Day 12 - 65 miles

We woke up in the morning to lightening. Not the wussy kind that just lights up the sky, but legitimate cracks with loud thunder. Scary when you're in a tent with metal poles, like Lisa ... and Melissa. Not me. We packed up quicker than ever that morning and may have even gotten off to the first timely start of the trip had the storm not thwarted our plans. For two and a half hours. No fear, we stayed with the good people of Soni's Junction eating ... see previous post. Darrell kindly bought us breakfast and donated to the cause. Thanks, Darrell. You're a gem. Bellies full, we headed west toward Findlay flanked by our first tailwind of the trip (Lisa got really excited). About twenty miles on the western side of Findlay, Mel's spokes broke, and we discovered that maybe that bike maintenance class wouldn't have been such a bad idea. We use the phone a friend option to call Nor in Iowa who was dismayed that we did not have any of the proper tools. Mel did have spare spokes. She also had a spoke wrench, but didn't know it. Thanks to Nor's advice, we were able to get the bike to Lima. Lisa and I had to ride into the 20 mph headwind. Mr. Shafer was particularly instrumental in the transport of said busted bike as was the other kind citizen who stopped for us.
Not to be discouraged, we continued west once the folks at Lima Cyclry and Fitness patched up the wheel. Desperate, however, for some sugar (see previous post) we stopped at a local Speedway for a slushie. During our shopping trip, we found out that there was going to be a hail storm that evening. We continued on past Allentown, OH where we found God's House. We called Pastor Jim, who rushed to our rescue on a motorized bike and let us into the newly refinished church basement. Pastor Jim then brought Arby's sandwiches (it was my first time). We were in bed by 7:30 that night. Rough day.