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:
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 14-15th.
Keep your head down in those storms, they can be nasty! And glad Kev recovered nicely with some good ol' Mother Theresa cooking. Sounds like Zin is eating well, too...what a dog's life!
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