Day 53. Geneva-on-the-Lake
76 miles 1,306 feet
After repairing my first flat last night in the hotel room (it was a slow leak) I had high hopes for a full tire this morning and I had one. I ate a hotel breakfast and began a pivotal day for the trip: passing through Cleveland. Pivotal because it is one of the largest cities I pass through, and denser in its core, and also because it means I'm closer to New England. I wasn't sure how bike friendly it would be nor how safe for cyclists. So with some trepidation I regained the ACA route and biked east in the warming, humid morning. Within minutes I felt something wrong and discovered my rear tire had lost air. I pumped it up, and researched nearby bike shops. it was 7:30 am and my hopes for an early morning quick passage through Cleveland were looking dim. I found a bike shop within a mile and discovered that my pumping did little good. The problem was the bike shop on Google didn't open till 10 am—2 1/2 hours later. This moment was a low point for the trip.
After pumping more air in I made it to the bike shop which was small and closed. Without options I parked my bike and waited. I occupied some of the time by finding a nearby Whole Foods and bought a burrito for later lunch while I was waiting. About 8:45 am a car pulled up and a gentleman with hedge clippers emerged. He walked toward the bike shop and I asked, hopefully, if he was a bike shop person. He was there early to trim shrubs near the shop and asked how he could help. Knowing I had a second flat after doing my best to pull a shard of glass from my tire, I said I hoped I could buy a new tube and tire to avoid further flats. My tires are small—26 x 1.75—and after checking the store he said he didn't have a tire that small, but he'd be happy to check my tire to see if he could help.
Within a few minutes he had my bike mounted, removed the tube, checked the tire and found the problem. It wasn't a shard of glass that was the culprit but a small piece of wire that gave me 2 flats, and he removed it. That being done, there was no need to replace the tire, which wasn't worn out, and he pumped up a new tube and it was fixed! He also checked my chain—fine, no need for replacement—and my front tire, which was true and didn't need attention. So in 20 minutes he had me back in action, an hour before the shop was to open! That was the best possible outcome. I've always valued bike mechanics and he proved how good they can be. See the photo of the small piece of wire he found and removed. I had missed it.
I was on the road again following the complex and amazing ACA route through Cleveland. Amazing because it links all the bike paths need toward the goal of getting me from west to east. There are dozens of route changes in the ACA map but it works. More kudos to ACA.
It was a hot day, up to 88 degrees, and 70 percent humidity. For those who have lived in the east, this isn't unusual but it is very different from the Seattle summer and I was dragging midday. I was revived by a rest, a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee, and the psychological boost of a tailwind. Even with the morning delay, I made it to my motel 74 miles for the day, by 5:30 pm.
I have seen several enormous, closed coal-fired power plants since reaching Lake Erie, and one that I saw at Avon and commented on yesterday was by amazing coincidence partially imploded this morning. Click here to see a video of it. These plants were closed down, and I'm sure there was debate about the decisions to do so, but they were clearly a threat to health of local people and this was recognized long before greenhouse gas emissions became another good reason to shut them down. This gives me hope we can make another tough decisions and move in the right direction.
I passed through Cleveland amazed at the route I took and then headed northeast through Cleveland suburbs to the small towns beyond Cleveland's orbit. One of them, where I'm staying, is Geneva-on-the-Lake which has been for a very long time a vacation resort for Ohio. Sort of like a small Atlantic city.
I'm making progress northeast toward Pennsylvania and New York.
After repairing my first flat last night in the hotel room (it was a slow leak) I had high hopes for a full tire this morning and I had one. I ate a hotel breakfast and began a pivotal day for the trip: passing through Cleveland. Pivotal because it is one of the largest cities I pass through, and denser in its core, and also because it means I'm closer to New England. I wasn't sure how bike friendly it would be nor how safe for cyclists. So with some trepidation I regained the ACA route and biked east in the warming, humid morning. Within minutes I felt something wrong and discovered my rear tire had lost air. I pumped it up, and researched nearby bike shops. it was 7:30 am and my hopes for an early morning quick passage through Cleveland were looking dim. I found a bike shop within a mile and discovered that my pumping did little good. The problem was the bike shop on Google didn't open till 10 am—2 1/2 hours later. This moment was a low point for the trip.
After pumping more air in I made it to the bike shop which was small and closed. Without options I parked my bike and waited. I occupied some of the time by finding a nearby Whole Foods and bought a burrito for later lunch while I was waiting. About 8:45 am a car pulled up and a gentleman with hedge clippers emerged. He walked toward the bike shop and I asked, hopefully, if he was a bike shop person. He was there early to trim shrubs near the shop and asked how he could help. Knowing I had a second flat after doing my best to pull a shard of glass from my tire, I said I hoped I could buy a new tube and tire to avoid further flats. My tires are small—26 x 1.75—and after checking the store he said he didn't have a tire that small, but he'd be happy to check my tire to see if he could help.
Within a few minutes he had my bike mounted, removed the tube, checked the tire and found the problem. It wasn't a shard of glass that was the culprit but a small piece of wire that gave me 2 flats, and he removed it. That being done, there was no need to replace the tire, which wasn't worn out, and he pumped up a new tube and it was fixed! He also checked my chain—fine, no need for replacement—and my front tire, which was true and didn't need attention. So in 20 minutes he had me back in action, an hour before the shop was to open! That was the best possible outcome. I've always valued bike mechanics and he proved how good they can be. See the photo of the small piece of wire he found and removed. I had missed it.
I was on the road again following the complex and amazing ACA route through Cleveland. Amazing because it links all the bike paths need toward the goal of getting me from west to east. There are dozens of route changes in the ACA map but it works. More kudos to ACA.
It was a hot day, up to 88 degrees, and 70 percent humidity. For those who have lived in the east, this isn't unusual but it is very different from the Seattle summer and I was dragging midday. I was revived by a rest, a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee, and the psychological boost of a tailwind. Even with the morning delay, I made it to my motel 74 miles for the day, by 5:30 pm.
I have seen several enormous, closed coal-fired power plants since reaching Lake Erie, and one that I saw at Avon and commented on yesterday was by amazing coincidence partially imploded this morning. Click here to see a video of it. These plants were closed down, and I'm sure there was debate about the decisions to do so, but they were clearly a threat to health of local people and this was recognized long before greenhouse gas emissions became another good reason to shut them down. This gives me hope we can make another tough decisions and move in the right direction.
I passed through Cleveland amazed at the route I took and then headed northeast through Cleveland suburbs to the small towns beyond Cleveland's orbit. One of them, where I'm staying, is Geneva-on-the-Lake which has been for a very long time a vacation resort for Ohio. Sort of like a small Atlantic city.
I'm making progress northeast toward Pennsylvania and New York.
The tiny culprit and source of 2 flats.
Approaching downtown Cleveland.
Cleveland's bike paths are excellent.
New and old Cleveland scenes.
Looking back on the city after successfully passing through.
