Super Saturday, Soggy Sunday

Saturday & Sunday, July 1 and 2. Erie, PA to Ashtabula, OH to East Lake, OH.

Today and yesterday couldn't have been more different. Yesterday we left Erie, PA and rode under partly sunny, partly cloudy skies, with temps in the mid-70's. The road was quiet, with broad shoulders--at least until we got to Ohio. The landscape of vineyards that we'd seen the last few days now included corn fields, cherry and apple orchards. Not to mention that having Lake Erie in the background is just icing on the cake. We rode through the villages and townships of Fairhaven, Avonia, Girard and Lake City, and ended the ride in Ashtabula, OH, at a little motel on the edge of town--the Edge O' Town Motel, actually. Matthew carefully researched this place, and chose it because they claimed to have the OLN channel--so we could watch the Tour de France coverage. Well, they overstated the cable offerings, so we weren't able to watch any of the coverage. Now that we're heading west, our route becomes decidedly rural after Cleveland--we're likely to miss all of the tour coverage this year--maybe this is our year for the DVD version.

The weather report last night was calling for scattered showers, particularly early. So when Matthew got up and got dressed at 6:30am, I snoozed on, groggily assuming that the impending rain would delay our departure until late morning.

I should have gotten up early--it would have probably helped considerably. As it was, we got packed up, found breakfast, ice and water. The skies had been clear, but by the time we hit the road, clouds were beginning to gather. About 10 miles from Ashtabula, we came to Geneva-on-the-Lake. This is a town that has capitalized on its' proximity to Lake Erie. The main street is like a full-time festival. I've never seen a street with more cottages and motels. Crammed between these are waffle stands, souvenir shops and hot dog stands. And this town is jam-packed--parked cars line both sides of the street, making it necessary for us to ride in the lane of traffic. And because it's Sunday morning, the traffic that is out is trolling through town at a leisurely pace.

Which is what we were doing, until Matthew suddenly stopped short. And with no warning, I couldn't stop and unclip from my pedals in time, so we suddenly became the proverbial train wreck. Both bikes, BOBs and riders went down, although since we were stopped, no real damage was done. It was about that time that we decided to take a break, especially since it was now beginning to rain.

We briefly took shelter at Club Ned's (grocery, arcade and laundry), but when it looked like the rain had stopped, we hit the road again. And got about 2 blocks before it started to rain again--this time it came down in sheets. And lasted for about 40 minutes. Once it let up, we hit the road again, and rode through periods of light--and not so light--rain. And then our route took us onto a road that was under construction, and now also under water and mud in places. Half of the road had been ripped up and no longer navigable. The other half was pock-marked with ruts and holes, now filled with muddy water. And in a lot of places, two trenches had been cut across both lanes of the road. Matthew's tire hit one of these at just the right (or wrong) angle, and his bike slid out from underneath him. Traffic was coming from both directions, but I jumped off my bike and parked it in the middle of one lane so I could help get Matthew's bike uprighted and off the road. He had some road rash on one leg and one hand. Nothing our first-aid kit couldn't handle, though.

Back on the "road" now, the surface continued to deteriorate. More cracks, puddles, standing water, gravel traps, and lots and lots of mud. Our bikes and trailers became splattered and soaked with it. At the end of the road construction, we stopped for lunch in Madison at the Flying Burrito.

By the time we had finished lunch, the rain had stopped for good, but the winds were full on at 20mph. Yeah. So we made slow progress for the rest of the day, but we finished up 52 miles and ended the day in East Lake, OH. Along the way we stopped to call our hotel and check directions. Matthew was concerned that the hotel was off I-90, and was pretty sure that bikes wouldn't be allowed on the interstate. The hotel staff assured him that there was a bike path that ended right at the hotel While we were stopped, a cyclist on a motorized bicycle stopped, and wetalked for a few minutes about our trip.

Once we turned back on to Lakeshore Dr., we found a bike lane. And when the bike lane ended at our turn, we found the bike path. And within sight of the hotel, we found the bike path was completely blocked by a large tree branch. It took a few minutes, but between us, we managed to manuever the bikes around the branch and rolled up to the hotel registratioin.

Once we got checked in, the maintenance staff let us use a garden hose to clean up our bikes and trailers. Now that we're cleaned up and fed, it's all just a good story. It doesn't even matter that we're currently under a severe thunderstorm watch tonight.

I don't know what the weather forecast for tomorrow is, but I do know that George Hincapie is wearing the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) in the Tour de France (thanks, Linda). Tomorrow we hope to be on our way to Cleveland, but if the weather doesn't clear, then maybe we'll rent a car and head to the NFL Hall of Fame. I'll let you know.