Day 39 – Cleveland rocks.

This morning the four of us wanted to get out early so that the other three could get to the Indians-Texans game at noon, and so that I could get into camp early for a special visitor. We set our clocks early, picked up some cue sheets early, and then were off a little after six this morning. Early. We made our way out of Sandusky, though it was a different landscape today than any other day because we never fully got out of towns today. One town bled into another, simply marked with city limit signs. Our eyes were open for coffee shops, and while looking for one we made our way out to a viewing point of Lake Erie. No coffee but a nice view. We finally found a little coffee shop, a strange little eclection of things there, and from the TV news Ane and I learned about the Minnesota bridge collapsing. What a sobering newscast. It’s much different to see such things on the news and in the papers about place that you know, and that you’ve been to.

Eventually we started to get into the Cleveland area. On our way in, riding on a street paralleling Lake Erie, we gaped and gasped at all of the new mansions built on the waterfront. Crazy, huge, monstrous things sitting next to random, small, older properties that had obviously been there for some time. For a while we had a nice bike lane, but soon enough were tossed onto busy shoulderless roads that were marred with potholes and bumps. The sights and city were enough to distract from the road though, and before we knew it we were in downtown Cleveland.

Our waterstop was at a Starbucks in the downtown area, and from here our group made a split. About ten people took off to find the baseball stadium, and I took off through the downtown area with Greg, Jay, Nick, and Bob Jones. It was crazy traffic, and a lot of very tricky turns. We passed by the Browns stadium, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and many other landmarks. It was exciting, but I’m so glad that we had group of us because I’m not used to city riding at all.

We finally made our way out from the heart of Cleveland, and Greg and I pulled out ahead to ride the last twenty miles together. It was so nice to ride with him as we gossiped and talked. It was his wife and his fortieth (!!!) anniversary, so I got to hear the story of how they met and other stories. It was so much fun. We wondered what the cue sheet meant by “busy and hilly” roads, and we sure found out. It had been awhile since I’d really gotten down into my granny gears, but I remembered soon enough.

Finally we got into Burton around 3:00, and it was a cute little town with a center around a oval-shaped park. I was making my way towards camp at the fairgrounds, and there was this tall guy with a big goofy grin walking toward me on the sidewalk. It’s been almost two months now since I’ve seen Joe, and it’s so good to see him!