Bowling Green, OH - Monroeville, IN
Day: 85.72 miles, Trip: 1301.41 miles
In the morning our wonderful hosts had breakfast for us when we woke up (donuts, juice, fruit and coffee). That was a great first breakfast. The second breakfast didn't work as well as planned since we missed most of the towns as we headed back to the route. Bethany was not thrilled at all about the long ride to second breakfast. Eventually we rolled into Napolean, OH but struck out and ended up at another donut shop.While having some coffee a donut and some conversation with the locals.
It is proving to be another hot day. I hope this is not a trend that will continue. I know it will. With the heat and the headwinds we have been doing our best to get everybody introduced to the benefit of the pace line. The pace line really does save on energy and help the time pass faster. The downside is it reduces how much of the scenery you actually get to see. In my opinion the pace lines are getting too long. I prefer shorter lines 4-6 people not the 10-12 person groups. As I mentioned, today again its in the 90s. There were several times I really just wanted to knock on somebody's door and ask if I could swim in their pools.
In Paulding, OH a local man treated the whole team to lunch. It was very nice of him since we are such a big group. It was also great having AC in the Three Brothers. Some of us stuck around later than the rest hoping it would cool off and also got to watch another world cup match and enjoy a few ciders. I was still tired from the heat and Beth who road the day with us did almost all of the pulling for the last leg.
Tonight we are staying at the community center/ cyclist hostel in Monroeville, IN (pop 1300). Yes, this means we crossed over into Indiana and our 7th state. The place has everything we need (AC, shower, laundry and a kitchen). I was craving a coca-cola so joined some others at a bar and ended up with some free food as well. After the bar it is was over to get some Ice Cream. Unfortunately not everybody made it in time before it closed, so some missed out on the ice cream. In addition to the 7th state it was also our second mail drop. I received a part I needed to fix the rear rack on my bike and a package from home with way too much food. But considering we are cycling across the country it will all get eaten.
