Surprising the Bike Tour Girl

We had made plans with Bonnie to drive to Conneaut, OH this morning. Her daughter & boyfriend were riding in a 150 mile bike trip to benefit MS. It’s the “Escape to the Lake” They traveled 80 miles Saturday and were finishing today. Bonnie's daughter, Jody didn't know any of us were coming to cheer her on at the finish line. Her boyfriend Hansel, had been corresponding with Bonnie over the 2 days, keeping her abreast of their progress. Jody had no clue that Linda & I were even in PA. We we were up early as Bonnie was comin’ over about 9 so we could head out for OH.
We were greeted with a surprise this mornin’. The black tank is FULL, FULL, FULL, and there’s no place to dump it here. Did pretty good, it’s been 10 days since we dumped last. Guess we should have been watchin’ it a little closer than we were, Oh well “It’s water almost over the bridge”. So now we need to move, if just to dump the tank. Since we need to dump and Linda’s cousin Diane has a dumper at their house, I guess we’ll be movin’ to Bonnie’s a day earlier than expected, cause they don’t live too far apart.
Bonnie came and we were almost ready, as we started to break camp. We left after checkin’ the route on DeLorme Street Atlas and wrote down the directions so we didn’t have to use the computer. See the truck’s back seat is packed, so we three had to ride up front, not much room for anything else.
Everything was going fine and we were makin’ great time until we hit Meadville, PA and realized we were backtrackin’ south. Seems we took a wrong turn at this confusion intersection in the middle of Cambridge Springs, PA. So back we go, head fer’ the interstate to make up some lost ground. Well we got to Conneaut, OH and the town was turned out to greet all the cyclists, which was quite touching. We made our way to the third entrance of the park as instructed by Hansel and found a parkin’ spot. Turns out they were still an hour away so we spread out the table and had our picnic lunch while we waited. While we ate Hansel’s Mom & Dad arrived and we tried to flag them down so they could park by us, but they missed us. We all met up by the finish line minutes later. When Hansel texted Bonnie to tell her they were a few minutes away we made our way to the finish line.  There were over 1300 bicyclists participating in this ride, so pickin’ out Jody & Hansel was going to be a job. I'm glad for digital cameras as I took pictures of several folks I thought were, but were not them, prior to their arrival. As these bicyclists are zoomin’ round the corner and down the hill, all dressed in their cycling gear, it was hard to spot them.

But alas here they came!

Jody was excited to see her Mom at the finish line to greet her. She didn’t even see Linda & I for a few seconds and boy was she surprised to see Linda!

Jody’s Surprise 

We were all real proud of them, 150 miles on a bike in two days. Sounds like excruciating torture to me. We don’t drive that far from one camp spot to the next some days. 
After the greetings and back slappin’ they went to check in and then for some well deserved food. Must burn an awful lot of calories ridin’ that far. Hansel said they averaged around 10 miles an hour. After they were finished eatin’ it was time for more pictures at the lake.

Here’s the lovely couple on the boardwalk.

One in the refreshing 62 degree water of Lake Erie.

Hansel has done this trip several years but this is Jody’s first. We are all really proud of your accomplishment.

Way to Go Jughead!!!

Now some obligatory pics of the rest of us.

Me, Bonnie, Jody, Hansel & Linda

Darrin, Jody, Hansel & Christie

So we all said our goodbyes and headed home to Titusville. The kids are ti…r…ed, too say the least. When we arrived I started loadin’ the camper while the girls were gettin’ ready fer’ supper. But no, first I must make a trip to ‘Wally World’ for Italian bread. When I return I learn Don & Jessie have gone to their son’s and were all invited for dinner. Well we need to break camp and get to a dump station, so we decided on pizza instead for something quick. After dinner Bonnie headed home and we told her we’d follow shortly. We left Titusville and went to Diane & Denny’s to dump then on to Bonnie’s in Seneca.

Family members may view more pictures from Jody & Hansel’s Bike ride at Jody's Bike Ride.

We’ve had a busy weekend and this ole’ boy is ‘Pooped’! So I bid you adieu & goodbye for today. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.