We’re in Ohio!
Hey all - Jeff here.
We made it to Ohio - it is great to be back in the "Heart of It All"!
Monday morning we woke up in Graysville, IN and had a relatively short ride to Bloomington (I think it ended up being about 70 miles). I feel like I write this every time, but I am continually surprised at the number and frequency of hills in the midwest. There we're some short but steep climbs, which made the ride exciting.
Nevertheless, it was a great ride and we got to Bloomington in the afternoon. Bloomington is the home of Indiana University, and they have a beautiful campus. We we're joined by two R4WH riders who were away for a couple days - Dr. Ben Meyer and Dr. Hadley Trotter, two recent graduates from medical school. Congratulations!
We rode to a dorm building where Tim, an avid cyclist and friend of R4WH, donated apartments for the night so we could have hot showers and many of us were able to sleep in beds (Yeah). He also had pizza, salad, and sherbert waiting for us, which tasted delicious.
After unpacking the vans and securing the bikes, we we're met by a group of IU students who are part of a global health interest group. We gave them a short lecture on global health, and relaxed a little bit that evening before turning in for the night.
Yesterday morning, we left our sleeping quarters and rode a couple miles to a bicycle track where the 1979 film "Breaking Away" was filmed. The story is based off the Little 500 bicycle race that is held there in Bloomington. Tim met us there with a couple track bikes, and most of us took a lap around the track. Although I was not being timed, I don't think I quite reached the speeds that bicycle racers typically reach on the track (haha). Nevertheless, it was fun.
We left Bloomington and had a long and hilly ride into the outskirts of Cincinnati. It was a difficult route to mark, and a few of the riders, including Alissa, Sebastian, Hadley, Brandon, and Kami, got lost and ended up doing an additional 8 or 9 miles yesterday.
Nevertheless, after 117 or so miles from Bloomington we finally reached our destination at about 6:30 last evening. We racked the bikes, and Monica's parents were kind enough to host and feed all of us for dinner. It was a delicious spread, with cheesy potatoes, hamburgers, hot dogs, fresh fruit, and beans. To top it off, we enjoyed some Grater's ice cream and cookies baked by Monica's grandmother for dessert.
Last night, some of us stayed with Monica's family, while others were spread out among some wonderful hosts from the Cincinnati University COM. This morning we reconvened at the Cincinnati COM where we delivered a lecture to a group of medical students.
This evening we convene at a local pub for journal club, where we will be joined by a number of medical students.
Tomorrow we leave for Columbus. Cheers!