Day 74 Oberlin, Ohio to Ravenna Ohio

We had a very restful night  followed by a delicious breakfast at the Ivy Tree Inn and Garden. That place is a keeper.

We were all pretty much ready to roll at 8:10 am when I discovered my rear tire was down to 40 psi. I pumped it up to 95 psi, but  minutes later it had lost some pressure. Maybe it would last the day I thought, but then knowing it's easier to fix a flat at 'home' than on the road, I decided to fix it right then and now. Success and we were rolling at 8:20. Not bad.

We rode off at a gentle conversational pace. Traffic was light and at least early on, the roads were good. No trains either. Well just this one...

 As we approached Brunswick we were rolling on concrete roads with huge chunks missing all over the place. It was truly treacherous and to really point  out every hazard left and right you would have to ride with no hands.

At mile 25 we were greeted by my cousin Mary and her husband Dean standing outside Subway poised to take pictures of us as we rode by. We stopped and chatted for a bit and agreed to meet at our lunch spot down the road.

And yes, I was right. Dennis ended up going to Subway's to pick up our lunch. This is number 65 for me and I'm still not tired of it. The rest of the team though gave some silent groans.....  :-)

Our lunch stop was at mile 38, near a covered bridge. Beautiful and just in time. We had lots of rolling hills and we were all hungry.

We met some cyclists there including Steve, who needed a pump to repair a flat. I gave them HAA cards and hope they check out our web page.

Mary and Dean showed up as well and we enjoyed a nice visit with them. The only issue was a collection of aggressive flies. I guess you can't have everything. The covered bridge was a classic.

The rest of our ride was a mix of bike trails and low traffic roads. Really a beautiful day.

Rick enjoying bike trail

Where did this swirl come from?

As we approached our B&B in Ravenna we met two young cyclists who intend to ride from New Jersey to Los Angeles. They were carrying their supplies and doing a mix of camping and staying with friends. We wished them luck.  In my opinion their payload looked a bit to light for a cross country trip, but heck, they're young. Maybe they'll make it fine.