Ohio is the seventh most populous state in the union with 11.5 million people living here.

Ohio’s population growth lags that of the entire United States, and Caucasians are found in a greater density than the United States average.
The largest ancestry groups (which the Census defines as not including racial terms) in the state are: 26.5% German, 14.1 Irish, 9.0% English, 6.4% Italian
7.6% from the other Slavic countries.
It has a Republican Governor, 1 Democrat and 1 Republican senator and 8 of 12 congressman are Republican.

The state capital and largest city are Columbus – where we’ll cycle to today.
Ohio is known for its status as both a swing-state and a bellwether in national elections – hence you may see a lot of TV reports from Ohio during US presidential election campaigns.

The manufacturing and financial activities sectors each compose 18.3% of Ohio’s GDP, making them Ohio’s largest industries.
The headquarters of Procter & Gamble, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, AK Steel, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Wendy’s (national restaurant chain) are all based in Ohio.

The state bird of Ohio is also the Cardinal.

Famous Ohioans include Orville and Wilbur Wright (aeroplane inventors), Neil Armstrong, Dorris Day (worth knowing as I cycle along singing ‘Secret Love’!), Paul Newman and Rob Lowe.