Day 7 – Vermillion to Willougby Walmart

Logistics:

Since the car was waiting for us at the Walmart we only had to get up and get ready to ride, but even as we knew we faced a long day we still were slow to move and did not get on the road before 8:15. Kevin was already frustrated as he kept on loosing his cleat cover just walking up the hill to the road. We knew it was going to be a long hot day.

The route:

See the route here:

Vermillion to Willoughby Walmart

We needed to head north about 2 miles to catch back the designated route, then turn right and once again follow the coast of Lake Erie. We never get tired of seeing the massive body of water to our left. We followed Lake Rd which was lined with well groomed million dollar mansions which gave us little concern about the state of the economy. Along the start of the ride the roadway was OK but soon we were dodging debris and pot holes. The roads along the Lake in OH really suck! Kevin pulled Zin first so that Theresa could navigate, after about 21 miles we stopped at Jakes on the Lake for some rehydration and carbo-protein-fat injection of Biscuits and Gravy. Man did that hit the spot, even Zin got to lick up some of the remnants. Theresa was now set to take her turn pulling the dog. She soon realized the effort it took just to make 10mph. The strain on her pulling 30 labs of dog trailer along with the 55 lb dog allowed her to only last for 11 miles. She elected to relinquish the dog after crossing a bridge that marked the West edge of Cleveland. We continued along Lake road admiring yet more Multi-Million Dollar mansions until we reached a left turn that gave us a panoramic view of Cleveland in the near distance (see the pictures we posted). Total distance covered viewing these Multi Million Dollar mansions on the west end of Cleveland totaled 23 miles. After this high spot we navigated the Cleveland Lakefront State Park on a bike trail which was welcome relief to the pitted, tattered and well traveled road. The park was well attended as it was Sunday and there were plenty of picnic spots as well as a very nice beach, for all to enjoy! Once we exited the beach area we made a sharp right and climb along the bike path to a section of town that was a complete contrast to the Multi Million Dollar mansions not more than 2 miles away. The only similarity was that the folks in either section of town all commented on “how cool is that Dog”! We followed the Cleveland Lakefront Bicycle Route (CLBR) thru downtown Cleveland, which took us under the main bridge to another smaller bridge and then back up to downtown via a sharp right and up hill that reminded Theresa of a San Francisco climb. As Kevin attempted to attack the hill the pressure on the chain was so intense that the front derailer would not shift into and easier chain ring. This caused Kevin to make a quick U-turn to the downhill so he could shift and then make another U-turn with the gears now selected to allow for the grueling climb. The CLBR took us around the Brown's stadium and then on to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame (see pics) it then continued, paralleling I90 to the right and an airport to the left. After the Airport the CLBR continued and exposed more park areas as well as scenery. Ultimately the route ended and left us back on the unkept roads to dodge potholes and cars. Kevin was spent after pulling the dog all but 11 miles he begged Theresa for a guesstimate of the remaining mileage. She quickly said “2 miles” but did not indicate if that was to the turn or the finish. Theresa was hoping the turn was soon and kept looking for the street name. Suddenly there it was and they both made the turn but Kevin had to stop... Theresa went on for about a quarter mile then noticed Kevin was stopped so she turned around. Kevin was letting his heart rate decrease a bit and Theresa told him that there was only 1.5 miles left to the Walmart. This was little comfort to Kevin as he had absolutely nothing left, zilch, notta, zip... completely done! Ready to get this over they both rolled out down the thankfully flat remainder of the route into Walmart! We packed everything in the car, then Theresa headed in to the store to grab some needed grocery items. Kevin and Zin sat in the Car with the Air-conditioning at full force. Unfortuantly this was not a Super Walmart so it had no produce, so we made an additional stop at another store to complete our list.

Stats:

58.5 miles, 11.1 mph avg, total trip miles 236, days riding 5 and 3347 calories burned

After the ride:

We charted a course back the Riverside RV park in Vermillion which was about 1 hour. Once at the site Kevin dumped the gray water from the RV while Theresa unloaded the groceries. It was about 5pm so we had time for showers before thinking about dinner. Theresa took some leftovers from a Italian restaurant meal and added what they had lacked in vegetables and garlic and meat to make a stellar on the spot meal for the famished cyclists. As we finished our dinner and began to log the days events a storm complete with thunder and lightening rolled thru. We were glad to have the comfort and protection of the RV from the elements not to mention the satellite TV and internet :)

Tomorrow's plans:

Kevin and Theresa will be working, thought this may seem like a vacation from biking! We will be charting out the next few days as it seems we will ultimately be short of our goal to make it to Muscatine, IA by July 14-15^th.