Cincinatti, OH

The shortest ride of the summer does not necessarily mean the easiest ride of the summer, however today was an awesome day on the bike. Today was a day for record setting because not only was today the shortest mileage day on the bike but it was also the latest riding day wake up, 6:45 AM. After packing up our mattresses we loaded out gear into the vans and headed 1 mile down the road to the Eta Upsilon chapter house for another amazing meal. The guys were up early this morning preparing eggs, bacon, biscuits, and fried ocra for us; we devoured everything including an apparent record of 144 eggs. Our ride began with a scenic country road that had lots of rolling hills and twists that made the miles fly by in minutes. After stopping at the first crew stop for an early morning stretch the remaining 20 miles were finished before we knew it after skipping the two following crew stops. Our paceline was the first to arrive at the park for lunch which had one nasty hill between us and two 6-foot long subs. Matt and I climbed the hill to find the lunch spot and then decided to go back to the bottom to direct other pacelines as they arrived towards lunch since directions were clear. As the pacelines rolled in one after another Matt and I joined them to the top of the hill and then rolled back down to guide the remaining lines in, making the end of the day into somewhat of a hill workout.

Lunch was delicious and the team had no problem finishing the two huge subs and several huge pans of brownies and six-layer bars. We saddled and rode the 1.7 miles to lodging where members of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission were waiting with a sweet banner.

Today we the team had the unique opportunity to play wheel chair football with several incredible athletes with various physical disabilities. Catching the ball while running is difficult enough some times, mix into that rolling wheels and other chairs crashing into you and you have the making of a perfect afternoon. A delicious pizza dinner with salad and ice-cream was provided which was a great break from hamburgers and hot dogs, and will provide great energy for tomorrows ride into Kentucky. We all really enjoyed this event and it gave us a new outlook and appreciation for the incredible paralympic athletes we meet.

Just having fun!

Lined up for kickoff!

We had a real treat this evening with the opportunity to go see a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. This was really special because it’s the only MLB game I ever remember attending. The skies opened up a bit and taunted us with another Kansas City Royals incident, but fortunately held out enough for the game to be played. The Reds lost but it was a really fun way to cap off the evening, there’s nothing like a ball park dog and peanuts.