I am riding the Erie Canal this morning toward Rochester, New York. It is sprinkling rain.
Category: Ride segments Page 3 of 5
Cleveland Syline from Bikewaty
I enjoyed this view of the Cleveland skyline from the bikeway yesterday. I have more pictures of the area I hope to share later.
Cleveland Browns Stadium
The route went right by the stadium. I had some problems understanding the map at this point. After I got back on track I went by Burke Lakefront Airport where I took the picture of a Blue Angels jet.
Cable Car at Lake Erie house
Day 58 – Monday, July 23 started in the country southwest of Huron, Ohio. It didn’t take long before I was seeing the lake in backyards. Eventually the houses became massive with a variety of landscaping. The Aspen cable car was one of the off-beat. I met a cyclist from Lakewood who was about 15 miles east of home, riding a titanium Seven with Campy Chorus equipment. I asked him if he had any advice on the route. He said I should try to get east of Cleveland. He suggested I get to atleast Willowick. I was there a little after 8:00pm, but the clerk at the motel had no idea how to tell me how to get there. It might not have even been in that suburb. I used my phone to checkk online. I need an app for that. I went of the route, made some inquires and ended up in Mentor. I am east of my plan for the day. The total was 87 miles. I back tracked when when I was off the route in Cleveland.
The houses along the lake in several of the suburbs were amazing. Another unique decoration was a British phonebooth. I had a southwest wind thet was a big help in making the mileage today. It was still 96 degrees just before 7:00pm. There breeze helped some. While I made good time on some of the roads, eventually the stop signs and traffic signals made for a slower overall time.
Kate and Shular
On Tuesday July 17, after two days of rest my daughter Kate joined me to finish out the ride across Illinois. It was about 100 degress that day and the heat index was higher. We did have a little tail wind. The pictures shows that I rode without the B.O.B trailer for a while. We averaged about 15mph. Kate rode almost 50 miles with me. The longest ride she has ever made. The day was so hot, the tar seeping through the chip seal was popping like pop-corn. It was great to have company for the day. The time passed all to quickly. I put the trailer on, riding another 17 miles to Iroquois, Illinois, just over three miles fromn the Indiana border.
Wednesday I rode to Fletcher, Indiana after a detour. Thursday I went on to Roush Lake, south of Huntington, Indiana. Friday was a shorter day to Monroeville, Indiana. That day the head wind, a few minor hills, and a sore right foot slowed me down. It was about 45 miles for the day. Monroeville was the 2005 Adventure Cycling Association June Curry Trail Angle award winner. I stayed inside, with air conditioning, had a shower and did laundry! I was supposed to call the fellow in charge when I arrived. As has happened all too often, t-mobile did not provide service there. The city hall was closed. I stopped at the library, where they knew who to call without me telling them and gladly made the call. A few minutes later, I was enjoying the air conditioning. I was just a few miles from Ohio at that point.
Saturday night was a Jane Thurston State Park in Ohio. Sunday night, I am at a private campground, too close to I-80 noise ( I like small towns, corn fields and soy beans – all very quite ). I do have wi-fi so I can give you an update.
I am home for two rest days. I will be back on the road Tuesday. Only 1460 miles to Bar Harbor, Maine. I plan to finish by mid-August.
It has been more than a week since I had wi-fi to do an update. I tried from my phone, and found it slow and frustrating with 2G service. Last week I had a text message from t-mobile telling me I had used 40MB of the miserly 50MB of data available while roaming. Since reaching Minnesota, I have had t-mobile service, but it has all been 2G with screens saying we are having trouble loading that page or some similar phrase. This is the same problem I had while roaming.
So where am I on Day 38? I am near Dalbo, Minnesota. It is a very small town that I think is about 40 miles north of Minneapolis. Donn Olson, a local farmer, found that cyclists on the Adventure Cycling Association Northern Tier Route were passing by his farm needing a place to stay. He had a barn. The Bunkhouse has grown from there. People have been telling me about it for days. An air conditioned barn, a solar shower a stocked refrigerator and wi-fi! I will be here tonight and tomorrow night. Tomorrow is my first rest day in more than a week.
It was 89 degrees when I passed through Milaca this afternoon. I was told the heat index was 105. I averaged 12 mph this afternoon. Fortunately, the southeast wind was light most off the day.
My day started in Bowlus. I crossed the Mississippi River – several crossings are coming up.
I will put up another gallery of photos tomorrow. I have been thinking of several post topics.
This is day three in Minnesota. I am headed to Bowlus today.
I have been riding with Peter Mckay from Juneau, Alaska and Dylan Atkinson from San Francisco. We lost Peter at Circle, MT yesterday – we hope to reconnect.
Enthusiasts, note Peter’s custom Erikson with full Campy equipment.
Dylan and I are in Beach, North Dakota tonight. Winds were from the east 12 to 14 mph with gusts sometimes exceeding 20.