Day 43: Youngstown Ohio to Erie Pennsylvania

Today’s Highlights:
I had another awesome day of cross-country cycling. I rode one hundred miles from Youngstown Ohio to Erie Pennsylvania. The weather was perfect again. A light wind was at my back for the first seventy miles to help speed up progress, and a cool headwind off Lake Erie for the last thirty miles helped in the afternoon heat. The terrain was mostly flat, with a few sections of small hills. Overall, we dropped about eight hundred feet in elevation. All the roads were smooth. It was a very fast ride for me. All the riders I heard from at the end of the day agreed it was a good day and a great finish to our fifth segment of the tour.

I started the morning with a group of riders. There was a little confusion at a detour where a bridge was completely removed, and people got separated, so Gene and I pressed on together and continued at a fast pace. Later, Ken rejoined us and helped us cycle at an even faster pace. I had to drop from them after twenty five miles and slow down a little. I finally stopped for my first picture at mile 30. I rode a little more with Gene after reconnecting with him at the first SAG stop, and we sprinted along at over 20 mph for a while. Eventually, I slowed down again and tried to look for pictures. I didn’t take many today. The scenery was nice, but I was having fun trying to have a fast century and enjoying a less challenging ride compared to the previous four days. I passed a gathering of Amish families as they were arriving at church, and I stopped for pictures trying to be discrete from a distance.

Our second rest stop was at the White Turkey Drive-in, a root beer stand that is very popular. Everyone enjoyed some lunch or treats there. I had an ice cream sundae. One mile from the drive-in, I crossed into Pennsylvania. Hooray! One more state finished. We had rushed through Ohio pedaling 370 miles in less than four days, plus another 30 in Pennsylvania to finish day four. It was a tough week overall, but thankfully a relatively easy finish. Of course, we are all in very good shape now in order to say that any one hundred mile ride was fun and easy.

The Pennsylvania section of the route followed the Lake Erie shore, but roughly a mile away from it. I got a couple glimpses of the lake along the way. Once I got close to the hotel, I went off route to go see the lake. That also gave me some bonus miles to stretch the ride to 100 miles. The view from the shore at this location looks across a bay to Presque Isle, which is a state park, and therefore, I have only seen a tiny part of the lake so far. Tomorrow I will be able to explore the area more because we have a day off – our final day off of the tour.

Pictures Of The Day:

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Statistics:
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