Day 37: Richmond, IN to Marysville, OH

Today's Ride

https://give.michaeljfox.org/barbarasbigride

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/124333004

The Stats

105 miles
2,733 ft. climbed

Miles Completed: 2,556

Miles to Go: 840

States Visited: 10 of 15 (I sucked it up and appreciated the Buckeye hospitality from one of the early staff member's family -- they hosted a heck of a SAG!)

Total Climbed: 82,170 ft.

Challenge: Rain, and having to leave the hospitably hosted SAG early to try to beat the rain! Also, refraining from wearing any maize and blue for the duration of travel through this state!

Milestone: Crossed into 10th State. 

The Ride

While the forecast nearly guaranteed rain at some point in the day, it started out with a morning glow and cool enough, but not cold, temps. 

After a rendition of "Margaritaville" ("riding a century to Marysville..."), the early group set off, and given the forecasts, the "late/fast" group wasn't far behind, allowing them to "catch their prey" sooner than usual! Despite an early hold up by a VERY LONG train crossing, we soon entered beautiful country roads with good pavement and little traffic (what more could a biker ask??).

We crossed into our 10th state shortly into the ride with the typical photo ops, then cruised through more farm country. Not many photos, though I did notice one silo that seemed to have a pattern or material I hadn't seen before and also saw my first of the so-called "round barns," apparently a thing in Ohio. 

Technically octagonal, but whose counting sides?

It was over 40 miles to the first SAG, but we were all pleasantly surprised by the greeting from Gregg's gang. Gregg worked as staff for the first sections of the trip and lives nearby. He and his family pulled out all the stops, complete with Buckeyes (peanut butter in chocolate cups, kind of like Reese's on steroids!), USA-shaped cookies with our route map, individualized name flags hung on the tents for each of us, and a great play list. Their hospitality was unrivalled. Thank you all!

Felt a little like a tailgate at a fine university to the north, without the beer!

Festivus SAG!

Buckeyes

Making exceptions to Big 10 rivalries! Thanks for the hospitality!

My name is on one of those flags

Remember the flutophone from elementary school music class, 
and how annoying it was????

Christine loves mugging for the camera!

Sadly, I left the SAG after not too long, as the wind was kicking up and I felt like I was "racing the rain." I won the race for a while, until I didn't. As predicted, by around 11, it started gradually, then more steadily. The only saving graces were that the wind generally wasn't directly in our face and the temps didn't drop too much below 60. While it was a bit of a soggy slog, it could've been worse.

The Lunch Bunch

With just over 2 miles to go, we cruised through the "historic uptown" of Marysville. Just as I had mentally conceded to just go straight to the hotel, my eyes caught the flashing rear lights of two bikes outside a cute looking cafe/pub, the Half Pint. Steph and Peter, always in search for a nutritious lunch, flagged me down, and despite how soggy I was, I couldn't resist joining for some proper food and of course the now ritual beer. Good choice!

A pint at the Half Pint

Employee of the Day

Given that my lunch stops have become the highlights of my days (when they are feasible time and town-wise), it is not surprising that I started chatting with our server/bartender, Laurie at the Half Pint. Turns out, ironically, that she grew up in Revere Beach, Massachusetts (outside of Boston), where we will be doing our wheel dip in just 12 days!!! Go figure. 

She was fabulous (the beer and taco recommendations were spot on!) and she even gave me a beer "to go" on her! So thanks, Laurie -- our lunch there was definitely the culinary height of our day!

Laurie from Revere!

 

Employee Character Trait(s) of the Day

So, last night (or should I say early this morning), at around 4:20 a.m. the fire alarm in our very fine hotel goes off. I assumed it was a false alarm, and though I put on enough clothes to allow me to leave the room in an unembarrassed state, I didn't actually commit to leaving. Sure enough, the alarm stopped, and I went back to bed, sufficiently convinced the building wasn't burning down and assuming it was a false alarm, possibly due to the ongoing renovations in the hotel. Miraculously, I even got a bit more sleep until my 4:55 a.m. alarm.

Fast forward to 6 a.m. breakfast, where I asked a "breakfast" staff member for some more utensils for the buffet. He proceeds to apologize for the earlier alarm, to which I respond, "No worries...I'm sure it wasn't your fault." But to my surprise, he said, "Actually, it was. I burnt the eggs, and it set off the alarm. I'm soooo sorry." 

Two things struck me about this. 

1. He was working at 4:20 a.m. (likely earlier) to prepare our breakfast. I hadn't really processed how early these folks have to leave for work to get to the hotels in time to have our breakfasts cooked and ready to serve at 6 a.m. each morning. 

2. Most strikingly, he OWNED his mistake, and apologized for it. I'm not sure there are many people who would have done that.  

Given that we have ANOTHER 100+ mile day tomorrow, with more than 2x the climbing of today, it's off to bed. Manana...