Saturday, June 14, 2003

(click on yellow envelope to the left to send e-mail.) It's now nearing midnight, just a few hours before the launch of the Ohio Odyssey and already we've had our first disaster. Photographer Denny Gordon and I set up our computers for testing tonight and his kept dying. After 2 hours on the phone with Beacon Journal and Ohio.com people, nothing could be done. He is really upset. This was no way to start this journey. Our new plan is for me to start out alone (at 8:30 a.m.) at the PA border. Meanwhile, Denny will drive to Akron and get a replacement computer at the Beacon Journal. We'll meet up again at noon at Geneva On The Lake. Anyone know a good Macintosh Powerbook repair person? Is this as bad of an omen as we think it might be? What other disasters await us? Don't know. But if you come along for the ride you will find out. 11:41:53 PM

E-mail from Dick Corbin of Akron: Strongly suggest gel seat and Prep H, but if you rode TOSRV, you already know that.  Did that ride many years ago, still have vivid memories. Good luck and Godspeed.  Be careful. *********** Yes, well, that seems to be a question on many people's minds - what kind of butt can sit on one of those little bicycle seats for 100 hours over the next 20 days? The answer? A tough one. Actually, we're all blessed with certain things - some people have high intelligence, others a strong work ethic, others might be athletes. I'm none of those things. I do have a tough butt, though. That, of course, will be put to the test. That does remind me of an old newspaper correction I used when I was teaching journalism at Kent State and Akron U. It seems a young reporter was covering a speech in southern California and dutifully included a quote that the reporter thought was particularly provocative. Turns out, though, the speaker did not say "the iron ass," as was quoted in the newspaper. Instead, the speaker was referring to the INS - Immigration, Naturalization Service. True story. At 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, I now have about two weeks worth of preparation to complete in 24 hours. We'll be driving to Painesville tonight, staying at my sister's house. From there we will drive to the PA border on Route 20. After taking the official "start of the Ohio Odyssey" photo in front of the "You are entering Ohio" sign, we'll be off. Some of my real gear-head friends have asked whether this ride is supported, or self supported. The answer is that it's a bit of both. We will be taking my van - an orange Honda Element - with us. In some cases we will have a driver to move the van from start to finish each day. But in most cases, photographer Denny Gordon and I will push the van ahead, in kind of a leap-frog method. I will start off on the bike. Denny will drive the van to the next city. He'll then pedal back to whereever I am and then we'll both ride to the van. Then we'll alternate. That certainly wasn't our preferred method of doing this. We had a wonderful van driver-support person who worked with us in the preparation for the trip. Unfortunately, she became ill and there wasn't time to find a new driver. Anyone out there want to take a short vacation and drive the van for a few days? Let me know. You all should know that this blog is only one place to catch Ohio Odyssey details. Look to www.ohio.com for links to stories and photos. In so many ways, the Internet is changing the media. You truly will be able to follow this Ohio Odyssey. So, come along for the ride. 7:40:29 AM

© Copyright 2003 Mike Needs.