No Chain: Columbus, Ohio

And if it's crowded, all the better,

because we know we're gonna be up late.

But if you're worried about the weather

then you picked the wrong place to stay.

That's how it starts.

Where are your friends tonight?

- LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

Home. After 97 miles of riding Pete and I came around a bend in the road to one of the best things I've seen this entire trip, the Columbus skyline on the horizon. 7 more miles and we were back at Katie's house the place where we had left more than 6 weeks earlier as we pulled out of town. It was a pretty easy 104 miles overall, especially with the endorphins flowing to get to our final destination. The first 70 miles were on a rail to trail path which is an awesome project that is spreading across the country where they convert old rail road tracks into bike paths, our was specifically part of the Little Miami Scenic Trail. The best part about old train is they couldn't climb hills or turn to well so our ride was very flat, smooth and fast. Once we got off the trail and back on the highways we had a great tailwind for the final 30 or so miles so it was a really quick day of riding in the end. We actually finished on roads that I used as part of my training rides so it was a lot of fun to be back riding in familiar territory with all the other cyclists. My friends (Mike, Paul and Amy) set up the final "water" stop right at mile 100 in front of their condo complex, although there wasn't any actual water provided the entire team took the time to stop and have a drink or two before peddling the last few miles.

After pulling in Friday we didn't have to pull out of Columbus until early on Tuesday morning so all of the Ohio State based riders got to enjoy 4 straight nights in our own beds, pretty amazing! You would think with 3 days in our hometown we would have had time to relax, recharge and get ready for the final week of riding but I feel like I barely got the chance to sit down. I managed to pack all the Ride for World Health events, errands, golf, some naps, a baseball game, bowling and going out with all my friends into a very short period of time.

Although we weren't biking from city to city we still had to do a lot for the Ride. Sunday was one of our bigger events of the entire trip as we a long with our awesome sponsor Roll hosted a ride around Columbus with over 130 local cyclists participating. We ran out of maps, shirts and food but I still think everyone had a good time and it was a great opportunity to spread our message to a lot of people who truly appreciated our mission and trip. Monday was Global Health day at the Ohio State's medical campus, after having a ride in to the medical school on our bikes we gave our lecture before having the chance to hear from both our beneficiaries who had people fly in to speak to us. Getting to meet the people face to face who we have been advocating, educating and fundraising for over the past 6 months was truly a moving experience and the message and thanks they shared with us will be my motivation as we push through the Appalachians and into D.C. this next week. Only one more week of riding until we hit the ocean, No Chain!