Stage 3: Battle Creek, MI, to Dayton, OH. 240 miles

Yesterday’s mileage was a long, hot one, but we once again successfully made all our miles for the day with no major mechanical issues. The route took us through corn and soybean fields most of the day, winding through small towns that are what Americana is all about.

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Napoleon Harley-Davidson hosted our traveling circus for a lunch stop, and it was amazing how many people showed up to support the event. For most of the afternoon we fought a pretty significant headwind that played hell with the fuel economy on the 28 and beat us around, but perseverance paid off.

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Our group arrived at fellow Cannonballer Jason Wadzinski’s Rip Rap Roadhouse in Dayton OH for our night stop where we were treated to an amazing party. Following the public bike display, we made our way over to our trailer where Art Frank, Ben Brown and I did some minor maintenance on the JD and got her ready for another round of miles.

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I want to take the time to thank all of my friends and family all over the world for the birthday wishes yesterday. The texts, calls and messages were overwhelming and I can’t even begin to express how special it all was. The day was especially great as we had friends surprise us all day at the starting line, the lunch stop, and the finish line. Best part of the day was Mike Carson and Theresa Carson surprising Nikki and I on the side of the road about 20 miles from the finish line yesterday. They will be traveling with our team today as well before heading back home to Texas. I’m a lucky guy, and am feeling very humbled.

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This morning our circus takes off from Dayton headed for Charleston, West Virginia. A “short” day at 209 miles.
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