Day 38 - hills, hills, hills and teamwork

Today we rode 79 miles from Canton to Steubenville,Ohio. We climbed 4,797 feet. 

Tough day of cycling. We adjusted our start time to 0830 after looking at the profile and getting a little uncomfortable with the elevation changes. Good choice. We had wet roads to start from some evening rain. The rest of the day's weather could not have been nicer. Partly cloudy skies, negligible winds, and cool temperatures. Perfect. But the hills... When we look at a day's profile and see a climbing number over 4,000 feet, it definitely sets an expectation for the day. The real shock came when we hit some of these hills and found out just how steep they were. Not terribly long, but some people reported 13% gradients on their cycling computers. Many of the hills we climbed had people in their lowest available gear, and that still wasn't enough. We had riders stepping off of their bikes and walking. And the hills just kept coming. By the end of the day we had climbed over 4,700 feet and we all felt it. We arrived at the hotel relieved that the ride had finally ended. We had a wonderful dinner gifted to us by a thoughtful classmate that lives in the area. Thank you Tim!

We didn't have an escort this morning, and within the first four miles had someone yell from a car, "GET OFF THE ROAD!" It's not all flag-waving and applause, and we have to ride very defensively. We've been buzzed by cars that get impatient and many of them violate the three-foot passing requirement.

Also, Quilts on Barns. It's a thing. (https://quiltdom.com/barn-quilts/) Fun to see while riding through farm country.

Six days remaining...

Tomorrow we will ride from Steubenville, Ohio to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We will cycle 45 miles and climb 1,913 feet. 

Totals to Date

Miles: 2,812

Elevation Gain: 87,384

Flat Tires: 49

States crossed: 8

Centuries: 7

Dog bites: 1