Day 40, Marysville, OH, 105 miles

Day 40? That means that there are only twelve days left. It seems unbelieveable that I've been riding so long. From the blog, you know that it's been a true once-in-a-life-time experience, but I, like most of the other riders, am ready to go back to my normal life. I wonder what that will be like....

Today was another day in bicyling paradise. The farms in Ohio are smaller family farms with farm houses right out of a Norman Rockwall painting. The scenery is varried; fields, forests, small towns. The route was mostly flat, but with enough hills thrown in to keep me honest. At lunch time, we found a nice cafe whose owner happened to be the mayor. So we had a nice talk about life in small town America. The mayor made me a great frozen mocha late; it provided both the sugar and caffeine required for the next 50 miles. We're staying in a Super 8 hotel which is much nicer than I extected, and ate at the Bob Evans down the street, which was exactly what I expected.

Today's photogallery: 1. Crossing the state line. 2. Sue, who I was riding with most of the day, was ahead of me when the train crossing bells started to ring. "I think we can make it, Tom." she yelled, but I'd already slowed down, so I stopped. It turned out to be a very long train. I was very bored waiting for it to finish. I should have listened to Sue. 3. A picture of by buddies waiting to order at the cafe. 4. YES, A NEW VIDEO. This one is of my legs doing about 100 rpm, my normal cadance.

Now, please conduct the following thought experiment and then follow my instructions:

a.) place your imaginary camera with its imaginary viewfinder up to your eye.

b.) Put your finger (the real one, not the imaginary one) on the imaginary shutter button on the top of your imaginary camera.

c.) (this is the key part) slowly let your arm arc down as if you were taking an imaginary picture of your real knee.

What position is the imaginary camera in?

If you've done the experiment properly, the imaginary camera is upside down.

That is exactly the position my real camera was in when I took the video. Thus, the video image is upside down and not nearly as impressive as when it is right side up. Now I imagine that there is some computer software out there that would allow someone really good with computers to flip the video image 180 degrees. But I'm not that guy. There are several "work around" solutions. If you are using a lap top like I am, you can just turn it upside down -the the image will be right side up. If you are using a desk top computer, you can very carefully turn the monitor upside down. (Ask a grown up for help). Or, you can stand on your head when you watch it. Now that I think of it, all of this is a lot of work to watch ten seconds of my legs spinning. Maybe you should just imagine it.... Oh, if you've very observant, that scrape on my leg is from a table, not a fall.

Tomorrow will be a 104 mile day with an elevation gain of 3,000 feet. I'll be going back to Bob Evans for breakfast, rather than availing myself of Conti at the hotel. Every day the cue sheet gives us details on breakfast and dinner. Conti is almost always a breakfast choice. So for 40 days I've been trying to figure out who this Conti guy is, or how Conti Cateerers manages to follow the route, or what. Duh.... "Conti" breakfast is "contenental". Bad case of bike brain.