A synopsis of the day's events: Carlin and I left Corry, PA at 7:10 A.M. this morning. We arrived at the campground at Shenango Recreation Area at 5:00 P.M. Today's cycling total was 77.1 miles. I overshot the place a little and had to go back. Total mileage to date is 550.1 miles or 54.7% of total. The climb today was one of the big ones with 3,025 ft. of climb. Total climb for the ride thus far has been 17,431 feet. So, 17,431/22,229 = 78.4% of the total climb for the ride is done. The worst of the climbing is over.
Ok, we're back from dinner but the mosquitos here at the campground are so ravenous that I've moved to the Little Guy where I've got the Wi-Fi going, the laptop, the printer for tomorrow's maps. I feel like I'm in a space capsule.
When we left this morning from Corry, Pa. Fr. Mark came out to help us get going and then blessed Carlin and I and offered his blessings for the Marist students. How fortunate we have been that our paths have crossed.
The weather this morning was sunny but cool at 55 degrees to start. But off we went trying to make as much distance before noon. We had looked over various possibilities of routes last night and opted for the route that was most like the hypotenuse of a right triangle. (a^2+b^2=c^2 . For you alumni out there, brings back good memories doesn't it?) Because, as everyone knows, had we chosen to follow the two legs of the triangle the total distance would have been greater than the length of the hypotenuse. But you may ask why this was even an issue. Well, in the real world, the "shortest" distance between two points is not necessarily the direct route. In our case this morning while I chose the hypotenuse the consequence was that I would have a lot more climbing to do which indeed amounted to greater than 3,000 feet of climb. But what goes up must come down and there was as much descent as ascent. So, my top speed today exceeded 40 mph. I feathered the brakes at that speed though because to go faster was getting a bit risky. Just a crack in the road, a stone, a mongoose crossing the road could spell disaster. I have years more of homework to give. I don’t want to cut that opportunity short.
Carlin is simply outstanding with navigating. She has a real knack for catching the fine points of the map. She’ll wait up ahead of me to signal that the route has changed. When riding I can’t just use any road but must be more selective in the type of road to ride. That can be a challenge and following maps that require a left, then a right , then a left..... delays the riding. I don’t want to get lost but usually manage to do it. And that’s before I even get on a bike.
The day warmed up and by the end of the day it actually seemed like it was summer and it was enjoyable and refreshing. By 5:00 P.M. we had reached our destination at Shenango River Lake Campground near Hermitage, PA. By the time I got to the campsite the hills had begun to subside. I know as the days progress from now that the climb will subside substantially and to some extent I’ll miss that but it’ll be OK. We’re only about 5 miles from the Ohio border now and Ohio and Indiana particularly as we move west will be flatter and flatter. I think it has something to do with glacial movement during the Mesozoic era. I don’t know what I’m talking about but I think I spelled Mesozoic correctly.
The reason I dropped as low as I did in Pennsylvania is that I’m going to shoot almost directly west across Ohio from this point and I wanted to avoid the Cleveland area. Nonetheless, tomorrow I’ll ride to North Royalton, OH and then Carlin will pick me up and we’ll backtrack to Cleveland to visit with and stay the night with a Marist alum, Matt Casey. Then Tuesday Carlin will take me back to North Royalton and drop me off to pick up where I left off.
For those of you that have wondered how I’m getting the posts up it’s because of the high tech capabilities I have with me. We have a couple of smart phones, cell phones, iPad, Laptop, hotspot, battery backup, and a blackboard. I must say that the hotspot is the most amazing thing giving us the capability thus far to hook up to the internet in even the most remote spots. Blogging at a picnic table in a campground in the middle of nowhere. WOW!
Until tomorrow, keep Carlin and I and the Marist community in your thoughts and prayers.
Ok, we're back from dinner but the mosquitos here at the campground are so ravenous that I've moved to the Little Guy where I've got the Wi-Fi going, the laptop, the printer for tomorrow's maps. I feel like I'm in a space capsule.
When we left this morning from Corry, Pa. Fr. Mark came out to help us get going and then blessed Carlin and I and offered his blessings for the Marist students. How fortunate we have been that our paths have crossed.
The weather this morning was sunny but cool at 55 degrees to start. But off we went trying to make as much distance before noon. We had looked over various possibilities of routes last night and opted for the route that was most like the hypotenuse of a right triangle. (a^2+b^2=c^2 . For you alumni out there, brings back good memories doesn't it?) Because, as everyone knows, had we chosen to follow the two legs of the triangle the total distance would have been greater than the length of the hypotenuse. But you may ask why this was even an issue. Well, in the real world, the "shortest" distance between two points is not necessarily the direct route. In our case this morning while I chose the hypotenuse the consequence was that I would have a lot more climbing to do which indeed amounted to greater than 3,000 feet of climb. But what goes up must come down and there was as much descent as ascent. So, my top speed today exceeded 40 mph. I feathered the brakes at that speed though because to go faster was getting a bit risky. Just a crack in the road, a stone, a mongoose crossing the road could spell disaster. I have years more of homework to give. I don’t want to cut that opportunity short.
Carlin is simply outstanding with navigating. She has a real knack for catching the fine points of the map. She’ll wait up ahead of me to signal that the route has changed. When riding I can’t just use any road but must be more selective in the type of road to ride. That can be a challenge and following maps that require a left, then a right , then a left..... delays the riding. I don’t want to get lost but usually manage to do it. And that’s before I even get on a bike.
The day warmed up and by the end of the day it actually seemed like it was summer and it was enjoyable and refreshing. By 5:00 P.M. we had reached our destination at Shenango River Lake Campground near Hermitage, PA. By the time I got to the campsite the hills had begun to subside. I know as the days progress from now that the climb will subside substantially and to some extent I’ll miss that but it’ll be OK. We’re only about 5 miles from the Ohio border now and Ohio and Indiana particularly as we move west will be flatter and flatter. I think it has something to do with glacial movement during the Mesozoic era. I don’t know what I’m talking about but I think I spelled Mesozoic correctly.
The reason I dropped as low as I did in Pennsylvania is that I’m going to shoot almost directly west across Ohio from this point and I wanted to avoid the Cleveland area. Nonetheless, tomorrow I’ll ride to North Royalton, OH and then Carlin will pick me up and we’ll backtrack to Cleveland to visit with and stay the night with a Marist alum, Matt Casey. Then Tuesday Carlin will take me back to North Royalton and drop me off to pick up where I left off.
For those of you that have wondered how I’m getting the posts up it’s because of the high tech capabilities I have with me. We have a couple of smart phones, cell phones, iPad, Laptop, hotspot, battery backup, and a blackboard. I must say that the hotspot is the most amazing thing giving us the capability thus far to hook up to the internet in even the most remote spots. Blogging at a picnic table in a campground in the middle of nowhere. WOW!
Until tomorrow, keep Carlin and I and the Marist community in your thoughts and prayers.
