first. big thanks to my supporters (oh, and the catalyst fund. what the hell is that anyway dmac?) - jen morine & jimmy frickey, hayden hirschfeld, erica mcloughlin, scott lawin, jennifer husbands, john guffey, hannah harris, catherine pfeffer (my madre), esperanza gallon, patrick griffin & mia jung (if i missed you let me know.) with your help i raised $791 (the most) for public allies cincinnati. still interested in donating? you can do that here: http://tinyurl.com/2wn9v9and big thanks to molly nichols for the ride from pitssburgh to cincinnati. the volvo keeps on keepin' on. and more thanks to donna "smitty" smyth-hutchinson and jeff hutchinson for letting me stay at their "hotel" hutchinson on hemlock street.
day one. cincinnati to kincaid lake state park (45 miles)after meeting david mckinney at the vernon manor for breakfast we (molly nichols & tim aldinger & david mckinney - my peloton peeps) rode from donna's house to the freedom center ( http://www.freedomcenter.org/ ) in downtown cincinnati. the freedom center is a museum specific to the underground railroad. so good to see old friends david weaver & danae riggs and to meet new friends who i'd spend the next three days with. all with public allies ties in one way or another. rained a good portion of the day. highlights included learning the benefits of chamois cream, avoiding kentucky dogs who chase cyclists (how many did you count tim?), swimming at kincaid park, playing mafia, pillow talk with dmac and mollster (including steamroller), and changing the first of what would prove to be many flat tires.
day two. kincaid lake state park to ripley, oh (about 43 miles)we camped at rankin house ( http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/rankin/ ) overlooking the ohio river. the rankin house was an important stop on the underground railroad in southern ohio through which many slaves escaped from the south to freedom. john rankin was a presbyterian minister and educator who devoted much of his life to the antislavery movement. in 1826 he published his antislavery book, letters on american slavery. In 1834 he founded the ohio anti-slavery society in zanesville. from 1825 to 1865 rankin and his wife jean, with their brown county neighbors, sheltered more than 2,000 slaves escaping to freedom, with as many as 12 escapees being hidden in the rankin home at one time. other highlights included the fireworks we watched perched on the rankin hill, making friendship bracelets & the ice cream shop. sadly i was too toasted for mafia.
day three. rankin house to cincinnati, international friendship park, sawyer point: (52 miles)highlights included the long hill down that started off the day, road kill identification games and finishing.
i cannot thank the support team enough. they made sure we knew where we were going; they cheered us on; they found us shade where we had drinks and food many times during the day. they were the best.
i hope that other riders and support team will comment below!!!
