Day 9, Geneva State Park (OH) to Cleveland, 64 miles.

A pretty easy ride today, as the total above includes riding back downtown from our host's apartment to the Rock and Roll hall of fame and dinner.

We got an early (for us) start, at about 7:30, and had to consult the iPhone maps more than usual for the first half of the day.  We didn't have any clear directions from the book or other resources for this part of the trip.  There are a lot of small towns here compared to Canada's Western Lake Erie shore, and we got to ride through a number of them today.  We also rode past a Nuke that I hadn't realized was there, in Perry township.  Hard to miss those cooling towers!  There was not a lot of lakeview mileage today, most of it was too far from the shore to see that.

We had a gas station breakfast about 15 miles into the ride, and there was some outdoor seating which we took advantage of.  A number of people commented or asked questions, which we are always happy to answer.  We tried to talk two kids on mountain bikes into continuing their biking and someday do what we were doing.  We also told them to be careful, because the cars might not be looking out for them, and they were, like, "we know...".

Lunch was unremarkable until Tony, a Brit (judging from his accent) pulled in as we were getting ready to leave (McD's), on his touring bike, with gear.   He was also circling the lake, but in the opposite direction.  Interesting guy, older than us, and wearing what looked more like golfing clothes than biking clothes.

Once we hit the Cleveland border we called our host and she confirmed directions for getting to her place.  We arrived in plenty of time to get to the hall of fame, and she was very gracious, helping us figure out here everything was, and making us feel welcome.  She's a teacher in Cleveland public schools, so has Summers available to bike tour.  She's gone to Chicago and DC, from Cleveland, in the past couple of years.

 

 

The Hall of Fame was a lot of fun and interesting.  We spent almost 3 hours there, before leaving for dinner.  We ate at a Japanese noodle house, and sat outdoors there also.  Good food and interesting people watching, too.  There was an Indians game tonight, and the Gay Games wrapped up today in Cleveland, so there were a lot of people around for those two things.  Downtown Cleveland seems like a pretty happening and interesting place, and we enjoyed poking around a bit (mostly trying to find the restaurant, but also it was fun to look).

Back at the apartment it was nice to have something under me besides the ground, for a change!  And also be able to charge everything up, which is sometimes challenging at a campsite...

Tomorrow, we go to Sandusky, home of Cedar Point amusement park (but we will not be going there...).