It was one of the longest rides today at 86 miles. And super star Joe finished an hour before Garmin expected him to. Joe took a photo of his bike outside the camper this morning before he left. One of the people camping next to us asked me what kind of bike Joe rides. I had no idea ☹ But now I know, and you will know, he is riding an Intense 951 gravel bike (with road tires). So, if I forget I can refer back to today’s blog post.
Joe called about 9 am and was already 30+ miles in. He traveled down a lake shore drive (West Lake Road) on Lake Erie. The route reminded him of Hwy 61 in Duluth, MN with the beautiful homes along the shore. Joe got a nice picture of a Cleveland sign with the city and Lake Erie in the background. He also has a great picture of the beach and blue sky. Joe forgot his lunch in the fridge today. Luckily, he had 6 fig bars and a beef stick in his pack. He stopped at a bagel shop, Bagel Buddy’s in Edgewater Park, OH. He even saved a bite for Neptune. He said that when he found the bagel shop, he knew everything was going to be all right. When he was about 4 miles from the camp stop he saw a road closed sign. Joe wasn’t up for a detour and thought, “How bad could the closed road be??"He investigated and decided he could walk across. He walked his bike across the rocks and there was a 12-foot drop down on one side. It was all fun and games until the rocks under his feet started to slip. But Joe moved along and made it unscathed through the Do Not Enter/Road Closed area. Next time he’ll know that road closed means Road Closed!
Joe had printed out QR codes with links to our blog site to give to people that we meet. Unfortunately, the website only allows access for a month and that month has expired. So we’re back to asking people if they are interested in reading the blog and if so, we text them a link. It was much easier and less intrusive the other way, but we don’t have access to printers, etc to create and print a new QR code sheet.
Neptune and I had to be out of our campsite by 10 am this morning. That is the earliest check out time so far and we were gone by 10:15 am. This presented a bit of a problem for us because check in at tonight’s stop wasn’t until 2 pm. Neptune and I traveled down I-90 through Cleveland, and it was honestly strange to be driving through a big city again. And it made me think of my favorite Cleveland story- Ten Cent Beer Night! It was a promotional event held by the Cleveland Indians baseball team June 4, 1974. They were playing the Texas Rangers and the mix of rowdy fans and cheap beer – well, as you can imagine, it got a little out of hand. No baseball games today, but Neptune and I did stop at a rest area for a couple hours. Ohio has a 3-hour limit for parking at a rest area. We only stayed for 2. Neptune got a couple walks, but mostly he napped under a picnic table while I was on my phone or reading.
We are staying at Love’s Gas Station/RV Park tonight. They are nice cement pad back in spots with electric and water. And discounts on showers if you don’t want to use your RV. There is an Arby’s attached and I’m curious to see if Joe walks over for a sandwich and fries. Neptune and I were hanging out in the dog park when Joe rode up. It was a long day, but he rode so quickly that we were set up for the night and relaxing by 2:30. I sent my mom a picture of the view outside our window, and she said that my dad had planned a night for them in a tent at a gas station many years ago. They ended up in a motel for the night 😊Miss you mom and dad!
Tomorrow, we head into Pennsylvania. Joe’s riding into a rest day and the next 2 nights will be our only nights in Pennsylvania. We’ll be traveling in New York for almost 2 weeks. Inch by inch we’re getting to Bar Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean! Thank you so much for keeping us going!
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