In Dayton, Ohio

Alright, where did I leave off? After Wellsboro, PA we rode to Coudersport, PA where we stayed at an alliance church. I had never heard of an alliance church before, but they served great food and had a baseball diamond where we played a game of kickball. We also did laundry at a laundromat in town, which was badly needed as usual.

Next stop was Warren, PA. On the way I participated in a great game of categories with Liz and Sarah, during which we attempted to name all the bands we knew for each letter of the alphabet. It passed the time quite well. it was a good day for conversation, since there were relatively few steep uphills. Most people stopped and swam in the resevoir that was on our way, but I didn't get a chance since we were one of the last groups of riders to get there. We stayed in a YMCA, which had all our needs in one place: showers, a gym to sleep in, and the internet. I went for a short walk to explore and I liked the town a lot. Lots of industrial stuff, related to oil I assume, but otherwise a pretty nice place.

After that was Franklin, PA. On the way we went through Oil City, which I've visited before since I have famliy members there. It was sureal since it was the first place that I recognized on the trip. It is also probably the only place I will recognize. In Franklin we stayed in a very big church with a great basement. They had a big tv and we all watched the Matrix. Another great place to stay.

After Franklin we crossed into a whole new state, Ohio! We got a break in Youngstown because it was our second build day. We helped finish up a house that was almost ready to be given over to the homeowner. I found out I was pretty good at installing doorknobs.

We had a pretty short ride into Akron, OH where we got a free meal at Fred's diner. I had an interesting conversation with an Acron local about how The World Cup affects worker productivity. We also went bowling. I had a lucky streak at first but my luck ran out pretty quick. It was a fun distraction.

Next stop was Gambier, OH and Kenyon College. We got to stay in the college dorms, which were superb. That was probably my best night sleep so far. A thermarest is pretty comfortable when you're really tired, but it can't quite match a real bed, even if it is a dorm room bed.

As we rolled into Columbus, OH we were told we were staying in a "Mega Church". We got there and entered one of the largest church buildings I had ever seen. It had a stage and even room for a basketball net. I was a little confused since there were only folding charis. How could they do services with just folding chairs? It turns out we were just in one of the church's buildings, we never even saw the sanctuary. The church has a weekly attendence of 4500 people!! We got dinner that night at the home of some friends of a rider and it was very delicious, we also got to relax by the pool.

That brings me to our current location of Dayton, OH. We're staying at Sinclair Community College in a nice gym. We got to go to the city's free music festival called "Folk Fest" and hear a great blues singer (If I remember her name I'll let you know). We also had a build day today and we installed drywall, which was something I had done before, but didn't really remember how to do. We even got on the local news! We ended the day with an awesome fireworks display.

I have to wake up at 5am tomorrow for our first 100 mile day. I hope the weather is nice!