Day 43, 9 to go, 100 miles, Erie, PA

Today's Ride:
Four centuries in four days, back to back! Not many people get to (or can) do that.

There was a lot packed into this day. I rode surprisingly strong, even when it started to rain. It rained (more than a drizzle, less than a down pour) for the first 50 miles (about 3 hours). Fortunately, I bought a new pair of rain pants for the trip. The rain gave me a chance to use them. I'mglad that I didn't buy them for nothing. When it rains, your gloves get squishy and your feet get soppy, but that’s part of the charm of riding in the rain. A “rooster tail” of water sprays off the rear wheel of the bike in front of me, so I have to ride 15 back or three feet to either side of center. There was a covered bridge built in 1873 about 50 yards off the route. A wiser person might have seen in a covered bridge the opportunity to come out of the rain, but I was wet already, so what good would that do? Fortunately, the sun broke out just before SAG stop 2, conveniently at Richardson’s Ice Cream Stand. Richardson’s had the air of an old fashioned A & W stand, and in fact featured root beer. We all had root beer floats, sometime using them to wash down hamburgers or hot dogs. It was a cool place to hang out and be part of small town America.

About a mile past the sag, I entered Pennsylvania; Skip took the obligatory picture by the sign. Riding into Erie was a little tricky. When I got a flat and no cyclists passes for twenty minutes, I deduced that I missed a turn. That was a valid insight, so I back tracked and continued on. After that, I had to ask for directions three times. But then I saw Leslie and Virginia go zipping by on their tandem, so I just followed them in. My cyclo-computer showed 99.3 miles when I arrived at the hotel, so I rode half a mile past and then back to complete the century. (Yes, I know that most people would have rounded the 99.3 miles up to 100, but I wanted my four centuries in four days to be above reproach.)

Tomorrow is a rest day! The next rest will be for the rest of my life. : - ) I intend to rest and maybe take in a museum or something. Erie looks like a substantial city that should have something (but not too much) to do.