Day 10, Cleveland to Sandusky, 69 miles

We left our wonderful loaner apartment on the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland (thanks, Kif!), and while it had been raining when we woke up, it was not by the time we left around 8.  We got to ride through areas that changed drastically from inner-city blight  to lakefront multi-million $ homes within just a few blocks.

We decided to try Taco Bell for breakfast, and there is a pretty good chance we won't do that again but I guess you never know.  In any case, we got coffee and something to eat so we were fueled for the ride.  Shortly after leaving breakfast, it started to rain, and we stopped to put our raingear on.  I got heavier, although it was not cold and there was not much wind, so it was definitely not the worse rain we've ever had to ride in.  In any case, it cleared up after about 30 minutes, and we started to dry off bit by bit.

I hit a 1.5" nail with my rear tire a little while after the rain stopped, and had to stop to replace the tube.  Brian ran to a nearby mini-mart for pastries while I did that :-).  I managed to change the tube, I thought, but it wouldn't take air.  I pulled it back out and sure enough, there was a hole in it so I got another tube (I carry 2 spares) and replaced it, and it inflated properly and I got the bike put back together.  While putting my tools back, I noticed I had another tube, unused, in my seat pack, at which point I realized that I had put the same damaged tube back into the tire the first time, so of course it still leaked.  Yikes, but happy to know that I was not carrying a bad tube after all.

We caught up with a young guy Travis that was riding from Cleveland to Indiana a little later, at a small cafe.  He was going to see his Uncle, and was in community college, working as a cook to pay his way.  This was his first bike tour and he was equipped in a "hillbilly" fashion (his word), but he had what he needed.  We decided to order breakfast there (yes, I know, Taco Bell and pastries didn't mean we were done with breakfast...), and talked with him for awhile.  We then picked up the tab and were on our way (he was taking a different route than us shortly down the road, and wasn't done eating anyhow).  Another friend made!

Another few miles down the road and we met three young gentlemen (Mo, Jay and Gabe) with gear, who were going around the lake also, although this was day 1 for them.  They were going from Cleveland to Sandusky to take the Ferry across to the other side of the lake (via Pelee Island), and then continue around.  They were raising money for a friend of theirs that had been paralyzed in an accident, and have been doing a "charity" ride like this for different causes, each year.  We rode together for awhile, and with a little tailwind, we were pushing 20 mph at times, best we've done for the entire tour.  We parted ways with them at the turnoff for Cedar Point, after a photo-op with all five of us (tripod, self-timer, everything).

We were not allowed to go on the causeway that goes out to Cedar Point (amusement park/resort), so we checked out the Historic Sandusky Waterfront, and found a place on a pier with live music (at 4 PM on Sunday afternoon), and had a drink there (the Polish Red Bull knockoff for me, XL I think?).  Then we found a dairy that sold ice cream from the factory, so, well, we had to stop and have some.

We finally got to the campground, and were warmly welcomed and got set up in good time.  There was a place that delivered so we took advantage of that and avoiding have to ride a couple of miles for bar food (and maybe returning in the dark).  My spaghetti and Italian sausage was really good! The campground has wifi everywhere (in my tent!), which is great.  We have seen that a couple of times now.  Also, the owner is giving us a ride over a bikes-not-allowed bridge in the morning.  People are great!

It doesn't feel like we rode 70 miles today, with the tailwind and other help, plus we are in better shape after having ridden 10 days like this, I guess it all helps.

Tomorrow, we tour the peninsula above Sandusky Bay, and then head up along the shore to Maumee State Park, passing the Davis-Besse Nuke on the way.  It looks like it will be between 60 and 70 miles, but maybe a little less since were getting a ride for the first few miles.