I used quite a variety of trails and roads today to get clear past Cleveland.

One fellow who hailed me down on the way into town said he had attempted a trans-America bike ride, but had to quit when he was called back to work. This fellow was also a warm showers host, but he lived in Cleveland and today I wanted to get in more miles than that. He talked about a place with a great view of downtown that I should pass on the way into town. This is the spot he was talking about.

This girl was trying to get a picture of her dog in front of the sign, but the dog wasn’t cooperating. The girl didn’t want me to take a picture of her and her dog, but I did it anyway using my camera. Like most rides through urban areas that I’m not familiar with, I got on the wrong trail and had to find my way through some seedy areas in order to get back on track. Cleveland has a pretty decent bike trail along the lake, if you can manage to follow it.

After getting through town, I stopped at one of the many parks along the lakeshore for lunch. I found that there was a county campground another 40 miles on, that had reserved sites for bike packers. I really like places that cater to hikers and bikers. The weather was good and after covering 40 miles so far this day, I still felt reasonably strong. I made a reservation and started on the second 40 miles of the day. This was pushing myself a bit, but I figured I had done a few 80 mile days and I could do more.

After getting going again, a fellow stopped his car in the middle of the west bound lane, rolled down his window and asked, “Where are you going?” At the moment I had my mouth full of anti-cramp food and I tried to enunciate “Boston”, but it came out like I had my mouth full of marbles. I then added in just slightly better English, “I came from Oregon.” The fellow then said “You must be famous.” I responded with “no.” We then parted ways.

I got a nice reception from Rich, the Perry County campground host. The crowd here seem a little more used to bike packers than many places that I have stayed at. The campground is right on Lake Erie and I got to listen to a country concert that they are having.

With the additional 80 miles I covered today, I’m up to a total of 2924.