Our day started at 4:19 this morning when the fire alarm sounded in the hotel. Apparently someone burned the breakfast eggs in a major way. That was followed by a rider rebellion. Every morning a group of about 6 riders leaves at 7, with the rest of us leaving at 7:30. This is meant to time things so everyone arrives at the first SAG at nearly the same time. Today the early group left and then everyone else except me immediately took off after them. I came down at 7:20 to find, much to my confusion, that I was the only rider still at the hotel. I think the fire alarm may have had something to do with it.

The weather was good as I crossed the Ohio state line.

In Covington, Ohio we were met by Greg’s running group, who had travelled ~50 miles to greet us and provide us SAG goodies. Greg was with us as a staff member for the first half of the ride. They went all out with Buckeyes (a chocolate and peanut butter treat unique to Ohio, served mostly at Ohio State game parties) and specially decorated Crossroads cookies.

Then the weather turned bad, with a steady rain and intermittent headwinds. It cleared up for a while and then rained more. By the time we arrived at the hotel we were all soaked through to the skin.

We saw lots of small farms and big barns, many decorated Pennsylvania Dutch style. The weather didn’t allow many pictures.

This evening Chad and I were treated to dinner by Lois and Glen Zook, friends of my sister, Deborah. Glen is a cyclist who wanted to hear all about our trip. I was also surprised there by my lifelong friend, Mark Cote and his wife Debbie. We all had a very nice dinner sharing stories.

Our ride was a century today at 105 miles. Tomorrow is another with 102 miles to Wooster, Ohio. The weather forecast looks pretty good.