The Buckeye State

Tuesday, July 4. West Lake, OH to Milan, OH.

The ride today was great. Flat, fast roads and beautiful weather. For a while we had a designated bike lane, but even when the shoulder disappeared completely, the motorists gave us plenty of room. We saw a lot of cyclists out today, and with great roads like these, I would guess that motorists see a lot of riders on a regular basis.

We covered 44 miles in under 3 and a half hours, riding through the towns and villages of Rocky River, Avon Lake, Lorain, Vermilion and Huron. I noticed a marker explaining that Vermilion is named for the color of the soil, which the Indiians used to paint their faces. It made me think of Georgia's red clay and the way it stains everything it touches. In between the towns, acres and acres of cornfields stretched out on both sides of the roads.

We ended up staying at a hotel in Milan (in Ohio, it's pronounced "My-Lan") since there were no campgrounds in the area. But Matthew picked a hotel with an indoor and outdoor pool and hot tub--in addition to a free shuttle to the Cedar Point amusement park. We immediately checked in for two days.

Since it was the 4th of July, and we were kind of out in the boonies, the dinner options were kind of slim. After spending some time in the outdoor pool and hot tub, we found a pizza place that would deliver. We still couldn't watch the Tour de France (what's OLN?), but the multiple HBO channels were showing every Batman movie ever made. We went to bed early, planning to catch the first shuttle out to Cedar Point for a day of roller coaster rides.