Mile 0-34. Wet. That pretty much sums it up. I got a later start than I wanted (7:45am) hoping that the rain would slow down some, but alas not. It wasn't pouring, but rather a light steady rain. Actually with temps around 70F, it wasn't bad at all. At mile 18, I was happily pedalling along and realized that I forgot to put on my wristband that I would need at the rest stops. I remembered from last year that the lunchstop was particularly strict about needing the wristband. Doh! I figured I would cross that bridge when I got there. Seems like I passed a lot of people with flats. Don't know what was up with that. The roads were very nice and in good condition. I made it to the first reststop without a pee break which I would find out later as a good thing. The area had a major flood 2 weeks ago and the mosquito population was astronomical. Anyone who had to stop for any reason was immediately swarmed. It was the only awful part of the tour, but of course the skeeters were no problem as long as you kept moving. The rain pretty much came to an end by about mile 30. Got to the reststop and two nice volunteers wrote me a note so I could get into the lunchstop without a wristband. They actually got quite a chuckle out of my predicament. Fuel consisted of 2 cups of gatorade, a banana and a muffin. 15.3 mph average at this point.

Mile 35-52. Just as I was getting ready to leave the reststop, the heavens openned and rain came pouring down. It had been awhile since I had ridden in rain this heavy. But as before, because it was warm, it wasn't all that bad. Just very wet. Probably good that I decided to wear my trishorts. At least there was really no wind to speak of. During this section, we got to ride on a very unique section of road. They are building a new 4-lane highway which is scheduled to open later this fall. The highway people allowed the tour to take this new road for about 5 miles. It was cool riding on newly paved 4 lane highway with no cars on it. And the rain kept pouring. I was riding with a guy who was trying to decide if he was going to do the 100 mile route or not. I was comtemplating the decision myself, but I was feeling pretty good at this point. We came to the turnoff for the 100 mile route and I turned. The guy I had met up with along the way stayed on the metric century route. Then I came to a marker that had a turn for 100 miles, but if you went straight it would be 102 miles. I went straight. hehehehehehehe! What's 2 more miles after all? Got to the lunchstop and the rain had pretty much quit. That would be the last of the rain for the rest of the day. The wristband checkers let me into lunch with my note. Yay! I didn't feel like a sandwich with meat so I had peanut butter and jelly, a little potato salad and some grapes. 15.6 mph average (I had picked up some speed on this section for whatever reason.)

Mile 53-77. Ok, now the rain had stopped but the wind picked up out of the northwest. It was pretty much a crossing tailwind to the next reststop, but I knew once again like last year, the finish would be into the wind. This was a very enjoyable section. The roads were drying out and the sun was trying to peak out. I peeled off my raincoat and rode with just my trishorts and a sleeveless running singlet on. Had to make one behind-a-bush pit stop and made it a quick one due to the skeeters. Fuel at the reststop was gatorade, banana and 2 cookies. 15.5 mph average.

Mile 77-93. Ah yes, into the wind. Only blowing 10 mph, but at the end of long tour, I was really feeling it. I was determined to finish with a 15+ mph average, but 15 mph was getting harder and harder to maintain. Toward mile 85, anytime the road went up the tiniest of uphill grade, I had to shift down a gear and was reduced to around 13mph. Around mile 90, I discovered that pedalling a higher gear at slower cadence and going 14.5 mph was no more or less painful than pedalling a lower gear at a fast cadence and only going 13 mph. So even though I know I am suppose to be pedalling a higher candence, I chose the higher gear and kept about a rpm of around 75. I don't like my cadence that slow, but I was going faster and it wasn't like I had to run or anything afterwards. It worked out just fine for the last few miles to the reststop. Fuel at the stop was a muffin and gatorade. 15.4 mph average.

Mile 94-103. My legs were very tired following the previous 16 miles of pusing into the wind. The wind must have been slightly more of a crosswind than a headwind on this section because I was able to keep right at 15 mph or a little above for most the last 9 miles. I remembered back to last year when the wind was so strong I had trouble going 10 mph is spots. Last year, this section just dragged on and on. This year, it flew by. The last couple of miles in town were nice because the buildings blocked the wind some. I was able to pick it up to 16+ mph, but the stoplights did slow me down some too. Nothing really hurt all that bad, but my legs were just getting so tired. Still, I finished the stronger than either of my two previous century rides. I passed a bunch of people in the last 25 miles and quite a few were on nice lightweight road bikes. That made me feel better. I got back to my car and found out that I forgot to put my frame pump on my bike. Good thing I didn't need it.

Not much. Probably learn to not carry so much stuff on my bike rack (the problem with having a bike rack in the first place). From my years hiking in the mountains, I am so geared toward being prepared for any emergency. I had a bottle of gatorade, some energy bars and even some spare dry clothes that I thought would be handy in case it got chilly and wet in the afternoon. The forecast was for pretty warm temps so I should have placed more stock in it. Plus with the reststops, lots of sag support and 930 other people riding, it was not as isolated as a mountain hike. I need to learn this. All the extra stuff I packed = lots of extra weight on the bike.

I followed nutrition and fluids just as my other rides. Gatorade and food at rest stops. Plain water while on the road. That seems to work very well for me.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, took a shower. Then drove home 3 1/2 hours.

They did have a massage tent, but I just wanted to get on the road.


My heavy touring bike loaded with too much stuff. Oh, and the engine too.


This a classic Ohio bike tour and one of the larger one day tours in the state. With the flat terrain, it attracts a lot of first time century riders which is cool. At 37 years running, they know how to do things right.