Day 3 of The Tour Des Trees---RAIN!

We woke up this morning with no rain falling. This was the first century (100+miles) of the trip so far and everyone was itchy to get moving. We knew the rain was on the way. The goal was to get to the first rest stop dry. Almost. We had to climb our way out of the Mohican State Park.....a grueling climb up the road, one we've done before. A nice descent but then another climb out. Already cashed at 8:30am! The ride, however, smoothed out and that was the last of the 12%+ pitches until after lunch. Then the rain started. We have a great pace line going lead many times by our 2014 Purdue graduate Dustin. I named him the Boilermaker Express as he pulled us along like a locomotive. For those of you who don't ride, those who follow a lead rider can experience 15-20% more efficiency (comfort) due to the slipstream that is created. It is a wonderful thing for guys like me. So we pounded out the miles and it began to rain harder. The deal with rain is that the roads become dangerous for skinny tires, you can't see potholes filled with water, it is cold, and you can't see very well because your glasses don't have wipers. Also, when you are drafting you drink alot of road water, water from the road thrown up by the rider's tire in front of you. But once you are wet, you are wet. We don't wear rain gear in the summer as it is too hot. So you put on a light jacket, some arm warmers and pedal.

Lunch sucked. It was outside, in a gazebo out of the rain. Sitting on cold concrete. No one's fault but you quickly get cold and start to stiffen up, especially when you are 56. So we didn't linger and got back on the road. A good hill helped to warm us up. Then the Boilermaker Special was on the move.

We had a Bartlett sponsored stop by my Cleveland office leader. Planted two trees including a tree clone of a tree give to Jesse Owens during the Olympics in Germany. Pretty cool. The other tree was a Johnny Appleseed tree, yep from Johnny himself. Cold, still raining, off we went. Then....the rain stopped and the sun came out! It was amazing. Off went the jackets and arm warmers. We were almost dry when we arrived into Kent at mile 100. Our last pull was on a great bike trail. We all stopped to see a one legged Coopers hawk. Think about that. How does a one-legged hawk eat. Probably infrequently, but he looked good. Bet he doesn't even know he's supposed to have 2 legs. Three legged dog, one legged hawk. I love Ohio.

Massage helped. If you have ever had a massage after a long workout, race, run it is awesome. Your legs are so tight that any pressure hurts like heck but man do you feel better the next day. Even had some work done on the quads at a rest stop.

Tomorrow says no rain. Let's hope but if it comes, so be it. You can't appreciate the sunshine without a little rain. We ride our biggest mileage day tomorrow. 116 miles. Going through Cleveland and back to Kent. Should be challenging but the elevation will be mild or so we hope. Going to stop at Arborwear, purveyor of fine arborist clothing. Bill Weber who founded it is a friend and one of the best. Great company. Check them out, you can buy online. Everyone want's arborist clothing!

Thank you for all the support. It may seem like a small thing but when you are not wanting to pedal anymore you do, at least I do, think about all the encouraging messages.

Day 3. Mohican State Park to Kent, OH 100 miles.

Paul Wood. Our tour director. Runs Black Bear Adventures. A cycling tour company for avid cyclist. 

The Clink family and Bartlett teammates. 

The Jessie Owens oak. Thanks to Chad for making this happen. 

Day 4. 116 miles yet to come! 

Brutal Day 2 of the Tour des Trees

We had breakfast at 6am and all saw the rain outside. It was a light rain, but rain. This meant that the roads would be wet and very dangerous on the descents. Today was our biggest day in altitude gained for the day. We end up with 6300' over 76 miles. Now that might not seem to be a big deal if you ride, but believe me, it was a big deal today. Most of the climbs were "short" but many, many of them were extremely steep. We encountered several that were well over 12% grade and touching 15% grade. This required coming out of the saddle to pump the pedals just to keep the bike from falling over! Many people walked their bikes up some of these hills. That is what made today so tough, one of the toughest in my cycling life. Who would have thought there would be that much elevation in Ohio, but there is. It was the steepness that caught most of us off guard. Our peloton finished without incident but were tired and sore by the end. At some point you just get sick of climbing your bike up a hill that most people would not even walk up. But this is what cycling is all about. The challenge of the day.

We went through Amish country and saw many homes without electricity, beautiful homes, no power. We asked permission to take a photo of some young children with their ponies. In the front yard, playing, all day. Think of all things on TV they are missing, all the video games, etc. How refreshing. Just playing outside all day.

We did get chased briefly by a dog for the first time. It was a 3-legged dog. If he had 4 legs he might of gotten to us, but he didn't.

Favorite part of the day was angel food cake at the church, our stop for lunch. I knew that great church people would eventually have angel food cake for us, of course! That sugar laden concoction really revved my engine after lunch and carried me for some miles. The rest of the lunch was good, but, man...homemade angel food cake.

Our group finished fairly early but we still ended up riding for nearly 6 hours. Brutally slow pace up all those hills--we were just glad to get up them.

Amish family with their ponies.

Yes this is Ohio.

Homemade angel food cake. Heavenly...get it.

Three Boilermakers on this Tour! Boiler UP!

One of the more gentle times on the ride today. 

A pretty tough first day

The first day of riding for the Tour des Trees is complete. 93 miles and a ton of climbing. The climbing was in shorter, very steep hills as opposed to longer climbs. Some of the hills were so steep it was tough to keep the bike upright. The first day is always fraught with nerves at the start and sometimes crashes. This day had no incidents! We had a couple of good stops early in the ride, including planting a huge birch tree with at tree spade that was dedicated by the mayor. The afternoon portion of the ride was where the hills really kicked in and so did the cramps. A few of us locked up. I was able to fight them off by slowing the pace and later taking a Hot Shot. Hot Shot is in my opinion a miracle shot of cinnamon tasting liquid that stimulates the nerves in the back of your throat to almost immediately stop the cramps. The nerve impulses are disrupted that cause the leg cramps, and for me, stopped them right away allowing me to power on. Our last stop was at the Methodist Church and it was amazing. The people were so welcoming and the bathrooms....best so far. Even had stained glass windows in them! We deemed it our "pray and pee" stop. They loved it! Oh...an important, and first ever, offering at this rest stop was pickle juice! Awesome. Used to fend off cramps. I think it is delicious. In small quantities.
Our final destination for the the next two nights is the Mohican State Park lodge. It is a very, very clean and wonderful state park "resort." We are fortunate to have this space for the next couple of nights and again when we make our way back from Cleveland. All the buzz tonight was about the ride on Monday, the Queen Stage. Queen Stage is the term for the toughest day of a multi-day tour. It will only be a 75 mile loop but we will be going back up those extremely steep grades and will climb about 6000'. Cramps stay away. We are thinking we will stay dry tomorrow but rain is in the forecast. Climbing 6000' in the rain will be epic if it happens!

My bike has its own resting spot in my room. 

The route for today. 

This is invaluable after a day of tough riding. Invaluable. Thanks WCA, Katie and Denise! 

                                                       Pickle Juice for those who cramp.

Let's ride. Sam from Vermeer. 

Final Preparation for the Tour des Trees

The Tour des Trees is a 530+ mile fundraising cycling ride to raise money for the TREE FUND. The TREE FUND is the engine behind tree research, an important aspect in how arborists take care of trees and protect tree workers. This year the ride goes from Columbus to Cleveland and back...a big loop! We will have about 75 riders making the trek, rain or shine, wind or calm, cool or hot.


The thing about the Tour Des Trees is that we all have real jobs, busy lives and yet we ride. The months and weeks of training are behind us and now it is time to pull all the stuff together one needs for a week of cycling. This is the time you think about all the other things on your plate, in your business, with your family that perhaps you should be attending to rather than riding for a week. The cause is right for us tree people—raising money for tree research while renewing old tree friend connections and making new ones. Frenetic packing will soon occur while also trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible before the grand depart. Note to self—loose ends are never completely tied up. For me the 6 hour drive to Columbus, OH will be on Saturday. We will have ride check in and a very important safety meeting. Dinner. Sleep. Then we ride on Sunday morning, Day 1. 93 miles from Columbus to Mohican State Park. For me the first day riding is always tough. The body isn’t ready but all will be good. Nerves set in with everyone for none of us know what each day will bring. The great thing about riding is that one is somewhat forced to focus on the task at hand, for that day, for the ride before you. Riding is being in the moment and a lesson that can apply to each day and every situation.