3 States in one Day

First, the state of confusion; easy to get lost leaving Warren because there were a few unmarked streets to follow. Next, state of hunger. I have been getting hungry in the middle of the last couple of ride days and that is just very unusual for me. I know I have lost weight but I am eating everything in site. Finally, state of fatigue; it was 140 miles today and we had 15 mph headwinds the last 50 coming off Lake Erie.

But, really, we started in Ohio, went through Pennsylvania and finished in New York. Three states in one day. Thats pretty cool...

And we entered New York a couple hours later...

I knew this was going to be a tough day. So, I decided to start as early as possible. The tour staff helps to get some of the weaker riders started earlier to help reduce the spread late in the day. So, I loaded a half hour early, at 6:30 am and was pedaling by 6:35. I was the first out of the hotel and rode alone to the first SAG stop at mile 35. The other early riders had problems with their route due to Phillipe's Garmin sending them in the wrong direction. So, even though they got an early start, all that was negated by going 10 miles off route. But, I've heard Phillipe was a bit stubburn and refused to revert to get back on route. So, the other 3 riders left him and no one saw Phillipe the rest of the day though he was calling the tour staff on a regular basis to let them know he was "...somewhere in Pennsylvania."

I really worked hard on moderating my effort. I rarly used by 12 tooth rear cog and instead used the next lower gear, 15 tooth. I also up'd my cadence from mid-70's to mid-80's to compensate a bit for the smaller gear. That worked really well most of the day. My legs felt reasonably fresh at the end of the ride. I was still able to take several pulls at the front with a group of other riders during the last 50 miles.

I rode to about mile 90 alone. I got passed by the Fab 4 plus several other riders (Richard, Max, Norman, Phil, Jim) somewhere around mile 60. We hit a detour that several riders chose to ignore. But, the tour staff had spray painted some markers on the ground diverting us onto other roads. So, I followed those markers and they lead most of us unto a few miles of dirt road. If I had just ignored the markers and broken through the detour, I would have discovered there was really nothing to prevent bikers from getting through. There wasn't even a road crew working. But, I hate to ride several miles down a road past a detour point only to find out the road is impassable and I should have taken the detour. So, I followed the markings like most other riders behind me.

Here is a nice picture right on the lake from Route 5...

Thats the white SAG van in the foreground. Mike was waiting here for riders to pass.

Lunch SAG was at 110 miles. There I met up with Tim and eventually Jan and Greg joined us and we did the last 30 miles together fighting the headwinds coming off lake Erie. Here is some video. We each took 1 mile pulls and it worked really well. We did have one very close call where Tim's front wheel rubbed Greg's rear wheel when Greg went to stand. Greg did announce he was standing but often riders announce it at the same time they do it which doesn't really help too much. I could see Tim struggling to maintain control as he started to fall (to his right fortunately -- away from the traffic lanes) and he managed to get it under control before he fell. It was close though.

We saw an Amish horse and buggy go by and an Amish farmer tilling his field with a horse and plow. That was really cool.

I finished the ride in 10 hours elapsed time today. I am really proud of myself on this segment because it was a long, segment with some difficult headwinds at times but I maintained my focus and kept my effort moderated so that I completed it without a huge toll on my body. My roomate finished it in around 8 hours. One advantage to having such a fast roomate...when he got to the hotel, he asked for a room with a view. So, we got a room with a view of the lake...

Also, saw a really nice car that reminded me of guess who...

Just 87 miles tomorrow. So, we can sleep in. Load isni't til 8:30 am. Woohoo!!!