Day 50 - Oregon to Cleveland, OH - 114 miles - 896 feet of elevation gain

All over the news last evening in the hotel lobby was the big rain storm rolling through much of the midwest and heading east, pretty much in our bike path. We looked at the radar and determined that leaving a little later than normal would be ideal for missing the major portion of the storm as it passed over us. So I set the pullout time for 8am, which worked out because we only experienced a few drips and some wet roads. The fist 20 miles had the wet roads, which also meant that our tires kicked up sand and dirt all over us. I was covered in grit, which is how I got a free exfoliation!

The roads were decent today! A few didn’t have a shoulder, but either weren’t busy or had two lanes so we could safely bike on them. Again today, the Ohioans were beeping and yelling to encourage us on. I think they like bikers here.

We started the day biking through some rural areas with fields of corn and soybeans. Then we made our way to Route 6 and followed along Lake Erie. The homes along this road were amazing! There were maybe a handful that needed some love, but the majority were lavish. We passed one beautiful home and I caught Al two bikers up looking at it, so I yelled “Hey, that one is mine!” He replied, “I saw it first!” I’ve decided that having a lake in the backyard is way better than having a pool. No winterizing, no chlorine, and you can float in it with large objects like wave runners and boats (try doing that in a pool!). I’m fairly certain even the shacks are above my price range, and I’m not sold on Ohio (the Buckeye thing is a deterrent), but they certainly have a great view and lots of water to play in and on. Any way, we certainly covered everything from farms to lake homes to city dwellings on this ride.

We had to make two detours because of road closures, so our total went up a few miles. We also had an ordeal with the hotel that I booked, they sprung a leak in the water main, so they were closing down until it was fixed. So I had to scramble to get us different lodging for two days, thankfully it all worked out and we are staying just around the corner from the first place. Let’s hope there isn’t any more of that kind of drama!

I didn't take many pictures today because we were biking fast and because I was otherwise engaged in the task at hand. It was a relatively flat day and we had a tailwind, so for much of the day we were cruising. Going like 16 mph for 114 miles is amazing, and to not feel like passing out at the end, well that’s just awesome!

We got to the hotel around 6pm and everyone was ready for dinner, so we had decided to just order pizza and eat in tonight. Thankfully this new hotel allowed us to use their conference room and we could have pizza and a movie night. Tonight’s selection was “Forever Strong” and it was the first time that everyone stayed for the entire movie. We are making progress! And tomorrow we explore Cleveland and rest!