Day 2 - Hills, guns, and dogs...

Wow...after leaving at 6am from Meadville, PA in the dark....once the sun came out....we were treated to some amazing scenery for the duration of the ride. Yes, there were hills and lots of them. I don't recall anything flat at any point in the ride....we were either going up or going down. Our total climb for the 117kms was over 1400 meters! The downhills in between really helped to keep the smiles on our faces.


In terms of guns...in the first few hours, we kept hearing the sound of gunshots around us like firecrackers for a good 10 to 20 km's of the morning. They sounded very close....but according to others on my team....they were supposedly very far away. Not sure we believed that....so we made an effort to ride just a bit faster just in case! Definitely not something we get on our normal training rides in Markham!





Dogs have always had an affinity for chasing cyclists riding by....and today was no exception. I wish I had the opportunity to take a few photos of them running towards the road....but like the gunshots...we really didn't stick around to find out if they were chained down or not. The barking from dogs occurred throughout the morning at various turns....there was no getting away from them.








Railway crossings can be challenging for cyclists...and unfortunately, a couple of riders on our team had a disagreement with some tracks today. There were a few bumps and bruises as you can see....however everyone is was quickly mended up by our first aid trained support staff....and approved to continue riding.





After our ride....we met up with Team 5 for lunch in East Palastine, Ohio (Pulled pork sandwiches and milkshakes!) and then headed off to Columbus Ohio were we planned to stay for the night near our transition point the next day.


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