SPIN CYCLE: Shuffle Off the Buffulo in Searing Heat.......

Lordy, lordy..it was another hot day. My thermometer read 100 degrees on my bike. Though the weatherman might say something different, that is what was the temperature on the bicycle today; we get the heat from above and the radiant heat from the road. Add that to 78% humidity, and it was a warm one. I lathered on the sunscreen every 15 miles, but it just dripped off of me like white rain. I am more than pink, but not quite red tonight....medium rare, I guess you could say. I kept moving so the wind would at least provide some evaporative cooling. Today's ride was 84 miles; we were treated with a nice tailwind and were able to start riding at 6:45am to beat the hot afternoon sun. So all was good.

Early in the ride, we came across a buffalo farm, and all the mothers and calves were in the front pasture. (What do you call a female buffalo?) The calves were young, yet playful; the mothers were not happy with our voyeurism, pawing the ground, snorting, huffing AND growling at us. Who knew that they growled!!


Baby buffalo nursing...scary eyes on Mom. There is sunscreen on my lens, so it looks hazy.

While pedaling through the small towns of Indiana, Lea Adams and I stopped at the Post Office in the small, but busy, town of Yoder. My mail has not been getting delivered in Texas, so I needed to sign some papers to get it going again. Lea needed a stamp to mail a post card to Australia; the post card was 50 cents, the postage was 98. (Things that make you go 'hmmmm') Hopefully, Jeremy, the nice postal worker got it straightened out for me He was quite friendly and accommodating--a refreshing change from those in Dallas!!

Lea Adams and Jeremy, Yoder, IN. I finally got Lea to pose with a fellow postal person--Lea works for the postal system in Australia.


Lea and her bike in Yoder.

The day just got hotter and hotter. Sag stops were short--just long enough to put on more sunscreen, and get ice and water. Everyone wanted to get in as quickly as possible; it was too hot to dally! I rode most of the day with Lea.

Cruising a long with Lea Adams. We fell way behind because of our stop at the post office.

I'll let you guess from the picture below what I am doing and why.....(FYI--Lea thought the sun was getting to me....a bit daffy)

Give up???......O...H....I...O...... We crossed into Ohio today. I grew up in northern Ohio in a small community near Akron, then lived in Columbus for a long time. It is strange to be back, and feels a bit like coming home....similar to eating comfort food....warm and fuzzy.

My saddle sore issue from last year's Southern Tier has raised it's ugly head again, but not as severely. I am treating it with warm compresses tonight and antibiotic ointment. Tomorrow is a short ride of about 50 miles, then I am the SAG driver, so hopefully the problem will be limited.

Well, another evening has whizzed by and I need to retire. I pop up a few more pictures, then say good night to y'all!

And lastly, a happy birthday to my daughter, Jennifer!!