotten much stronger over the past six weeks, and there is no longer any question of being able to finish, or even much discussion about how tough a particular day will be.  But at the same time we're all worn down, even the most experienced cyclists.  Now that we're over 3100 miles down the road, nobody has ever experienced anything remotely similar.  Some of the guys have done seven day rides, and the Brits have done some extraordinary five day rides in which they climb in the Alps or Dolomites every day.  But nobody has gotten up every day for six weeks (soon to be seven) and ridden 60 to 120 miles every day.

I weighed myself earlier this week, and I've lost 10 pounds so far.  I'm thinking about a diet book:  "How to Eat 5,000 Calories a Day and Lose Weight".  Of course, you have to burn 6,000 calories a day to make it work.  According to my Garmin I burned 6,299 calories yesterday, but only 5,300 today.  So I took it easy at dinner time.

Today started out cool and foggy.  It was about 60 degrees in Wooster when we set out, and some guys wore their jackets for the first time since the Rockies.  It looked like this when we started out.

As we rode from the hotel at 7:00 a.m. it wasn't yet very light and it was very foggy, and of course I wear sunglasses and they completely fogged up.  I couldn't see a thing as we rolled out of Wooster.  I focused intently on the tail light of the bike ahead of me for the first half hour until the sun began to burn the fog away. 

Once the fog lifted, it was a day to keep your eyes on the sky.  Not good advice generally speaking for the cyclist, but today was different.  Early in the ride we saw the Goodyear Blimp float by - I guess not surprising as we weren't far from their headquarters in Akron.  Here Jamie takes a picture of me taking a picture of the blimp.

At the first SAG stop, we pulled in next to the Corsair Model Airplane Club as they flew their model planes around a park.  These guys were very serious, and were mostly the same demographic as the cyclists, as you can see from the photo below.

And finally, we came to a tee-junction late in the day, and there was a general aviation airport ahead of us.  A big sign said "Learn to Skydive", and sure enough we looked up to see some people learning to skydive.  If you know me well you know I was sorely tempted to go up in a small airplane with an unknown pilot strapped to a piece of silk and leap out of an open door into thin air.  Yes sir, if I weren't on this bike ride, I would have joined these folks in a heartbeat.  The power lines would have added just the right additional element of danger.

We're currently in Youngstown, Ohio which happens to be where my mother, and her father, were born.  This is Mom in about 1929 on the steps of their house.  It looks like her father has come home from work and they're having some time together.  I colorized the photo.

And here's my Mom and me on the steps of our house in McLean, Virginia in 1957.

Now we have two more long days - both 90+ miles - before our final rest day in Buffalo.  There's a lot of talk about how bittersweet the end will be.  On the one hand everyone is anxious to get home and get back to the family.  But on the other hand, everyone knows this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and when it's over, it's over.  Dave from Walnut Creek says that when he gets to New Hampshire he's going to turn around and ride back to California.

Friday July 12:  Marysville, Ohio to Wooster, Ohio
Distance:  103.1 miles
Total time:  8 hours 21 minutes
Riding time:  7 hours 19 minutes

I was worried that today would be the hardest ride of the entire journey.  It was long - 103 miles on top of yesterday's 106 - and it was very hilly.  Missouri hilly for about 40 miles.  But the weather was relatively cool, the wind wasn't a negative factor, and it was a mostly enjoyable ride.  But that 40 mile stretch of hills was very tough, especially since it was the last 40 miles of the day.  A couple of the hills were hope-sucking things without an ounce of grace and no apparent purpose.  Again there is no rest for the wicked, as we average over 90 miles for the next three days before our final rest day in Buffalo.

Today was another day of milestones.  We passed the 3,000 mile mark, and we now have about 850 miles to go in the ten days of cycling that remain.  This is what the Three Amigos looked like after breaking through the 3,000 mile barrier.

But this is what we felt like.

Michael is from nearby Columbus, Ohio so a group from his riding club, the Honey Badgers, came down to cycle with him today.  A couple went the full century distance, while others rode with him for a portion of the day.

It was another day of cycling on back roads through corn and soybean fields, with little traffic.  It looked like this for much of the day.

But sometimes it looked more like this.  Note the hills in both shots.

The latter portion of the ride took us on the Johnny Appleseed Heritage Trail, though I didn't see much beyond the occasional sign.  No apple orchards to be seen among the corn and soybeans.  Note the hill.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Ohio, and we end up in Youngstown, my mother's birthplace and the poster city for midwestern hollowed out rust belt depression.  I haven't been there in about 40 years so I'll look forward to seeing how it has changed.  We have ten cycling days left and we can finally begin to see that one day we won't have to get up and ride 80 or 100 miles unless we really want to.  Today we rode our eighth and final century, so it feels good knowing we don't face any more 100 mile days.

Thursday July 11:  Richmond, Indiana to Marysville, Ohio
Distance:  106 miles
Total time:  8 hours 9 minutes
Riding time:  7 hours 2 minutes

If you ever have to ride a bicycle 106 miles, today was the day and Ohio was the place.  Today's ride was as enjoyable as an eight hour bike ride can be.  The weather was cooperative - low 80s and lower humidity than we've been accustomed to; rural scenery with little traffic; and nice, smooth road surfaces for the most part.  The dreaded wind?  Mostly a non-factor, and occasionally it found our backs and scooted us along at 20 miles an hour.

As usual we breakfasted (that is, shoveled in vast amounts of mostly anonymous calories) early and were loading our gear in the van by 6:45.  Here are Jamie and Steve getting ready to roll.

At only the three mile mark, we left Indiana behind and entered Ohio, the ninth state on our journey.  I found the sign to be pretty humble and unremarkable - most states do better.

We spent the entire day on the back roads of rural Ohio - no interstates, no four-lane divided highways.  It looked like this all day.  Yup, that's corn to the right, soybeans to the left, and Jamie and me in the middle.

The early start means we almost always bike into the sun for the first hours of the day.  Today we cut north for awhile and Michael was able to capture these great shadows.

It's hard to drink enough water when you're riding over 100 miles.  With only two SAG stops, we have to stop frequently for water, usually every ten miles or so when we've exhausted our two water bottles.  Here we are getting water from the van.

It's also hard to get enough calories when you are burning up 6,000 of them over the course of the ride.  Most of us are tired of the cookies, granola bars and trail mix at the SAG stops, so on the long days we stop for lunch.  We found this great place - Braden's - in the small town of, um, in a small town in western Ohio.

The wife and husband owners/operators were delighted to see us and took great care of us.  We probably lingered longer than we should have on a 100 mile day, but it was a welcome break.

As you see above, we lunched with the Brits and we rode with them for quite awhile as well, which doesn't happen everyday.  It's a nice change of pace in every sense - certainly the cycling pace picks up when we bike with them, but it's also a chance for a chat with guys you don't usually ride with.  Here's our rather informal looking pace line.  That's me in the rear chatting with Allan.

I presented Michael with this shirt at our daily meeting today.  He says "I'm just getting warmed up" every single day at about the seventy mile mark.  I made him promise that, if I bought him a shirt, he'd retire the saying.  So, Michael has said "I'm just getting warmed up" for the very last time.

Today was another day of milestones.  We rode our seventh and penultimate "century", and tomorrow we ride our eighth and last.  We entered Ohio, as mentioned above, and having covered 2918 miles we now have fewer than 1,000 miles left to go.  And tomorrow we'll break through the 3,000 barrier in miles cycled thus far.  As the map indicates, we're getting there!

Wednesday July 10:  Indianapolis, Indiana to Richmond, Indiana
Distance:  74 miles
Total time:  5 hours 58 minutes
Riding time:  5 hours 15 minutes

Today was a workman-like 74 mile ride.  It was overcast, extremely humid, and we rode almost all day on old Route 40, the National Road, a divided four-lane highway with little shoulder.  Most of the day we took the lane and rode on the roadway, but there was little traffic and it didn't feel particularly dangerous.  74 miles is now considered a short and easy day, and we were finished by 1:00.

It took us half an hour to get out of downtown Indianapolis, where we began.  The rush hour traffic wasn't too bad and Indianapolis is actually a much prettier city than I had imagined.  I assumed it would be all rust belt and decay, but maybe that's Gary.  This is what it looked like at 7:00 a.m. this morning.

Once we got out of town it was more cornfields, but punctuated every few miles by old towns along Route 40.  Construction of the National Road began in 1806 during the Jefferson Administration.  Like the canals which came soon after, the road was meant to open up the west to settlement and commerce.  Many of the towns look like they were once very prosperous, with impressive brick buildings that date from that time.  This is downtown Knightsville.

If you're a movie buff, Knightsville is the town from the movie "Hoosiers", in which the high school basketball team, coached by Gene Hackman, wins the Indiana State Championship.  That's Gene and the team in the mural above.

While some riders peeled off to visit the gym where they filmed the movie, some of us stopped at Ye Olde Bakery.  It was a great find.  When we walked in all the patrons greeted us, and one family got up and sat with another so that we could have a table.  The proprietor is from an Amish family and he uses grandma's recipes for, among many other things, his cinnamon buns.

The owner/baker was rightly proud of his baked goods and tried hard to push more on us.  As you can see he was disappointed when I ordered just coffee and the bun.  It didn't seem like a real breakfast for guys who were biking across the country.

Here he is with Michael and your humble servant.

The National Road parallels the train tracks - the very tracks that Lincoln's funeral train followed from Washington, DC to Springfield, Illinois in 1865.  That's Mark dwarfed by the mural that commemorates the train.

As we head east, we see a lot of changes.  No more 75 mile distances between rest stops.  More houses and businesses by the side of the road, and generally, though not always, more people and more traffic.  This affects us in one very fundamental way.  Out west we never had to worry about where to stop and do our business - remember, the average age on this trip is about 60, we drink tremendous amounts of fluids, and nature calls frequently and loudly.  We just stopped by the side of the road.  Now we have to be a little more strategic and a little more conscious of our surroundings.

In the latest development in our good-natured rivalry with the Brits, I presented them with tee-shirts at our meeting this evening.  On the front, a tasteful picture of a penny farthing high-wheeler bicycle.  Classy, no?

But on the back, my made-up name for their local cycling club in the UK.  "Wanker" is a not-at-all nice word.  In the UK you might yell it at a bad driver, the same way some Americans might yell "A**hole".

Here are the lads, "delighted" with their gifts.

So following the Missouri Hills (have I mentioned them previously??) we've had a pretty easy time of it.  68 miles, a rest day, and 74 miles today.  All of that ends tomorrow.  First, back to back centuries - 100+ mile rides - then more long days, all with hills.  Over the next five days we average 97 miles per day.  But we also hit two more important milestones tomorrow:  We enter Ohio, our ninth state; and we pass the 1,000 miles to go mark.  In other words, after tomorrow's ride, we'll have ridden 2900 miles and will have fewer than 1,000 to go.