Hank – We knew it was going to be a hot day and we decided to go all the way to Cleveland where we reserved a hotel room so we were on the road before 7:00 am. We left a thank you card with the key to the church and exited a door that locked behind us. Then we made a bee line to US Highway 6, which we’d be riding on almost the entire day. Once we reached the town of Huron we were on the Adventure Cycling Association Northern Tier Route. That was comforting because it removed some pressure to make sure we were on good roads. There was very little traffic on a Sunday morning. While we were riding Kathy made a joke about finding glass with her tires. I told her she was already good at it. The temp was in the low 70s when we started but the humidity was very high. Kathy was covered in sweat almost immediately. We reminded each other to push the fluids today.

After about 21 miles we were planning to stop for breakfast in Vermillion. I noticed Kathy’s back tire looked a little low. She limped it down the last half mile to Granny Joe’s. We pulled the back wheel off and I found another piece of glass in her tire. That makes flat number nine for her. Her Continental touring tires are showing more wear than my Schwalbe Marathon so we’re going to get her new tires pretty soon. We had a good breakfast and got back on the road. US Hwy 6 follows the coastline of Lake Erie but you don’t see the lake very often. Usually it’s a glimpse between properties. The best view is from the public access areas along the way.

We quickly pushed through the day hoping to cover as many miles as we could before it got too hot. We stopped to say hi to Ken Bettencourt who was headed home to Oregon. He’s been on the road since March 1st of this year and he’s raising money for cancer research. He’s had cancer twice and survived.

We stopped at a park in Lakewood on the outskirts of Cleveland to rest and have a snack. Three miles later we stopped and Kathy realized that not only did she forget to put her cycling gloves on but she had also lost one. I found a bike shop that was close to our route and we stopped to get her some gloves, Once we were back on track we ran into some firemen who were doing the “Fill the Boot’ fundraiser outside their station. Pete, the captain, flagged us down and asked if we needed water or anything. We were fine but we chatted with him and a couple of his guys for a bit. A few blocks later we officially entered Cleveland.

Riding into Cleveland was a pleasure. Roomy roads and bike lanes took us all the way downtown. That today was Sunday may have been a factor in the traffic but it was still enjoyable. We got to our hotel and cleaned up. We were pretty hungry after 64 miles. After dinner we walked around downtown for a bit. Tomorrow we’ll check out the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Kathy – Today was a hot one!  Our 64 miles and only 500 feet of elevation made it a pretty easy ride. The temps rose to the mid 90’s very quickly and the humidity was very high being so close to the water. I was drenched in sweat the entire day. We were careful to keep the fluids in us, but I still think at the end of the day we were pretty dehydrated.  I ended up with heat rash again all over my legs so I will mend this over the next few days. We did not eat enough during our ride and were pretty hungry after we finished.  After a nice cool shower, I really just wanted to be lazy and hang out in the air conditioning room but we need to head out to grab a bite.  We walked about and found an unimpressive BBQ restaurant, but it was food in the gut.  I got a burst of energy and we walk about exploring the sights of downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  After about 45 minutes of walking I was about done for the day so we headed back to the hotel knowing tomorrow will be a day off from riding and we can see more then.  I am totally exhausted after today’s ride, the heat really did me in.  Looking forward to sleeping well in this cool room and cozy bed.