Day 25 – Wednesday 18th May 2011 – Richmond IN – Marysville OH

After the chaos of yesterday, today was benign in contrast. The official “explanation” of part of yesterday’s chaos was that the road layout had been changed which resulted in more turns required and changed road names from that on our route sheets. Mike Munk’s blog comments on the kiwis are not entirely correct but make good reading.

This morning we had breakfast at 6am at the hotel. Our flash mob clashed with that of another bus load of senior citizens which made an interesting mix in a small space. The hotel had a basic offering of waffles, cereals, eggs, sausages, pastries, orange juice and coffee. It was all over quickly and route maps were given out at 6:45am in the back foyer of the hotel.

The weather channel indicated zero current rain outside but 100% humidity. Out of the hotel at 7am to load the luggage, there was no rain but there was mist which made it damp. We left the hotel just after 7am with a 12°C temperature which felt much warmer than yesterday.

At 2.7 miles on route, we crossed the state line into Ohio.

Riding on, the mist settled in and turned to rain and then cleared a little. The countryside rolled gently up and down and the road turned many times. There was little wind and we rode comfortably through the miles. The local farmers must be in despair as the paddocks are sodden with water and most still contain the remnants of last year’s crops as they are far too wet to be worked up.

The first sag stop (SAG standing for Support And Gear but basically a rest stop where you can get food and drink and sign in to tell the staff you are on route and not lost – important after yesterday’s Keystone Cops escapades of cyclists all over the state of Indiana and all lost!) Patrick and I were first in and first out which was a little surprising as some riders are always keen to race off as soon as possible.

After the sag stop, we rode on to lunch at 75.4 miles which involved two pages of turns on the route sheet and a further two pages of maps. Lunch was in front of a church, complete with a grumpy and fat cat who was determined to try and get some food. We must have arrived just prior to midday as the electronic church bells rang out various tunes just after our arrival. It was dry at lunch but still only 13°C.

Leaving lunch, we rode into and through another rain shower. It then dried up and the sky became a little lighter. The wind continued to be light and variable and we reached the hotel at 2:10pm. While this is supposed to be a Holiday Inn, it is current sans franchise and no sign is visible. It is on a back lot but we still managed to find it. Riding for the day was 169.4km in 6hrs 14m at an average speed of 27.2km/h.

The hotel had to search for the rider list and then once found, the lady told us that unfortunately they had problems with our room and could only give us one key. She wondered why we burst out laughing. Going to the room, it turns out we have the wheelchair access room which means it has plenty of room. Cookies were put out on the front desk but these soon vanished as other cyclists arrived.

The luggage van arrived around 3pm and was quickly unloaded and the lap top computer fired up.

Rap (Route & Planning, basically an overview of the route to take and details on breakfast, luggage load, mechanics time, hotel details and any other information etc) was held at 5pm. This was longer than normal as details of the final day were outlined. Breakfast is at 6am tomorrow at the hotel with luggage load at 7am.

We went to dinner at Frisch’s Big Boy restaurant a short walk from the hotel for salad, chicken and pasta. After that we went to an ALDI supermarket and Patrick bought some licorice allsorts and I bought some cherry cheese danishes for just 99 cents for dessert.

Numbers for the day:

Departure time: 7:07am
Distance:  105.3 miles (169.4km)
Riding time: 6hrs 14m
Average speed: 16.9 mph (27.2km/h)
Maximum speed: 28.9 mph (46.5km/h)
Vertical climbing: 2,146ft (654m)
Temperature range: 12-14°C
Arrival time: 2:10pm
Weekly (Monday – Sunday mileage) to date: 339 miles (546km)
Total kilometres ridden to date / approximate kilometres to go: 4,136km / 1,453km
Rolling last seven days total kilometres ridden including today: 1,000km