Day 128-133: Clyde, Mentor, Presque Isle, Evangola, Holley, Weedsport

Day 128: Ann Arbor to Clyde, OH, 94 miles

Day 129: Clyde to Mentor, OH, 106 miles

Day 130: Mentor to Presque Isle, PA, 84 miles

Day 131: Presque Isle to Evangola State Park, NY, 72 miles

Day 132: Evangola to Holley, NY, 100 miles

Day 133: Holley to Weedsport, 91 miles

Day 128: 7/18/14

After a few days off in Ann Arbor hanging with Jay and Christie my folks met up with us in town and we all walked around the Arts Fair that was going on all weekend and then ate dinner at Mani Osteria and Bar which rivaled the food at Ma Ma's Kitchen in New Roads.. This food was amazing. The restaurant was family style so we got a whole mess of food...Calamari, some kind of fried spicy cauliflower, Caesar salad, red onion and pistachio wood fired pizza, sausage and peppers wood fired pizza and some kind of delicious pasta that I can't even describe but it was amazing!

After dinner we walked back to Jay and Christie's place, packed up my stuff, said our sad goodbyes to them and drove over to the hotel a few miles away to get some rest before getting back on the road the next morning.

In the A.M. we got some nice continental breakfast and got a few family pics, some of us shed a few tears (cough mom cough) and then my dad and I jumped on the bikes and hit the road... We rode 55 miles from Ann Arbor through some really nice country roads and then across the state border into Toledo, Ohio and then as quickly as possible out of Toledo (it was a pretty scary, rundown town) before stopping for lunch at a Subway. A few footlongs and some sodas and we were back on the bikes.. We rode down to Elmore, OH where we got on the North Coast Inland Trail taking us through Fremont (a nice, quant town) and then ended in Cylde, OH at a Red Roof Inn. Nothing beats a nice Rails-to-Trails route with 20+ miles of asphalt and no cars! Dinner consisted of a large pizza, a large salad and some beers. Showers consisted of a nicely chlorinated pool. Sleep in a spacious king-sized bed.

Day 129: 7/19/14

Early morning rise and another continental breakfast consisting of waffles, cereal and juice/coffee. Rain started overnight and was still coming down as we packed up and we started out with a light sprinkle that built up to some pretty good showers throughout the morning. We rode through Cleveland on Lakeshore Drive that ran right along Lake Erie. We couldn't believe some of the houses on the street. Ridiculous mansion after mansion.... Unfortunately, the weather restricted picture taking.

Once through Cleveland the rain let up for a short breather and we stopped in Euclid for a short break ourselves but, we could see the dark clouds coming in again. As per usual my dad and I decided to jump out on the bikes figuring that we could beat the storm... Well, that didn't work! Within a few minutes the rain turned on and this time came down in buckets... And it was some of the hardest rain that either of us have ridden through... We ended up doing about miles more in this torrential downpour and we also got my pops his 2nd "Century Ride" finishing the day in another hotel in Mentor. Total miles for the day 106. After drying out we walked across the street and ate dinner at Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill (loaded cheese fries, burgers and beer!)

Day 130: 7/20/14

The weather finally broke by morning and we had a great day of riding.

Around midday as we were stopped for a water break on the side of the road a woman in a truck pulled along side us and yelled out her window, "Got a minute to talk?" We obviously said yes and it turned out that she had done a cross-country bicycle trip back in 1987 herself and wanted to hear about our trip and what we were up to. If only it was later in the day we might have taken her up on her offer for showers, beds and food at her lakeshore "summer house."

We finished the night in Presque Isle, PA. We got dinner at a cool outdoor bar/restaurant called Schickalay's on the Bay with some good eats and really spicey horse radish sauce and got to enjoy the music from the reggae festival happening in the park right next to the place.

After dinner we walked down to Sara's Campground and set up camp on the beach in the most helter skelter arrangement I've ever seen. The beach campground had no designated spots so people just threw up tents wherever they wanted and so there were tents and canopies and all sorts of camping gear, fires, kids, people, etc.... all over the place. It was a riot. We popped the tents up behind a small shed to the side (the only open area) and both of us fell asleep before it was even dark.

Day 131: 7/21/14

We were in dire need of laundry after our wet first couple days so we decided to hit up a laundromat in the morning and leave a little bit later than normal from Presque Isle. Obviously, there was also a quick visit to McDonald's in the morning before laundry and then we hit the road at 10:00 a.m.

A short morning ride and we crossed into New York, my first day back in New York since March 11th when I left Sauquoit in the car en route to St. Augustine (feels like a looooong time ago). I had the big man snap the pic of me in front of the New York sign (much easier than doing timed selfies which I've been forced to do for much of the country).

A few miles down the road in New York we stopped for a drink and a snack at a local convenience store/gas station where we encountered Miss "Friendly" the "Friendliest Friendly" clerk I've encountered on the trip. I.e. She was not friendly. Only 2 highlights... She scolded a woman for walking into the store with a bathing suit top on and shorts... Mind you we are right on Lake Erie... Then I asked to fill up my water bottles from the fountain soda machine and she said that I couldn't claiming that she just could not allow it as she would face some very serious health code violations.... Just such a friendly, warm, splendid woman. So forward thinking...

We got to Evangola State Park at a little after 5:00 p.m. completing another really good day of riding. The park, although somewhat limited in its services, was really nice. We took another "shower" in Lake Erie on some rather sharp rocks that we barely managed to walk on and then got a large pizza, a salad and a 2 liter bottle of Diet Pepsi delivered to our campsite. Yep, we got delivery to a state park campsite. And it was glorious. We housed all the food and most of the soda and chilled out around our campsite and firepit that we had to avoid the bugs. We also had a few brief, almost legible conversations with our crazy Russian neighbors who no joke were swigging some kind of clear liquor that we could only assume was vodka... They were amazed that we could fit in our tiny little tents and kept coming over to look at them in awe. (Jay, Kara, Dan... It was close to the little, itty, bitty tent moment from our last trip)

Day 132: 7/22/14

This day was really hot and felt really long. We were on the bikes at 6:30 a.m. and got to Holley, after a 100-mile ride, at 5:30 p.m. We rode through Buffalo earlier in the day and through the outer suburbs that proved to be pretty mentally taxing as we had to deal with lots of traffic, bad roads and the 90 degree temperatures... Small piece of advice.. Avoid Cheektowaga at all costs! The epitome of suburban sprawl! Disgusting!

In Lockport we got on the Erie Canal Trail and rode the crushed stone path the last 35 miles of the day. It was nice to be away from traffic but you definitely work much harder trail riding than on pavement.

By the end of the day we were both feeling the exhaustion of a long, hot day and we had a giant feast at a local diner in Holley before returning to the local park to pop the tents and sleep. The only problem with our free sleeping arrangement for the night was the constant flow of people and noises that we had to deal with through the entire night. And it really did continue for the entire night... Affecting some of us more than others.. I slept quite well, despite the noises, and was informed by my dad in the morning that we'd been visited by a curious police car during the night. News to me.

Day 133: 7/23/14

On the bikes again at 6:30 a.m. As is always the case with my father (and I'm sure my mother and sister would agree) he claimed that our "little morning ride" to breakfast would be really easy without any food... Well, some 20 miles later and no breakfast spot in sight I pleaded with him to stop so I could eat a few piece of beef jerky to hold me over until we eventually stopped. Luckily, that was enough and I made it to mile 32 where we stopped for sodas and breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels in Pittsford.

Like the day outside of Cleveland, we again saw the storm clouds gathering and again thought that we could outrun them. So we jumped back on the bikes and tore down route 31 eastward hoping that we could stay in front of the clouds.

We ended up getting another 40 miles in and just barely tucked under an awning at Dave's Convenience Store in Savannah when the storm finally reached us and it was torrential again just like the other day! Victory to us because we beat the storm this day! It was much nicer watching the storm from a nice dry place as we are rather delicious convenience store burgers, sodas and chocolate milks.

Less than an hour of eating and hiding out at Dave's and the storm was over and we finished the last 20 miles into a motel in Weedsport. Another solid day. Typical night on the road... Arby's takeout, beer, chocolate and an early bedtime (one of us fell asleep at 8:00 p.m......)