Day 42 -- Wooster to Youngstown -- 103 Miles

After hotel location changes, we were slated to do only 90 miles today rather than the 93 I had anticipated and wrote about in earlier posts. As previously mentioned, I was planning on riding 7 extra miles to make it a century. For some reason, having to ride 10 extra miles seemed like a lot less fun. I realize that it all adds up to 100, but a voluntary 10 versus a voluntary 7 is a big difference. To end up with 103 miles -- well that's just strange, and I'll explain how that happened in a moment (the anticipation must be killing you, huh?).

The first leg of the ride was quite enjoyable. I rode with a group of 7 and pulled for a considerable amount of the time. Upon reaching the SAG stop, I was greeted by some members of the Stark County Bicycle Club (pictured with me above)-- a club that "roommate Larry" is a proud member of. It was great to meet some of the people that Larry rides with when he is not keeping me in line on our cross country challenge.

After leaving the SAG, I rode by myself for the most part. The road conditions were awful. Honestly, Ohio -- how about using some of that "American Reinvestment Act" money to clean it up, huh?

At one point in my travels, I incorrectly read my cue sheet and pedaled 1.25 miles in the wrong direction. After realizing my mistake, I immediately turned around and pedaled 1.25 miles to get back on track. Normally, getting lost can be annoying, but I didn't mind at all today because I figured I now only had to do 7.5 extra miles to get my century.

I pedaled onward, and about a mile before arriving at the hotel, I bumped into a fellow rider, Gloria. I asked her if she was interested in riding extra miles with me so that she could turn her day into a century as well. Gloria accepted the challenge but told me that she needed the full 10 miles to get there (Quick aside: Gloria turned 60 on this trip, and she is one heck of an impressive cyclist).

Gloria and I bopped around Youngstown, ended up doing slightly more than 10 miles, which is how I ended up with 103 miles for the day (aren't you glad you read the post to find out? I thought so). As expected, I dreaded each one of the voluntary miles, but in the end I was pleased with my decision.

After the ride, "roommate Larry's" friend and racquetball partner, Ed Tkatch, and his wife, Dee, drove from Salem, Ohio, picked us up at our hotel, and treated us to dinner. We went to a place called Quaker Steak and Lube -- it was a lot of fun, and it was so thoughtful of Ed and Dee to include me in the festivities.

Our route for tomorrow has been changed -- we are now scheduled to ride 103 miles (not 96 as originally planned) to Erie, Pennsylvania. Now I won't have to ride any extra miles to get my 4th consecutive century. I am looking forward to completing that task, and am equally eager to have a rest day after it's done.