Day 46 – Monday, June 21

76.1 miles, 16.2 mph, Odometer: 3049 – Geneva, OH to Ripley, NY

KEVIN – I finished Ohio and rode through part of Pennsylvania. Riding through rural Pennsylvania, I passed multiple wholesale nursery farms. Then I smelled strawberries as I rode by a U-pick. I got caught in a thunderstorm in Erie, Pennsylvania. I waited it out at a convenience store. When it had passed, I followed it through standing water and bubbling streams in ditches.

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SUZI – We met two young women in the campground in Geneva who were riding across the country, east to west. They were hauling their gear in panniers on their bikes. Had we known there would be a storm overnight, we would have encouraged them to sleep in the bunks in our trailer. They were looking forward to the next night in a “Warm Showers” home; that’s the home of a cyclist who offers, at minimum, a warm shower and place to pitch a tent. They said that these hosts often provide a bed in their house and dinner or a meal in a restaurant. The rules require that you host a cyclist in order to be eligible for hosting. They are riding a slightly more southern route from us, crossing the Rockies near Yellowstone and ending their ride at Astoria, Oregon.

We camped at Ripley, New York, still on the shore of Lake Erie. On the longest day of the year, this was our sunset.