Data: 106 miles Riding time 5:56 (17.8 mph avg)
Brian came for dinner, and I visited several old friends at the Nestle R&D center! The ride was one of the best so far, so this was a great day.
Ever since my last visit to the R&D Center as an employee last June, I told these guys that I would be riding up to their front door on May 16. It came to pass! In fact, our route went right by the front door. I had wonderful visits with many old friends - the Einersons (Mark retires in just 32 days), Antonio, Kyle, Ken, Johan, Pu-Sheng, Bob, Lynn, and others. Here's a picture of Kyle Kent, Bob Lapoir and me, and you can see my bike in the background. Bob worked with me in Van Nuys and we went scuba diving a couple times at Santa Cruz Island on my boat.
Brian and I went to dinner at a National Historic Place, which was recently converted into a restaurant. It was the home of Doctor Henderson, who lived there over 100 yrs ago. Here's a picture of us -- before I found the fly in my wine glass and they gave us a complimentary second bottle of the wine.
Soon after starting from Richmond this morning, Dave, Geoff, Jerry and I crossed into Ohio. There's always time to stop for a picture entering a new state. In this case, we are crossing into our 9th state.
The ride today was a real beaut. It had rained overnight, so everything was fresh and wet. We rode on scenic country backroads, over gently rolling hills. It reminded me of driving in Germany. Here's a shot of Dave, Geoff, Jerry and me riding early this morning, when it was misty/rainy.
We passed little farms with pigs lying in the fresh mud, goats on a steep hillside, chickens pecking all over the front yard, and even a farm with a few of all the animals including two llamas. The farm homes, with their big front porches with couches and swings, were a little different than in the previous few states; today's were narrower and taller, and many times had posts that were big and round, and carved. Check out all the goats on this rustic farm.
We left early today -- at 6:30 -- and, coupled with a good tailwind, it helped get us done with the ride quite early. It was so early, in fact, that I stayed at the lunch after everyone else left, just so I wouldn't get to the R&D Center too early. I finally decided I'd better get going in case it rained, so I got to the Center at 1:20, and I originally had predicted 3 pm. The lunch stop was at a small church and cemetery in Concord dating to 1824, so I looked at gravestones. We also passed a spot in Fort Jefferson with a sign saying that a fort was first built there in 1791.
We passed an historical marker in St. Paris for Lincoln's funeral train, which stopped there on April 29, 1865 on its way to Springfield, IL. So far, Ohio has been a super setting for our bike tour, and we're told it will continue on tomorrow's 105-mile ride. One final shot from today along our route. Can't use your boat anymore? Turn it into a planter with pizzazz.
Only 8 days to go.
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