The start of Segment 2 Pitsburgh to Aurora

By: John Johnson

Well today started a little unusual. We lost our way in trying to catch up with the lead group of riders. If you miss a turn on a ride you can end of putting a lot of additional miles which indelibly puts a lot of unnecessary stress on you and your bike. Fortunately when you are riding with a great organization like the Fuller Center, you’re really not very far from help. After traveling about 4 miles out the way AJ and I had noticed that we were not seeing the familiar marking that are posted by the Fuller riders on the streets to mark your way. Once we realize this, we checked our written directions and a passerby, and we turned around and made our way back to the marked route. While this was going on, we received a call from our support vehicle as well to locate our whereabouts. After assuring them that we alright, we continued on to our destination and rejoined our team at our first water break at mile 22. On our Garmin it read mile 33. We ended up riding 11 more miles than we needed. We rode 87 miles to the scheduled 76! Lesson learned – when you don’t know the route – check it a lot sooner.

I am enjoying my second trip with the Fuller Center. That can do spirit still pervades all that are here. I am also amazed at the number of riders who are "going all the way" as mentioned in our first meeting. It’s certainly inspirational and it makes me think that maybe one year in the not too distant future that I too can join this group of adventurers. Way to go Fuller Center!