JUNE 13, 2008: East Liverpool, Ohio to New Philadelphia, Ohio, 62 miles, all via Ohio Route 39.

Boring? That’s how some might describe Ohio. No furious humidity, no killer grades, no endless succession of ridges and the presence of actual valleys that stretch on for more than a quarter mile or so.

But for us, fresh (but really not that fresh at all) off of a week of riding in Pennsylvania ,  the first full day of riding in Ohio was heaven.  The remaining hills were enough to make the scenery beautiful, but they are the tail end of the Alleghenies and will in two days or so will yield to pancake-flat farmland and the boredom factor will increase.

We can’t wait.

Nearly two weeks into the trip, things are smoothing out. We’ve had two days without as much as a flat tire. Our daily mileages are between 60 and 70 and we’re no longer exhausted at the end of the day. Today, in fact, we finished at 3:30 p.m., checked into a Motel 6 here in New Philadelphia and had plenty of time to rest and recover on hour hands.

“We could start putting in 80-mile days,” said Ben, eliciting a decidedly unenthusiastic response from his dad.

The Midwest wild card is thunderstorms. An afternoon storm warning inspired our early start tomorrow and more storms are forecast for tomorrow, which could cut our mileage to zero. Tornadoes and flooding may lie ahead as we cross Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas.

We watch the Weather Channel, of little consequence to those out of the path of hurricanes or tornadoes, every night.

Roadside scenery, of the manmade variety, keeps life on the road interesting: Huge ice cream cones, big plastic beer bottles thrown by the side of the road, faded Mail Pouch tobacco signs on barns and more have me fishing for the camera every few miles.

With the exception of the Burger Hut women (see June 10 entry), the people we’ve encountered here have been helpful and friendly. Employees at minimarts and restaurants are always happy to fill our bottles with ice water and although most don’t really understand why we’re cycling cross country, they wish us well.

Speaking of reasons, we’re now nearly 700 miles into the trip and really want to thank everyone who has made mileage donations to the Trek for the Track cause. Can’t tell you how happy we would be to reach that $100,000 goal before we dip our wheels in the Pacific in August.

Well, the thunder is kicking up again outside, so I better conclude this entry.