Confluence, PA to Bedford, PA

I couldn't sleep last night. We were camped near a pond full of bullfrogs that made noise all through the night. I would've preferred a train...

Today's ride had some glorious downhill!  You just had to do a lot of not-so-glorious climbing to get to it. A ski lift would have been nice...

The ride was really nice though. I opted to go over Mt. Davis, the highest point in PA. 

After lunch I stopped by the Flight 93 Memorial...  I can't find the words to describe how being there made me feel...

There is a wall there with the names of the crew and passengers of Flight 93 at the memorial. One woman had 'and unborn child' carved next to her name as well...   I imagined the grief that her husband must have felt...  It's so sad...

Tomorrow we ride to Gettysburg. It's the last physically demanding day of the ride. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

I miss my family quite a bit, and although I'm having a blast on this ride, I can't wait for it to be over so I can join them again in California. 

Fun!

Onward to Ohio!

The day started out with this beautiful sunrise. 

We left Indiana, which made me sad as seen below. 

It was a scorching day with a high in the low 80s. That coupled with the persistent tailwind, moderate humidity, and today being a low-mileage day left me tuckered, so I decided to hydrate in such a fashion which made me wear most of my water. 

The situation quickly deteriorated into a water fight. 

Which rider has the safety mindset?

I know you guessed Martha, but it's me. I checked my mirror before this. 

When we got to camp I wrapped Kendall's bars. That was my first time ever wrapping handlebars in my life. 

Tomorrow we're off to Sandusky. Cedar Point here I come!

Kendallville, IN

I've told the other riders that Indiana was the best state in the union, and the citizens have proved it. Hoosier hospitality is alive and well in Northern Indiana, and we all appreciate it. Billings, MT can take a few notes from... scratch that, they can take copious notes on how to behave from Hoosiers!

The ride into Kendallville was pretty uneventful. Fellow rider John Grotto put it best when he said, "There are four types of terrain in Indiana: corn on both sides, corn on the left with soy on the right, soy on the left with corn on the right, and soy on both sides."  This reminded me of when I was a child and I saw an advertisement for Indiana Beach on TV that said There's more than corn in Indiana.  Yes, there's also soy...  

Tomorrow we enter Ohio!  

Into the Motherland!

So today we rode into Indiana, the best state in the union, and birthplace of none other than: ME. The state responsible for the invention of testosterone, the beard, chainsaws, and red meat. Indiana doesn't allow anyone to cross her borders without first passing a trial of strength, so this morning we were met with a 10-15 mph headwind while making the gradual climb to the border. Indiana, being the fiscally responsible state it is, doesn't waste money on lavish things like border signs or roads, so sorry, but there will be no photo of the border crossing.

Even without the sign, all the riders knew exactly when they had entered Indiana. Having passed the trial and proven themselves worthy to enter the warm embrace of Indiana, she called off the winds and we enjoyed the last few miles of rolling hills into Valparaiso University.

My mother and brother came up to visit. My mom hasn't quit smoking yet... She broke her promise... I'm a bit sad about that. If you're reading this, mother, you should feel bad...

We went to eat at La Cabana and I had two dinners: a taco salad, and a texas burrito. After that we went walking around Wal-Mart to let the food settle and I hit up a Steak-n-Shake for a strawberry shake. My family had to leave because they have to work tomorrow, so I went back to the dorm and had dinner with the other riders. We started sharing silly YouTube videos. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

Do You Even Lift?
Handstand Boxing!

More frequent updates...

So, I got the blogger app, so I don't need to wait until rest days to update, so I think I can manage daily updates from here out. 

On another note, the weather is calling for some rain, but it looks like our campsite is going to pass through a keyhole in the system. Man, we have such a lucky group. Did I just jinx us?!  Hmmmm

Garden Prairie to Coal City

106 miles of corn. A pretty uneventful ride until about 10 miles out where a guy ran a red light and almost killed me and Kendall. 

When Kendall and I were rolling into the camp grounds we hear a lot of popping that sounded like fireworks. We looked over just in time to see a tree branch fall onto a camper (trailer not person). I rode over to make sure no one was injured. It was crazy!

I missed the 5 hour century by 11 minutes...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/345454038

Welcome to Illinois!

Today we crossed into Illinois. The weather forecast called for some pretty vicious headwinds, but as usual we lucked out and had a kicking tailwind. At one point I was going 28mph at just 130bpm!  Ridiculous!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/344973819

It's hard to believe we had over 3,000ft of climbing today.  Man, what a great ride today.