Erie, PA to Hamburg, NY

It was a cool clear morning and we were leaving Erie, PA and would be entering into another state, New York, on the way to our destination. It would be 81 miles to Hamburg, NY, just South of Buffalo. Most of the route followed the shore of Lake Erie and provided many nice views with Vineyards and Lake Erie as a backdrop.

I had been struggling with saddle discomfort for sometime and it had worsened at the end of the 5 day stretch which ended in Erie. I am not alone with this problem. I don’t know if the cause is my bike seat or what, but I suspect it is the cumulative effect of sitting on that bike seat for over 3,000 miles with very little rest time to recover.

I could write a book on the causes and remedies. But I’ll spare you. Once word got out that I was suffering, others would ask me what I’m doing to address it and would share their ideas. Some offered to share what they were using to prevent the problem. I wasn’t sure I would be able to ride today. With the day off and some rest I prepared to ride.

I told Rick who I’ve ridden with most days that I was going to ride alone in an attempt to find a pace that I would be comfortable. Or at least be able to complete the ride. So I began the day riding by myself. I poked along enjoying the scenery. I rode a while with Tom and Susan. I stopped more frequently to take photos. It was a beautiful day and I was feeling relatively comfortable. I rode a while near John and Amy. Skip came up and rode beside me and inquired about my condition. I was actually a little tired talking about it. Skip told me that he had been struggling with seat comfort also and related that he had two blisters.

After arriving at the only SAG stop of the day at 47 miles, I took this picture of Andy Hiroshima and his cool Seven bike with Carbon fiber 620 wheels.

I saw Rick there and he said he heard that there was a Dairy Queen about 4 miles from the hotel. Rick has been known to start rumors that don’t necessarily come true. After fueling up I departed. I had eaten two oatmeal cookies on the way to the first stop and had one left for the rest of the route. I added some Fritos to my bag and headed out to finish the ride or at least make it to the DQ.

On the way I saw this cool Dodger Challenger retro version that chrysler has produced. I had seen pictures in magazines, but this was parked in a dealers lot. I couldn't resist. It takes me back to the late 60's when I had a cool 68 Plymouth Barracuda.

Sure enough there was a DQ, about 2 miles from the hotel. I pulled in and there were 5 bikes already parked outside. It was Skip, Don, Jose, Kip and CJ enjoying refreshing treats. I ordered a Strawberry milkshake and joined them.

After finishing our rewards we finished the last couple miles to the hotel together, arriving about 2:00 PM.

Youngstown, Ohio to Erie, Pennsylivania

A frontal system was forecast to affect Youngstown area overnight and today. When I checked the forecast last evening 60% precipitation was forecast for today. It was raining last evening when we retired for the night

We departed about 7:45 this morning. Not raining but the road was wet and there were puddles. The clouds were heavy with moister. It rained lightly off and on until we reached the 25 mile point. Eventually it developed into a steady rain so we stopped and put on our jackets. Rick and I were riding with John and Amy from New York. By the time we got to the first SAG stop at33 miles we were very wet. Rain continued to fall and the temperature had dropped from 72 at start to 64 degrees. Even though I was wet through the jacket, I was warm enough while riding because the jacket is a good wind break.

The SAG stop was located next to a café which was open. I went in and bought a cup of coffee to have with the snacks. After 10 minutes and the rain showing no sign of letting up we reluctantly departed to continue our journey in the rain. The rain increased now and was fairly heavy. We had gone about 3 miles and all of a sudden my tire went flat. Here we are on a two lane road with a fair amount of traffic with no shoulder and no shelter. I got the wheel off the bike and inspected it as best I could. There was no apparent cause on the tire surface. Rick helped get the tire off and we were preparing to install a new when the ABB van pulled up behind us and turned on their hazard lights. Andy Hiroshima took the wheel and installed the new tube and pumped it up and sent us on our way in minutes. I was so happy to see them appear to assist me.

As we continued on our way a mile or so later, we heard a shout from the front porch of a house near the road. John and Amy had stopped to seek shelter from the rain. We decided to continue on. How could we get any wetter than we already were? The hardest part is starting out in the rain. When it starts raining and you get wet you reconcile yourself to the journey and destination ahead and just pedal. You know that there are 30 other riders doing the same thing you are.

We were on a smooth road with very little traffic now and we were making good time. It’s funny what you think about when you are riding in conditions you wouldn’t normally ride in. I never before knew what water tasted like that landed on my sweaty head and ran down my face through my mustache. Salty, not very desirable.

As we rode I heard a train whistle several times in the distance. Apparently it was on a parallel path with us. Two bicycle riders pedaling through the rain drops on a country road in Ohio. We also had several dog encounters today, but nothing too threatening.

Eventually the sky appeared lighter in the Northeast. The temperature started to warm. At about noon the rain stopped and with the temp now 70 degrees we stopped to remove our soggy jackets. By the time we arrived at the second SAG stop at mile 69, the sun was out and the sky had cleared to a deep blue.

This SAG stop was perfectly positioned at a popular drive in that specialized in Root beer floats and also had typical drive-in fare. It smelled great, I got a mug of root beer and an order of French fries. Many of the bike riders were enjoying root beer floats and other delicious food options. It was obvious how the dramatic improvement in the weather along with the drive-in treats, raised everybody’s spirits. Many others from the area were there enjoying the drive-in also. One man asked me where we were going. I love it when they ask that! Other riders gathered around to see his reaction. His eyes opened wide, it was great! Then I said you should ask where we came from. Of course he did, and his response when I answered was another dramatic reaction. I guess you could call it the wow effect. When his tray of food was ready he wished us well.

Refreshed and re-energized we departed the drive-in for our destination, Erie, PA. It was another 28 miles. We arrived about 3:15 PM and we will stay here through tomorrow for a much needed day off.

Response to previous post:

Hi Shriram, it was great to here from you!

Mark, Thanks for the suggestions, you would think I had this figured out by now

RABA friends, I feel your energy, Ron Corio has been a real encouragement with his regular comments

Matt, Looking forward to some of that Moyer corn, thanks David and Nancy!

Bob, Thanks for the encouraging words, the staff nurse has some interesting remedies for the saddle soreness

Wooster to Youngstown

Departing Wooster we initially rode through pleasant rolling country side containing a patch work of small farms. At 6 miles, our route sheet directed us to turn left on Rohrer Rd. at the Buckwalter Greenhouse. We had to stop and get a photo with the street sign. My father grew up in Ohio and has relatives in the area. We followed Rohrer Rd. for several miles through the country side. I felt a kinship with the area.

Later in the ride we navigated on some of the roughest roads of the trip. These roads had been patched with asphalt and were mostly patch rather than smooth surface. This occurred for maybe 20 miles. I became very tired of this and would try to stand on the pedals when I could to save the impact on my already unhappy butt. I also slowed my pace to try to reduce the impact. Cars have big rubber tires, springs, shock absorbers, and comfortable seats. Bikes have none of this so every expansion joint, uneven patch, or hole in the road is just waiting to give you a jolt. Traffic was usually light so we would use the whole road to try to find a smooth path, but when cars came behind us we had to ride through the bone jarring surface at the edge of the road. On the bright side, we did have a lot more shade than in previous states, and that will likely continue. Today the temperature reached the 90’s so shade was good!

As we were nearing completion of our ride and were about a mile from the hotel I was leading the way when I heard someone calling my name. I slowed and looked back to see a collection of bikers at an ice cream stop. Rick and I wheeled our bikes back to join them. I had a very good strawberry milkshake. It was so refreshing after riding 94 miles.

I got a call from my brother in Harrisonburg tonight. He turned on the speaker phone and my parents were there along with my daughter and son in-law. It was great to talk to them and receive encouragement.

Tomorrow 97 miles takes us to Erie, Pa. where we get a much needed rest day on Monday!

Marysville to Wooster

Today was another fine day riding through Ohio. The temperature started at about 68 degrees with blue sky an almost no wind. It warmed to mid 80s with a mild West wind. The terrain was rolling with increasingly steep hills. Some of the hills in the second half of the route were 10% to 15% grade.

When you’re already tired from riding 80 miles it requires your last reserves of energy to make it up the steep hills. To add to the challenge today, bike wasn’t shifting smoothly into the lowest gears. It would get between gears and the chain wouldn’t engage properly causing a loss of momentum while I tried to get it to engage. It’s like the clutch slipping in a car and not applying the power when you need it.

Every day after the ride there is a mechanic schedule were you can get Girard to address problems with your bike. I was second in line today. He diagnosed the problem to be too much slack in the shift cable and made the necessary adjustment. I sure hope that takes care of it since I think I will be using my low gears tomorrow again.

Bob from Wooster joined us for dinner tonight. Bob had a bad fall earlier in the trip and suffered a trip ending skull fracture. He spent several days in the hospital in pueblo Colorado before returning home to Wooster. It was great to see that his recovery is going well.

Here’s a brief report on my attempts to maintain a good energy level longer during this marathon. I packed cookies (oatmeal, cranberry, walnut, that Allison sent) in my bike jersey so I could eat quality food before the first SAG stop. I felt pretty good all morning. Rick and I stopped at a Subway shop for lunch that was located in a grocery store along the route. I had Veggie Delight sandwich and water, and then followed that with a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee. With this I felt good for the next 25 or so miles. With the increasing steepness of the hills over the last 30 miles and fact that it was the second day in a row of 100 + mileage I was spent by the time I arrived at the hotel. Thankfully tomorrow we only ride 93 miles. What a break! The next day will be just 96 miles. That takes us to Erie, PA. for a well deserved rest day. I will continue to try to eat more, earlier during each days ride.

Pat is concerned that I have lost weight. I’ve included a picture here to show that I am healthy. This is after completing about 85 miles of the day’s journey.

Response to Comments to Yesterday’s post:

It was great to hear from you Phil, I’m not making any commitments yet on what my next adventure will be! I think I will spend some time getting reacquainted with my home routine and enjoying a little less intense activities for a while.

Matt, Beam me some good energy vibes. I will need it over the next 11 days.

Richmond, Indiana to Marysville, Ohio

This morning after breakfast we loaded luggage and left Richmond, IN. The weather was almost perfect. It was 59 degrees, clear blue sky and no wind. We had a short 2.7 miles to the Ohio state line. Check off another state. We along with a few other riders gathered for photos at the Ohio sign.

Western Ohio is very scenic. There were many small farms along the route, unlike the mega farms of Kansas. Some farms building were in disrepair and some were immaculately maintained. The terrain was rolling with increasing hills. We were greeted by quite a few dogs. Some were large and threatening and some were yappy little pooches. Thankfully they were all fenced.

Today Rick and I stopped for lunch at 68 miles in a little town named St Paris. There was a little Café that had sandwiches. It was owned by the friendly mayor who was working in the store. I had a turkey Panini with lettuce tomato and mayo, chips and a drink.

On arriving in Marysville Rick spotted an ice cream store so we stopped for some cold refreshing ice cream before proceeding the last miles to the hotel.

I was surprised by a package when I checked into the hotel on completing the ride. My daughter Allison sent me cookies! It is always great to get treats from my family. I feel the love! There was a card in an envelope addressed to M. Jay “Pedalswift” Rohrer. It has a nice ring to it don’t you think? I don’t always feel so swift.

I have noticed that I usually start off the day riding strong and feel that way maybe the first 40 miles or so. This takes me to the first SAG stop where I eat nectarines or bananas or both, some salty snacks and maybe some cookies and drink water. After that I sometimes feel sluggish and not as energetic. Today being 107 miles I did not feel energetic for the last 25 miles. I’m going to try something different tomorrow. I’m going to pack along a couple two or three cookies and eat them while riding, before the first SAG stop. I may be using up most of my stored energy from dinner and breakfast and not refueling soon enough. I also may try a cup of coffee with lunch. While training for this ride I would often stop in Ashland for a cup of coffee at the Ashland Tea & Coffee shop. I always felt reenergized after that.

It’s hard to believe that we are actually just 12 days away from finishing this cross country adventure. Tomorrow we will ride another century (103 miles). We will also reach the significant milestone of having reached the 3,000 mile point on this trip.

Response to comments from yesterday:

Matt, Yes Wade and Eunice lived in Dayton, Ohio at one time and we visited them there.

Mike from Dominion, I appreciate your frequent comments. When I reached Richmond yesterday I had a momentary brain flash “I’m Home”. I quickly snapped out of it. I have about another 800 miles of discovery on a bike before my family shuttles me back to Richmond, VA.

Indianapolis to Richmond

I felt well rested after the off day in Indianapolis. I actually had two days off since I rode the van From Crawfordsville because of the rain storm. My roommate Rick and three others hired a van to shuttle them back to Crawfordsville yesterday so they could complete that stretch in better weather conditions. I didn’t join them because my cousin Wade and his wife Eunice were coming to see me, and take me out to lunch and to a bike shop to pick up some necessary supplies.


I had a very nice time with them. We went to the Bike Line bike shop in a very nice part of Indianapolis and I was able to make my purchases. Next door was a Mexican restaurant and they treated me to lunch there. Wade was scheduled to participate in this bike tour with me and had sent in the necessary deposit to secure his spot. Unfortunately Eunice’s Father was diagnosed with terminal cancer so he canceled. Her father passed away in June. We talked about ideas for doing a future bike tour together and compared notes on how retirement is going. Wade retired last year also, but as a Physician he still works part time in an Urgent Care medical center near their home in Indiana. It is very meaningful to reconnect with family friends when being away from my family for so long.

The ABB staff have a day off too when we aren’t riding. They have many other tasks that have to be done on the off days such as servicing the vans and cleaning the water coolers and many things I’m not even aware of. If they have a little spare time they may work on their own bike. I took a photo of Girard servicing his bike. He has a Santana which is constructed of Titanium tubing. It is very light. This bike has couplers on the frame which allows disassembly and packing in a box the size of the wheels. This allows you to check it as luggage with the airlines.

Last night we went to bed with thunder, lightening and torrential rain coming down. The forecast was that a frontal system was moving in from the north and was supposed to move south of Indianapolis by this morning. When we woke and checked conditions we could see puddles but no indication of recent rain on the streets. After breakfasting and loading luggage we departed.

The air was heavy with humidity but we rode the route mostly in the dry. We had a brief rain shower about 35 miles into the ride but otherwise it was smooth sailing. We had a slight tail wind and because of the clouds the temperature stayed cool. It was about 72 degrees on departure and about 80 on arrival in Richmond Indiana. We arrived at the hotel at 1:00 PM after stopping at a McDonalds for lunch on the way.

It felt good to be riding again. Our course followed Route 40 and we rode due East for a total of 74 miles. The next two days will be over 100 miles each.

Crawfordsville to Indianapolis

I was wakened this morning with the boom of thunder. I rolled over and checked my watch. It was 5:30 AM. We were supposed to load at 6:30 AM then ride our bikes into the town of Crawfordsville to breakfast at Joe’s Diner. We went through our morning routine of preparation. Before 6:00 the rain began falling intensely with very dark clouds and thunder and lightening. I walked to the hotel lobby where other bikers were gathering. Shortly after 6:00 AM Michele made an announcement to the group about a change of plans. Rather than loading luggage, then riding bikes to the diner, they would be shuttling us in the vans to breakfast. After returning to the hotel after breakfast, they would check the weather conditions and make a plan.

During and after breakfast it poured rain and continued lightening and thunder. They announced that no one would be allowed to depart on bikes as the conditions were. They also polled the group to see who would rather be shuttled to Indianapolis in the vans. A majority desired this. I was in the first group to transport. About a third of the riders wanted to wait for the second shuttle to see if conditions would improve to allow biking. The planned route was on RT 136 which had virtually no shoulder and with rain and standing water and motor vehicles it seemed a risky. As it turns out the people who waited were able to start a couple hours later after the main rain system had disipated and were able to complete the ride with only a few sprinkles.

I am disappointed that I didn’t get to visit the attractions on the route today, but satisfied with my decision to van shuttle to Indianapolis. We arrived at about 11:00 AM. Rooms wouldn’t be available until after noon. Rick and I found our luggage and changed from bike clothes to street clothes. The hotel is located on the edge of Indianapolis city center. Since it was not raining when we arrived we walked into the city central and found a coffee shop for a cup of coffee and a muffin.



We then walked to the war memorial in the square, took a few pictures of the capital and the memorial, and then got lunch before returning to the hotel. Soon the bikes arrived with the second shuttle, so we retrieved our bikes and checked into our room.

On a down note, Jeff Bucher who shared the rooms with Rick and I, left for home today. He had been struggling with health issues and decided to end his tour. He was dehydrated and walked to the nearby hospital ER last night to receive IV fluids. He lives in New Zealand and had a long flight to return home. We said farewell to him this morning and wished him well.

Tomorrow I will have lunch with Wade and Eunice and hopefully they will be able to take me to a bike shop to pick up some important supplies. We will clean and service the bikes, take in some local sights, and rest up for the next push east.