conneaut, ohio

 UNDER 900! 2,869.72/approximately 845 To Go!

Our ride today was 60.10 miles from Mentor, Ohio to Conneaut, Ohio. Most of the ride was very close to Lake Erie. The shoulders were very narrow, the wind was with us, and traffic was, once again, very kind. And . . . we had a good bit of rain. It still was a good riding day and we are sixty miles closer to the finish line. Oh, we did find a couple of cool bike trails. That's about it for the day. Not much to write about today but some days are just like that.

I am looking forward to the days ahead and our finish in Maine. Some highlights to brighten the days ahead include:

Tomorrow we go into Pennsylvania, my home state. I always like getting home even when it's hundreds of miles away from where I grew up. To all my Pennsylvania family, friends, and classmates, I'm saying hi and thinking of you.

Sarah, Barry, and Geneva will meet us Saturday in Orchard Beach, Pennsylvania. Sarah and Barry plan to pedal the Erie Canal Trail from Buffalo to Albany, New York. (For those who don't know us, Sarah is our older daughter, Barry is her husband, and Geneva is Barry's mom.)

We should be finished with the Erie Canal Trail by Saturday, 16 July. The trail is approximately 365 miles, flat, and without rumble strips and traffic. The ride from Buffalo to Albany, New York will take a good sized chunk out of our remaining miles. It will be a nice break too. And . . . it will also be a ride down History Lane. From the Erie Canal Trail we will go to Ticonderoga and pedal to Rockport, Miane using the Adventure Cycling trail maps.

In Vermont, we may get to visit with some great friends of ours, Mitch and Sara Kimbrell and their children.  We know Mitch and Sara from our church family in Bogart, Georgia. I sure hope we get to pull this off. I know it would be a special time.

Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are not wide states. All cyclists I know love skinny states! Of course two of these skinny states will present us with some Green and White Mountain climbs. We'll get over them!

The traditional front tire dip in the water of the Atlantic Ocean. It will be picture time for sure. I'm excited that Phil and Gale get to experience this time of travel but the finish is worth the whole trip. There's something about it that is bittersweet. Sure it will be great and exciting to finish but it will also be sad that it's over. We'll wash our bikes and probably celebrate with something like a banana split or hot fudge sundae . . . something healthy. Then we'll begin to meander home.

The people we'll meet and the food that we'll eat. We still have over eight hundred miles worth of people to meet and talk with and food in the Mom & Pop eateries. Some my favorites thus far have been fish & chips, burgers & fries, and onion rings. (I don't think I've lost any weight.)

I'm looking forward to not packing and unpacking the Explorer every day. For the trip home, Margaret and I will pack and use a travel bag with only what we need for the nights on the road. Everything else will be packed neatly in the Explorer. I used the word neatly because, right now, the back of our Explorer looks kind of like a county landfill. We know where everything is but it still looks like county landfill!

But since we still have about two weeks of pedaling to go we'll pedal one mile at a time, stop and take pictures, eat snacks, and enjoy the ride. The quiet times on the bikes make every day a great time to hang out with the Father. God is good. 

The joy of the Lord is my strength.

Just so you'll know, GOTL stands for Geneva On The Lake. We pedaled through GOTL today. Neat little community.