Day 2: Richmond, Indiana to Marysville, Ohio 106 miles

I'm knackered! (had dinner with the Brits on the ride).  For those of you not familiar with that expression, I'm exhausted.  It was a long day.  My legs still aren't back to standard form, but I am feeling stronger for longer periods of time.  Just not for 100 miles at a time.

Not a lot of pictures today as the rains were back.  It didn't start that way.  The first 12 miles were cloudy  and cool, but dry.  I kept my rain jacket in my back pocket.  The next five miles, it started spitting -- not really raining, but just that couple of drops now and then.  But soon, it was coming down again and I pulled on the jacket to try and stay dry.

Everyone was lining up to have their pictures taken at the Ohio border.  Say "cheese!"

The rest of the day was on-again, off-again rains and winds.  Fortunately, for my first century since last September's New York Century ride, we had a strong tail wind much of the way to Marysville.

In and out of more one-block-long towns.  This one, St. Paris, didn't have the requisite traffic light.  But it did have a cute little cafe, Braden's, that made great sandwiches and homemade fudge.  A good energy boost for the rest of today's  ride!

Rule No. 2:  every chance you get, take the make-up remover wipes from your hotel and keep them in your bike jersey pocket.  They are great for removing grease when you have to work on your bike chain (twice today, I dropped my chain while shifting).

Much of the day was riding through various farms.  The corn is still a month away from picking.

The rains just screw up the normal routine.  Instead of arriving and checking in, getting into the room and starting the stretching routine before grabbing a hot shower, you have to clean and inspect your bike.  Hosing or wiping it down, cleaning all the gears and cables.  Getting all the water and grit out from small hiding places.  Meanwhile, you start to stiffen up and you're using your cool-down period for other pursuits.  Today was doubly a challenge.  Besides all the grit from the rain, we hit a 3-mile stretch of newly-poured chip and seal.  As the Ohio Department of Transportation workers were still working on the road, the fresh tar underneath the crushed rock was also being kicked up onto our bikes.  That meant two additional steps:  WD-40 to remove all the tar (which takes some serious persuasion to come off), and an alcohol wipe down afterwards to ensure that you don't have any remaining lubricants on your brakes or wheel rims (otherwise trying to stop would result in sliding right through as the brake pads have nothing firm to grip).

Tomorrow is another 100+ mile day, but the forecast actually promises some sun.  It would be nice to ride dry all day.