89 miles, +1717/-2060 feet

It was much cooler this morning when we left Niles, OH, on the fortieth day of our cross country tour, headed toward Lake Erie, and the state line crossing into Pennsylvania.  Vests, jackets and arm warmers were dug out from the bottom of bags and worn as defense against the chill.  The good roads and lack of wind certainly made up for the additional bike clothes, and it feels good to ride and keep warm.  Andover, OH, was our first stop of the day at the McDonald’s.  As usual, we opened up the Big Dream Feed Zone and set our chairs up on the huge lawn that looked like it was there just waiting for us.  Clearly, this McDonald’s was the local go-to coffee shop in town, and it’s nice for the riders to have the option to have a hot cup of coffee.  An enjoyable stop.

Eating lunch at the Turkey Drive-In

When is the first view of Lake Erie? On the road to our lunch stop in Conneaut the first view of (very big) Lake Erie looks like a large flat line on the horizon.

The ride last thirty miles of the ride into Erie were fast. A really good newly paved road with a tail wind always makes a cyclist happy.  That, and looking forward to a rest day after forty days on a cross country tour.  That is the formula for “happy”.

So here we are in Erie, PA, in our hotel.  Everyone is looking out their windows at the beautiful marina.

Erie, PA

 Now to rest.

After forty days you need to give your body a rest.  It’s hard to do when you are in a new location that you’ve never been to before and may never be again.  Just the change of pace however, is restful.  Just sleeping in that little bit, or turning the alarm off and waking up naturally can give you the sense of being refreshed.  It’s important….because we’re not to Boston….yet!