Day 27 Wooster to Niles (98 miles)

It was absolutely the perfect day to go bike riding today, clear blues skies, warm but not hot and no wind. By this late stage in the tour we're now pretty much set in our ways and every day follows a similar pattern. One guy, Jack, leaves about half an hour before everyone else. I admire him, each day he starts off, only to get overtaken somewhere down the road, then spends most of the day on his own at the back. However he's kept plugging away and has completed each day for a while now, great perseverance. Another guy, Andy, rides off the front and usually arrives at SAGs and the hotel well ahead of everyone else. Then there's Eric and (new guy) Richard, who've formed a nice little partnership. They're slightly slower, but spend less time at the SAGs, so we cross with them several times during the day. That leaves team Kysirium (me, Tom and Ron) and twenty year old Sam, who usually now ride as a four.

Photo today shows a closed road. We've had several on this trip, but the bikes have always been able to walk through. This was the first one where it was no go. We had to take a 1.5 mile detour. They all count when there's nearly a hundred to do. We had another one almost straight out of the motel. A one mile section was no more than a muddy track. We could negotiate it on the bikes, but so much for anyone who gave the bike a wash last night.

I'm sure many (more knowledgable than me) would disagree, but this part of Ohio is the most idyllic part of the US I've seen. There are so many lovely houses (and not the kind of ostentateous, formulaic ones we saw leaving Lebannon) all with beautifully manicured lawns and lots of small ponds or lakes. Chatting to the waitress on our steakfest last night she said it takes her four and a half hours to cut her lawn and she has to do it twice a week. It's like having a second job.

No real pacelines today, the roads weren't the best in places so it was difficult to stick too close, but mainly we weren't pushing it along. The weather was so great and the miles relatively short that it was like going for the sort of bike ride that normal people do, only for a lot longer. Staying at a Fairfield Inn this evening. Rooms are great and internet access is very fast, but no fridge and most importantly no laundry facilities count against it.

A couple of people have commented that I should be listening to Ohio by Neil Young, I'll check it out. Bumwatch is about to be retired, it's now officially better. Legs are aching. I'm very glad Goose made me do all those squats, they hurt in all the same places. Apart from that, I'm in good shape. Today was almost literally the calm before the storm. It's 139 miles tomorrow, our second longest of the entire trip. Forecast is rain in the morning, but strong favourable winds.

Day 26 Marysville to Wooster (103 miles)

Woke this morning to the sound of thunder. Looked outside and yes it was lashing it down with thunder and lightning all around. The start was put back about 2 hours to 9 am so we spent the time watching the weather channel. Saw that they'd had several tornados in Kirksville, where we were a week ago, and three people had been killed. Kind of puts it all into perspective, the small problems we've had with wind and rain.

The decision to delay was a good one. By 9 am the rain had stopped and there was a tail wind blowing at about 15 mph. About 45 minutes into the ride decided that there was little chance of rain although the skies were very dark so all stopped to take off our rain jackets. About 20 seconds later it started to rain, so we all stopped again to put them back on. Continued raining for about an hour, but crucially it wasn't as cold as yesterday and therefore not so miserable. Spurred on by Rain, by The Cult, going through my head - oh here she comes again.

I did a lot of the training wearing an ipod nano, but we're not allowed to wear head phones whilst cycling here. It's not necessarily that they make it any more dangerous, it's just that we could be held partly liable if there was an accident. However I often have songs going through my head and for some reason seem to be obsessed with Simon and Garfunkel records. One is 'Keep the Customer Satisfied' especially the last chorus - "and I'm so tired, I'm oh oh oh oh so tired". Today it was 'America' "It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw, I've come to look for America".

Passed through Delaware, in the rain it had something of the feel of The Deer Hunter about it. Looked it up this evening and some of it was filmed in Ohio. Photo is me doing a funny 'I'm about to ride off this here bridge' kind of thing. The bridge was closed to traffic, so the vans had to take quite a detour. Rain soon stopped and it was blue skies for the rest of the day. Turned into another great day's riding. You can see from the photo some of the terrain, some hills with lots of trees. I think this part of Ohio has some of the most beautiful scenery we've seen all trip.

Very nice lunch SAG next to a reservoir. Picnic tables, sunshine, only 30 miles to go, everyone in good spirits. In the afternoon we had one of those 'you had to be there moments' but I'll write it anyway. We passed quite a posh golf course and then a driving range. There was one guy on the tee with a massive club (1 wood?) about to take a swing as three of us rode past. The temptation to shout something just as he swung was enormous, but we kept our mouths shut. No matter, he heeled it and the ball trickled sideways about 5 yards. He looked round like it was our fault. Unlucky buddy, golf's a stupid game.

For once we're actually in the centre of the town, rather than being stuck near an Interstate. Wooster seems a really nice town, lots of big old houses plus two book shops and a bike shop. Always a sign of a liberal community. Went for what was possibly our best meal of the trip, rivalled only by the home cooked fried chicken several days (or is that weeks) ago. I'm now full with choice steak, garlic mashed potatoes, salad, veggies and chocolate cake. Should sleep well tonight.

Day 25 Richmond to Marysville (103 miles)

It's Wednesday, it must be - Ohio!

Yes another day another state. We crossed the boarder into Ohio 2.5 miles into the ride and stopped to take the obligatory photo. About 30 seconds after leaving the hotel it started raining. It was also freezing, and my arse was hurting. I have to say it was certainly the most miserable hour of this trip and probably of my biking career, not counting the infamous Dartmoor challenge from last year. At one point I looked up from the spray that was hitting my face and all I could see was very dark clouds in all directions, it looked like we were in for it all day.

Amazingly after an hour the rain stopped and it started to brighten. We also passed the grey van, which I was very glad of. The rule is that once your luggage is loaded, that's it, you can't get to it (fair enough). However we're allowed a day bag of clothes we might need for that trip. I fortunately had packed a heavy weight jacket and thermal gloves. Hands were so cold that it took about 5 minutes to get the gloves on.

Lots of directions to follow today. I missed a turn and had to retrace my steps, which meant about a mile extra. Not as bad as one of the others who missed a turn and ended up adding 12 miles to what was already a long day. Battled side winds most of the day, but fortunately they turned largely behind us for the last hour. Terrain is open farmland. Largely flat with the occasional rolling hill.

Staying in a Motel 8 this evening which ranks bottom of my list of chain hotels. The rooms are too small, don't they realise that we have bikes to store and wet washing to hang everywhere? They don't have a laundry room here and after 4 days I was all out of clean cycling clothing. However the owner very kindly drove me to the local launderette. A really nice guy except he is a Man Utd supporter.

Spoke to Kate this evening and also other friends via Skype (which is the most fantastic invention, since, well the internet I guess.) First thing everyone asks is 'how's your arse?' Well it's doing OK thanks, a little better than yesterday. Infact it doesn't really hurt much at all, it's just the scary prospect that in these conditions, with no rest bite, things can go downhill very fast. I'll keep you posted.

Day 24 Lebanon to Richmond (103 miles)

Today started at 6:30 when we were picked up and driven the 20 minutes to the Roark very expensive bicycle factory. It was quite strange driving anywhere for the first time in over three weeks. I could quite get used to moving at an average speed of over 30 mph in air conditioned comfort and sitting on a nice padded seat.

We got shown around the factory. Most of their work is for the military, which we weren't allowed to take photos of, cutting and welding precision parts for aircraft and submarines. The bike bit is tucked away in a corner. They make about 50 a year and each one costs between $4000 and $8000, and that's just for the frame, it doesn't include the wheels, handlebars, gears etc. But you do get your name lazer cut into it. If you want to see what a $10k bike looks like, check out the FAQ section. Not even I could justify spending that much on a bike even for Christmas AND birthday combined. I wasn't even tempted by the $40 water bottle holder. They were good guys though and made us feel very welcome.

By about 8:30 we were all itching to get on the road, so returned to the hotel, loaded and departed just after 9am, one of our latest starts. The day was again clear blue skies and side winds. We passed several miles of millionairres row types mansions, it is a very rich area out here. After about 20 miles it got slightly less expensive but more aspirational. Not exactly gated communities, but certainly communities. That would be a number of very large very similar houses generally clustered around something like a lake, often with a fountain in it and given a communal name on a large sign at the entrance, something like 'Fountain Lakes'. I think Stepford would be a better description.

I really wasn't riding well this morning. Absolutely paranoid about making my saddle sore any worse and just not into it. Dropped off of the main group of five and did the last hour to lunch on my own. I wasn't the only one feeling uninspired, maybe it was the gap between breakfast and starting. Photo shows our group at lunch, what a strange bunch, why are they sitting like that?

I was second to last leaving lunch and not looking forward to the remaining 45 miles at all. Passed TLM who was I think pretending to work on his bike, but really waiting for me. He soon caught me up and we paced each other. His turn was 23ish mph and mine was 21ish mph. The guy's in his 60's and an inspiration. We absolutely tore it up for about an hour, felt much much better, really riding strong. It could have been something to do with the can of coke, bottle of iced coffee, bottle of something called '5 hour energy' (which is probably banned in the UK) and energy bar I had for lunch, I was completely wired. Met up with some of the others who'd stopped at a service station and our group rode in strongly. One of the guys (Ron) got his third puncture in three days, a massive nail which went right through the tyre and inner tube. He was lucky it didn't damage the wheel.

Got the bike checked over this evening. As expected it needed a new chain. Apparently they last about 2000 miles, which for me would be a little under a year in normal conditions, or a little over two weeks is these conditions. This chain had done I think over 4000 miles, so no surprise that it was shot. So far I've had two new wheels, four new tyres (although maybe the last two could have lasted a little longer) and one new chain. Let's hope that's it.

Saddle sore is better this evening, I really hope it's going to heal, it's about the only thing which could spoil the end of this trip. Weather's meant to turn nasty for the next few days, rain and high winds. Oh well, we've ridden our luck so far.

Day 23 Tuscola to Lebanon (121 miles)

It's Monday, it must be - Indiana.

Photo shows Team Kysirium and our young padawan (Sam) entering our ninth state (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinoi and Indiana.)

Really nice day today both in terms of the riding and the atmosphere. Started out as a seven going along the same gridded country roads as yesterday. Soon two were off the front and one was out the back so we were down to a four, which is about the best number for riding in a group. Less than that and your turn at the front comes around a little too quickly, many more and manouvering becomes a little tricky, especially if there's a side wind. The pace today was just right, an average of just over 18 mph which was fast enough to get the long mileage done, but not so fast that everyone was constantly under presssure. Everyone was taking long turns at the front which is a sure sign that we could all cope OK.

Blue skies all the way today, but not too warm. Apart from maybe a bit too much side wind it was perfect riding conditions. I'd settle for that all the way to the coast. It was a long way to the first SAG (44 miles) which we then missed and had to U turn, so was more than ready for a bite to eat and a refill of the water bottles.

Today saw what I think is our fifth or sixth prison or correctional facility. Wow, they seem to lock a lot of people up here. I know we've done a lot of miles, but how far would you have to travel in the UK to pass six prisons?

Passed into Indiana at about the halfway 60 mile point. You'll see Indiana was Lincoln's boyhood home as opposed to Illinoi which is where he was born. I have this image of him making his way very very slowly to Washington, arriving just in time to be President. We lost another hour as we passed from Central time to Eastern time, so now only five hours behind the UK. That's it though, we're now done with time travel for the rest of the trip. The countryside is subtly different in this state, still very flat, but there are a lot more trees.

Really nice lunch stop. One of the fast guys had mechanical problems and had gone in search of a bike shop and the two behind were quite far back, so our group of four were the leaders on the road by quite some distance. Stopped at a convenience store, Ron's place. A couple of the locals came over to say hello and check out our bikes. No-one can believe it when they pick up one of our racing machines. They weigh about 17 pounds, you can literally lift them with one finger.

With the hour lost we got in at 5 pm. Got to be up early tomorrow, we're going on a field trip, to a bike factory, before the scheduled 106 miles. Yes, really nice day today, several of those 'you had to be there' moments which lose everything in the writing down. Only dark cloud is that I think I have my first saddle sore. Least I hope that's what it is otherwise I'm in serious trouble. Won't be adding 'bum watch' to the loft watch section of the site.

Day 22 Springfield to Tuscola (83 miles)

So on paper today was our easiest day, just 83 miles and all flat. That's kind of how it turned out but I think we made it more difficult on ourselves than it should have been. Don't know if everyone wanted to prove something to the new guy Richard, but we left Springfield at a fearsome pace. A seven man paceline each taking a turn on the front before moving to the back. If you dropped a water bottle, or lost the wheel in front for a second, bang you were gone. I managed to stay with it, but it was uncomfortably fast at times. It's as much my fault as anyones, I was pushing it from the front when it was my turn. Going to try and take it more leisurely in the days ahead, but it's difficult to ignore the lure of the paceline with its promise of high speeds and some economy of effort.

Photo shows the lunch time SAG stop. That's Barbara (Mum) putting out the food. She'll give us a slap if we reach for any food without first cleaning our hands with wet wipes and gel. They're very careful about hygene, we don't want some sort of bug going through the whole group. Lunch is make you own ham and cheese sandwiches, bananas (of course) biscuits, fig rolls, peanuts, raisins, pasta, fruit. There's also water with optional gatoraid powder. Plenty to keep us going in the afternoon. That's 'grey' van which Barbara drives and goes ahead to set up the next SAG. There's also 'white' which Mike or Karen usually drives (whilst the other one often rides) which keeps in touch with us throughout the day to take photos a sort out any problems.

The terrain was nothing to write home about, flat open fields. The crops are apparently a few weeks behind schedule because it's been so wet. Normally the corn would be a foot or so high, but all there was, was a few green shoots in otherwise ploughed fields. Roads were single lane or single track country roads. Everything is laid out on a grid system which means lots of cross roads. These are often unmarked, which can lead to an interesting game of 'chicken'. Being the most vulnerable thing on the highway we're always the first to stop.

In the afternoon one guy went off the front and two others got shelled out the back, so we were down to a group of four. This was a bit more relaxed and it was actually a pleasant ride in. Got in at 2pm, so a nice long rest before tomorrow. We're near an outlet mall (discount Helle Hansen shirt anyone?) but little else. Dinner was at the local pizza hut. That's one thing I am getting very tired of, when I get home it's going to be a long time before I go anywhere near a pizza hut or domino's.

At the evening RAP meeting we talked about the arrangements for the final day, getting people and bikes to airports etc. All seems a bit premature, there's 11 tough days of riding still to do, starting tomorrow with 120 miles.

Day 21 Springfield Rest Day (24 miles)

Well I can't say I'll be rushing back to Springfield Illinois. It was like I feared, great if you want to see something Lincoln related, or buy some fancy art work, but not if you're out of shower gel.

Went for a shortish ride this morning. Had no real enthusiasm for it, but I've now finally made up the miles I lost on day 2, so in my mind I'm now set to complete the whole thing. Others thought I was mad for cycling on the day off. The weather was sunny with fluffy white clouds, just like the start of The Simpsons, which is something of a coincidence. I happened upon Lincolns tomb, which is shown in the photo. Don't know who the guy in the orange t-shirt is, it's not me and I didn't see him in the view finder.

In the afternoon walked 10 blocks (about a mile and a half) in search of washing powder and shower gel. Had to buy the biggest tubs of both. Now looking for smaller bottles to decant them into. Still not as bad as the guy who walked 27 blocks to go to a tattoo parlour, only to find when he got there it was shut. Or the guy who found a pharmacy about 10 blocks away on google, only to get there and find it no longer existed. It would be fair to say nobody made a great use of their day off. Still I have all my washing done and two new tyres on the bike.

A new guy joins us tomorrow, so our happy band will be up to 8. It's only 83 miles, our shortest day. Also the winds are meant to be behind us. I really need it, I'm not riding well at the moment, legs are very tired, hopefully I'll ride back into a bit of form over the next few days. Other than that (touching wood) things are going very well, my only complaint is sunburnt lips and ears, so things can't be too bad. One thing I've been surprised by is how little I've thought about actually finishing this thing. I could see it would be easy to get obsessed by there only being 12 days to go (to survive) etc, but so far it's been a case of one day at a time. Soon we're going to have to start coming to terms with the fact that this isn't going to last much longer.