Good Morning from Erie, PA,
I am at a Kinko's in Erie, and thanks to Bob Burgis, I was able to drive hear instead of riding in the early morning hours. His wife has come down from Canada to visit with Bob and Trevor. I will do my best, but Kinko's does not have the spell check version of AOL again, so I will try my best, but there may be some typos.

Wednesday, June 16 Champaign Rest Day
As previously reported, Betsey and Jennifer came over to Champaign to see me. I got up early and made my report, returned to the room and we all went out to breakfast at Bob Evans. Then, after that, I needed to do laundry and clean my bike. Because there are not any stores in Indiana, Ft. Wayne in particular, the ladies went out to scour Lands Ends outlet and Barnes and Noble for treasures. They returned in the afternoon just as I was finishing up cleaning my bike. Naps followed and then to dinner with Dave, Steve, Trevor, Bob, J and B at Damons. A good group and lots of fun having others tell of their adventures to J and B. I am very proud of my family and the group.

Thursday, June 17 Champaign IL to Crawfordsville, IN 79 miles
Bets and Jen got up and came to breakfast with the group and then were there to send us on our way. Had a T.V. crew from town to film the departure. Made a difference as folks along the way who had seen the broadcast waved and honked, in a good way, using all of their fingers!! Started out of town with Elizabeth and Ken, I kept asking where Don was. They finally told me that he was in the hospital with gall bladder problems. We stopped by the hospital and spoke with him, appears he will need surgery. He was handling his disappointment at not being able to complete the trip very well, he is a fine individual and will be and has been missed very much. (Update: He flew back home to Conn., had surgery, June 23 and is doing well. We are hoping he can join us at the riders dinner in Lexington and do the final 20 miles with us into Boston) Fighting a headwind as we entered Indiana, naturally. Caught up to Bob and Trevor at the first sag. We rode together the rest of the day, taking turns pulling into the wind. I don't need to cover what the terrain was like, as most of you know what northern Illinois and Indiana look like. Corn, soy beans, alfalfa, hay and flat with a few trees.

Friday, June 18 Crawfordsville, IN to Indianapolis, IN 73 miles
Mornings had been cool and my legs and knees never seemed to warm up, so I wore my tights and long sleeved t-shirt to ride. Glad I did as I kept them on all day. It was a cool wind in our faces all day. We were routed out through the county roads, very much like a club ride or TRIRI. Much of our routing before this had been on one or two roads, but now had to pay attention and make turns. Of course I read one turn that said R and promptly turned left. We were supposed to be looking for a 1075 and I notice the numbers were getting smaller, so re-read my cue sheet and turned around. At least my wrong turn had been into the wind, so my trip back to the route was downwind. Most people are going to ride a loop around the speedway and we are not going to be allowed on until 2:00, so folks are going very slowly and spending more time at the sag stop. It was at a working farm, complete with cow giving birth in the corral. Into Indianapolis, we were routed through Eagle Creek parkway, very pretty and quiet. They even nicked us for a .50 toll! Went by the raceway, but I had no desire to ride it or to wait the three hours before they would allow us onto it. I did stop by the Major Taylor Velodrome. I had never been there before. It had been rented out to radio controlled car enthusiasts, so we could not ride on it, but it was neat to see. Came out of there and Scott was going by, so he and I navigated our way through town to the hotel together. Got there and were told that we had been moved to another motel down the street, a huge upgrade. We never did find out why the glitch, but very much to our advantage. I was scheduled to meet Chuck and Marilyn at the motel, so had to contact them to let them know things had changed, fortunately they had their cell phone. The motel had sandwiches at sodas for us, so ate lunch there and took a nap. Bob and Trevor rode the speedway and when they came in I woke up. Got a call from Heather Jenkins, a woman with whom I had worked with for about 10 years in the safety area, but had never met in person. She came by the hotel and took some pictures and gave me a collage of some of the sights along the trip. It was nice of her to make the effort to come by. Chuck and Marilyn had come a bit earlier and had participated in route rap. It was great to see them and to talk to them at dinner and afterwards.

Saturday, June 19 Indianapolis, IN to New Paris, OH 84 miles

Chuck and Marilyn joined us and we looked gooooood in our club jerseys. Good on the club officers who got them for our purchase. I want to say Steve Sours when he was president, but don't want to slight someone. Chuck wrote a long letter about the ride that I will copy in here as it is fairly accurate, though has much to much about me in it. Anyhow, I sure appreciated Chuck, Marilyn, Steve and Michael coming down to join me. The one thing Chuck left out was that when he and Steve were on the tandem, they were a bit shaky to start and then functioned like a finely tuned machine. It was all I could do to hang on for dear life the last 20 miles. I pulled once and then for only about 500 yards. They are tough together. I have ridden the route from Indy to Richmond/New Paris three times now. Twice with Ride Across Indiana and this time. All three times there has been a head wind. One of these days......

Sunday, June 20 New Paris OH to Marysville, OH 104 miles
Having failed in my attempt to get Chuck and Steve to ride with us one more day, we were eager to get started as early as possible before the winds picked up. Of course we were thwarted in this quest by the fact we were now on Ohio time and the restaraunt did not open until 7:00. After a communication breakdown, Bob ate with me and Trevor ate at the hotel continental breakfast. Bob and I left about 7:30 and after taking pictures at the Ohio line and getting warmed up, we went looking for Trevor, Dave and Steve. Joined by Jon as we had passed him, we caught them just before the first sag, Trevor coming with us, the rest opting not to come with us. After the sag it was Bob, Trevor, Jon and myself at a much slower pace. About 11:00 I stopped to take off my tights, first time in about three days and Dave, Steve and others caught up to us. We rode at a very pleasant pace as a large group for most of the rest of the day. Even though there is a head wind it is not too strong and we are going slowly, talking and taking turns pulling in a double pace line. About the last 10 miles we began to hit some hills and everyone started to get tired. It became more of a game of who could leave who in the front to pull. Bob, being the rookie, and wanting to do his fair share, ended up on the front and wondered why he was so tired. He broke the code towards the end, but those of us who are from the Joe Bartels school of pulling were well trained.

Monday, June 21 Marysville, OH to Wooster, OH 96 miles...and the winds returned, with hills.
Warmer than previous days when we left, so could do without the tights and long sleeved t-shirt. Slight east breeze. Caught up with Trevor and Bob at the first sag. My days of catching them when I give them a 10 to 15 minute head start is over, they have gotten too strong. I gain maybe two to three minutes on them in the first 30 miles, I used to catch them at about the 20 mile mark. After the second sag the hills began with a vengeance. It was not only tough climbing, steep and fairly long, but the wind was in our faces and we had to pedal downhill to go 15 to 20. It also was beginning to warm up and Ohio, usually known for its outstanding roads, must have hired Indiana road builders and the road surface deteriorated greatly. In to the motel about 2:10, about as tired as I have been on this trip. I was pooped. Showered and went for a quick lunch and I was joined by Bob and Trevor who came in just as I was finishing my shower. Everyone commented that night about how tired they were and what a tough day it had been. Only 10 days left, according to Betsey. We don't really keep track, just look at what is coming up the next day.

Tuesday, June 22 Wooster, OH to Niles, OH 93 miles
Woke up at 4:30 and while I laid there in bed waiting for the wakeup call at 5:30, I wondered how I was going to make the ride that day as we had been told that it was about as hard as the previous day. When I went to bed my legs and knees were very sore and tired. But, the body's ability to recover continues to amaze me. I warmed up slowly and we had some rolling hills, cool temperatures and not much wind until later in the day. Lots of turns, first day we have had a two page cue sheet. Could not believe I did not catch Bob and Trevor, got into the first sag and they were not there! They had been riding with Michael and had missed a turn. Teach them to become hammerheads. Left the sag and rode by myself. The terrain flattened out considerably with the wind behind us on some of the turns. Bob and Trevor came in while I was at the second sag and they wanted to stop and eat at a restaurant, so I continued on on my own. Finished the ride in good shape, surprised, considering how beat up I had been the night before. Went down the street to a Subway for lunch, first one I had been to since my food poisoning in Arizona. I have no reason to believe it was the sub, but it is funny how the mind associates the last incident with the outcome. I am glad to report that I did just fine. Nap time and then route rap. We were told at route rap by Tracy that Alan Josel, the fellow from Philly from whom I had borrowed the computer, had passed away in his sleep in Wooster the previous night. We can only assume it was a heart attack as he had previously had heart surgery. We were and are greatly saddened by it as he was a fine individual who was always quick with the jokes and willing to help other people. He had been joined by other friends and relatives along the way and he had introduced them to the group with great pleasure. We spent a great deal of time that evening in groups talking about Alan and how to deal with his loss. He is missed by not only us, but will be missed by his wife and daughter. It makes my decision to do this ride at this time of my life even more timely. You just never know when our turn is coming. My final entry in my log for this day says it all...."I am very sad".

Wednesday, June 23 Niles, OH to Erie PA 90 miles

A very somber group of riders left Niles. We know we must continue on, but all of us are thinking of Alan and his family. Trevor had a flat during the night, so Bob and I fixed it while he was in the shower. It got us to breakfast late and I did not leave the hotel until about 7:15. Cool day with no breeze. As I had left late, I passed many people and spoke with them. Pretty, rolling country. Wind out of the ESE and we are heading north, so have the wind quartering behind us at times. Caught up to Trevor, Bob, Elizabeth and Ken at the first sag and we left together. Great roads and we are feeling good. Rode in a pace line and got going pretty fast down the county roads. Into the second sag just as Michael had gotten there to set it up. Nothing like knowing that you have a rest day the next day and no head wind to move right along.

We were joined at the second sag by a fellow named John who is from Erie. He had met the group last year and stayed in touch with the Crossroads folks and wanted to join us. We left with him and went the 1/2 mile to the state line where we took pictures and sprinkled sand. We attempted to set up a pace line behind John, but there was something about it that made me nervous, so I dropped out of it and rode behind the group by about 100 yards. We hit some hills and Ken came off the group. He does unbelievably well, but because of his artificial leg, he struggles on the hills. So do I and I have both legs!! I pulled him in the rest of the way, Elizabeth waiting for us and joining us about 5 miles out side of Erie. Very heavy traffic. We are right downtown, about 10 block from Lake Erie. Will probably go down there tomorrow. Trevor and I will room together tonight as Bob's wife is visiting and they will take my single room. She is a delightful person. Apparently she got a much shorter haircut when she found out Bob and Trevor had shaved their heads. After Route Rap we had a memorial service for Alan that was conducted by a rabbi some of the folks in the group had been able to contact. He did a marvelous job, explaining some of the Jewish traditions, prayers and ways of looking at life and death. Though still very much in a state of loss and grief, the service helped all of us. Called home and was able to speak with Revell for the first time since the trip began. She just successfully completed summer ROTC camp for the Air Force. Betsey and I talked about our plans to have them come pick me up in Boston next week. It seems hard to believe that we only have 7 riding days left and that next Friday is our last day. Of course as Mike Heyes and some woman who talked to me along the route yesterday have been quick to point out, there are a few mountains between here and Boston, so there will remain some challenges ahead. Well, that brings you up to date folks. I do not know if I will be able to get to a computer between now and the end of the ride, so if you want to communicate with me, please contact my wife, Betsey at 219-483-8544 and she will pass on the message. I will probably do a final update when I get home or since we will be visiting my in-laws in Virginia right after the trip, maybe I can do it then.

Later,
Earnie