June 16th: Napoleon, OH to Angola, IN

Our progress into the Midwest continues. The scenery is more of the same. Fields of corn sprawl to the horizon, occasionally divided by a patch of trees or a train in the distance. So many times now we’ve been warned about the boredom waiting for us in the endless cornfields, but so far I’ve actually enjoyed the scenery. It probably helps that I’ve never seen this part of the country before.

A bit of excitement came from our first encounter with dirt roads. After riding along a stretch, I was pretty sure the teeth were falling out of my head. The roads were so bumpy, it felt like we were riding jackhammers instead of bikes. At the end of the day, just about every screw on our bikes needed tightening thanks to all the jostling. Overall we navigated the dirt with success, except for Nick who fell victim to the deep end of gravel and sand.

We crossed our fourth state border, as well. The tiny county roads we’ve been riding on don’t have many signs though, and that includes “Welcome to Indiana” ones. Luckily, with the help of our chalk, we had no problems making our own sign, so the milestone was successfully documented. Also, Sara and Shira did many exciting things!

-Sam Landfried

June 15th: Sandusky, OH to Napoleon, OH

After a day off resting our legs and spiking our adrenaline at Cedar Point Amusement Park – some nice views of Lake Erie from 200 ft up! – we left the lake for Napoleon, OH. So far we have seen the hills of Pennsylvania and have biked along a Great Lake, but this was certainly our first true day in the Midwest. Soy and corn crops stretched for miles on either side of long, straight county roads, few and far between. Meg and I practiced biking without hands on the long bits, while others used the opportunity to ride two and three abreast and talk.

A mother and her kids, seeing us drooping a little as we passed in front of her house, offered us Kool-Aid on their porch. The kids made us guess the flavors of Kool-Aid before we drank them. Rob meanwhile, took the opportunity to duct tape a few American flags to the roof of the van.

Saskia struggled in the afternoon with three flats in half an hour. Just as her group got back on their bikes again, Rebecca noticed a flat on her own tire. A few long trains crossing our path broke up the riding for the day and helped us put some college education to work: 140 cars on one train, 67 on another.

Napoleon appeared out of nowhere with shady streets and a tall town hall. We were of course overjoyed to pick up our maildrop and compare/share goodies sent from home and friends and ready to move on into Indiana tomorrow.

-Alexis Krumme

June 14th: Day off in Sandusky, OH

Today I am old - twenty-three years, to be exact. Last night the group surprised me with a cake, and today we headed to Cedar Point, one of the best roller coaster parks in the country, for our second day off. Most of us spent a full day at the park, although the long lines mean that you can really only do about one ride an hour (the line for The Maverick, the park's newest ride, was an hour and a half - and totally worth it). Nick's carnival experience served him well, as he was able to win a stuffed red dog from one of the stands. Shira and Sara tried one ride out, and then went straight to the beach for the rest of the day, where they charmed the parasailing guy into letting them go for free!

After a long day in the sun, we all ate dinner at Cabana Jack's in downtown Sandusky, where Rob sang "Rock'n'Roll All Night" with the band and Kathleen bemoaned the fact that the band's catalog lacked any Celine Dion. The owner of Cabana Jack's liked our dancing so much that he gave us all free tie-dyed headbands. It was a fantastic and thrilling birthday - it's good to be old!

-Jessalee Landfried

June 13th: Cleveland, OH to Sandusky, OH

Today saw us leaving the cozy comforts of Kim's house through the streets of Cleveland. Cleveland's streets are the only ones that I have seen that can rival the potholes of Boston. As we reached the waterfront, we stopped at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and did a little rocking out with North. We then made our way through downtown with the assistance of Niko blocking traffic with the van for our sea of yellow. We continued riding along the Lake Erie waterfront, which was beautiful. The HBC birthday curse still reigns as I was devasted to suffer my first flat tire. I patched it up and joined our group at a park where we gladly devoured the leftovers from the previous night.

After lunch a few of us spent some time at the waterfront enjoying the beautiful view and weather. As we continued on our way to Sandusky, a few people saw a giant ball in a field and were immediately drawn to it. Of course they played with it and had a great break. Others, found a young local to lead them to a local beach where they enjoyed the cool water that refreshed and energized them for the remainder of the ride. Most of us, stopped at a Dairy Queen where we enjoyed some ice cream in the hot weather.

We pulled into Sandusky and took some great showers at the YMCA across the parking lot of our church. We spread ourselves out across the gym floor and after eating some pizza, shared an early birthday cake for Jessalee's actual birthday the next day, where we will be riding the monster roller coasters of Cedar Point.

P.S. Brian is doing awesome and excited about the day (off) at Cedar Point tomorrow.

--Rebecca Rebbe

June 12th: Conneaut, OH to Cleveland, OH

We thought we’d left the massive hills behind in Pennsylvania but today’s ride proved us wrong. After having a delicious breakfast of donuts provided to us by our host church, we set out on what looked like a fairly flat day. This was true through the early afternoon as our route wound around Lake Erie lending many picture taking opportunities. However as we approached Cleveland, we were met with the two steepest hills we had yet faced. These hills conveniently hid themselves around corners so the element of surprise was wonderful.

Finally we made it to HubBub bike shop where we received free tune ups and fittings. These generous people spent all afternoon fitting most of the riders and giving everyone much needed tune ups. Having finally put 600 miles on the bikes this trip they were in desperate need of some maintenance.

When all was complete at the bike shop we arrived at our destination for the evening: Kim who was a Central rider from last year. She treated us with the most unbelievable hospitality welcoming us into her brand new home and feeding us a Mexican feast: homemade guacamole, shredded pork burritos, corn salsa, etc. After dinner most watched the NBA finals which we deemed appropriate due to Cleveland’s presence (and unfortunate loss) in the finals. Others enjoyed catching up on much needed sleep and the hot tub!

-Lindsay Collins

PS: Brian is alive and has made it to Cleveland!!!

June 11th: Youngsville, PA to Conneaut, OH

I will get the most important information about the day over with first: Brian is still alive and kicking. His speedometer even broke 18 mph today. Go Team! Now, back to the epic journey. Today was our last day in Pennsylvania. Score. Pennsylvania is a great state but it was definitely time to leave and start exploring other states. Our 77 mile day started off by actually sleeping somewhat in today (6:30! Woot woot!!) and had a delicious breakfast from the Methodist church. We got a little side tracked on the route. First, we passed a house with a “Free Kittens” sign on the lawn. Because of everyone’s love for cute and fuzzy kittens, we had to stop and play with the little rascals. Our second stop of the day was in Corry, Pennsylvania, home of the one and only Liz Ferro. We took a little side trip and visited Liz’s house and her cute dog. Because of our little side trips, the group was a little behind schedule. After scarfing down some lunch, the entire group pedaled quickly towards the Pennsylvania/Ohio border and was more than overjoyed to see the “Welcome to Ohio” sign. Pennsylvania did not want to give Trevor up though. Because of allergies, Trevor was almost blind. He also got stung by a bee and then lost a nose piece off of his sunglasses. When we finally arrived at the Church of Christ in Conneaut, Ohio, Trevor got a flat tire. Rough. The church members provided us with a delicious meal and even volunteered to drive us out to the shore of Lake Erie and watch the sun set. It truly was a great day to be a bobcat.

Go Team!

-Erin Bougie

June 10th: Smethport, PA to Youngsville, PA

The sun rises over Smethport as our most magnificent and epic journey continued. Well, in actuality it was really foggy and we could not see more than twenty feet in front of us. It was also really cold with temperatures cool enough that we could see our breaths. Negatives asides, our day was started with a bountiful and scrumptious hot breakfast provided by the good people at St. Lukes Church. Then our ride began the way every 64 mile bicycle ride should: with a kickin’ dance party.

A few miles into the ride we went past an alpaca farm (not llamas by popular belief!) and of course we had to stop and gawk at the cute/awkward creatures. Me being an avid animal lover decided that I needed a closer look. Several minutes and a whole lot of pain (for me) later we were back on our way rolling up Mt. Jewett before experiencing some much welcome downhill for most of the rest of the ride.

Eventually, the whole group rolled into the little town of Youngsville where we were greeted by a splendid reception by the wonderful people at First United Methodist. Note to blog readers: First United Methodist not only had a map of the US that is tracking our progress, but also had the rest of the bulletin board filled with the groups bios. After some much needed shower and napping action we were treated to an incredible potluck provided by the greatest cooks in Warren County. Not only did we have centerpieces featuring little graham cracker Habitat homes, but there was also a whole room filled with desserts and then Dairy Queen for a pre-bedtime snack.

On a sad note, this is our last night in PA. Goodbye east coast!

-Andy Glaser

P.S. Not only is Brian indeed alive, but he led 15 riders for 10 miles at speeds exceeding 17 miles an hour!