2024 MESA Bike Tour Day 3

41 miles today/142 miles total

Although we had some serious climbs today, the landscape more than made up for the physical demands.

We made our way over the hills to Loudonville, where the Loudonville Rotary Club fed us lunch at their local museum. They had an eclectic collection of early 20th century items. The most impressive was a “mechanical village “ that was built by hand in 1933. This definitely checked the “cool mechanical things” box for us!

The road from Loudonville to our day’s destination of Ashland was a gradual climb. One way for us to look back and tell that the route was particularly difficult is the absence of pictures in our phone camera rolls. We didn't take a single picture during the 20 mile stretch between Loudonville and Ashland. You’ll just have to trust that it was more beautiful countryside and sweaty, panting bikers.

Our hosts from the Rotary Club of Ashland are just wonderful! We arrived a couple of hours ahead of schedule and sat in the air conditioned cantina of a lovely retirement village until our host families were able to pick us up.

Our host family fed us more ice cream and we sat around and shared our Rotary stories. A marvelous way to end a marvelous day!

I know I’m talking like this tour is all about riding and eating, but this entire ride is very focused on raising money for MESA. The host clubs, rider clubs, sponsors and individual riders are all raising money. At every stop, we’re being presented with checks from generous clubs and donors who see the value in helping to give medical equipment (that’s often landfill-bound) to those who need it abroad. It’s a very fulfilling mission to be a part of! If you want to be a part of the success or simply learn more, go to https://www.rotarymesa.org.

Tomorrow we head west to Shelby for lunch and Bucyrus for the night.

Good night to you all!