Ahh yes, the fabled “Cedar Point trip.”
Since we started riding bikes last year we’ve talked about riding them to Sandusky/Cedar Point. In fact, at originally we were going to make it last year, mere months after we started riding bikes at all. That’s a little ambitious, even for 2 guys that generally make horrible decisions.
So we were determined we’d do it this year. Spending hundreds of pesos on bike upgrades, and bags, and racks, phone battery cases, a GoPro to record the trip, and extra GoPro Batteries. Not to mention making and editing the routes.
We’ve talked about it for a year. We had to do it now. Put up or shut up time.
So finally yesterday was the day. We left Brookfield, OH at roughly 11:3o am. Which was good because it was before noon, and we planned on leaving at 9. We’re always running late, but at least this wasn’t too late. Calling that a win.
Our 72 mile July 2nd trip was the first 33 miles of the planned Sandusky trip. So we know what to expect. Basically one major hill, plenty of farm land. So far we’d been doing well avoiding the rain.
Past the 33 mile mark is when the hills came. Almost immediately. From the intersection you can see a down hill, but RIGHT after the down was a major up. We both had to take a couple rests to make it up the hill.
Eventually we made it to the outskirts of Middlefield, OH. It was about mile 37 or so, and stopped at a gas station for Gatorade. As we’re sitting on the curb drinking our gatorade and having some light snacks it starts to rain. It lasted all of a minute and barely got us wet. This gas station was at a point where we were supposed to turn off the main road, but if we kept at it we would reach Middlefield. We could then meet back up to the route with minimal difficulties. Why go to Middlefield? Last year the plan was to stop every 20 miles for something to eat. Or munch anyway to keep strength up. At the very least rest. At Mile 20 I had a Nutrigrain bar, Plonker had a granola bar, that he took one bite of and didn’t like it. So, at this gas station I google food in Middlefield and found an Arby’s.
Now eager for some Roast Beef in about 3 miles, we leave the gas station. I should mention that I have (too many) clothes in my duffle bag, which is strapped to my bike. It’s gotta weigh 50 pounds. I didn’t even pack that much! But its so heavy it won’t stand up on the kickstand and its very hard to move, wanting to tip over without warning. Compounding issues was the crosswinds which also wanted to tip me over. And the headwinds. But they were just creating extra effort of our end.
So at only about halfway through Day 1’s leg we hunt down Arby’s and find it… Closed for remodeling. Googling comes up with a few local restaurants, most looked closed. We settled on a little cafe, I had banana bread (which was ok but kind of dry) and a pizza panini, which was just meats and no sauce, so I don’t know why it was a “pizza” panini. It was good, very good, at this point I would have eaten anything and everything. Plonker had a Chicken Salad Sandwich. We managed to not overeat and then ride like we normally do. yay!
Leaving the cafe and heading to meet up with our route we went past every chain restaurant you could think of. Damn you Google!
The Hills kept coming. The road heading into Burton was horrible, requiring multiple stops for breathers. Finally we met up with where our route was supposed to come out… with another major hill looming right ahead. Oh, and it starts to rain.
Press on we did. The hill of course was also a killer. I’d occasionally wipe off the lens area of the GoPro. Even when it stopped raining the cars driving by would mist it up again. Oh and the cars seemed to like to play the “Lets see how close I can get to these cyclists” game. Cars are bad enough; the semis are a bit unnerving.
Near mile 55 it started raining again. More hills. Bla bla bla. Stopped at a little creepy gas station for Gatorade and to change the GoPro battery. We were nearing Cleveland, it’s going to get flatter.
But not yet! More killer hills. I knew a girl that called Ohioans flatlanders… apparently she never road a bike through Northeast Ohio.
So after a few more torturous hills, we finally reach the outskirts of Cleveland, and it does, indeed, level off pretty decently. Cleveland riding made me nervous leading up to the trip. Any time I’ve ever been to Cleveland, driving, traffic had always been a nightmare.
We came in on Shaker Blvd/Buckeye Road/Woodland Ave before turning up E 79 Street. That was probably the sketchiest area of the trip. At one point I lost Plonker for a while and I figured he was jumped. Before speeding away I at least sent him a text asking if he was ok, at which point he came around the corner. He pulled a leg muscle.
From Euclid on though the downtown there was a bike lane, which was awesome. Also traffic was minimal. At this point it was after 8 PM on a Tuesday, so maybe that had something to do with it? I don’t know, I don’t go to Cleveland.
The only hill-like structure was the Superior Avenue bridge. It wasn’t too bad considering all the shit we’ve put up with up to this point.
Another 10 or so miles and we reached our hotel. It was about 9 PM. So it was about 9.5 hours for 80 miles, though we stopped at that cafe for a half hour or so. So about 9 hours for 80 miles. Much slower than our normal of 10 miles in 45 minutes. I’m going to have to blame the hills on that one. BRU-TAL.
After getting rooms we went to CVS for drinks/snacks. We had thousands of calories burned, and dying of thirst for anything other than Gatorade. Plonker decided he wanted Chinese, and the pretty girl at the reception desk at the hotel recommended a place that delivered. It was 9:55 and they closed at 10. Plonker offered a $20 tip and they agreed to make and deliver our food. Yay!
Oddly, despite minimally eating during the day and burning so many calories neither of us were that hungry. I ate most of my chinese, but didn’t finish my snacks. I believe Plonker was the same. I was pretty dehydrated though despite the constant drinking, my pee was pretty dark. And I was hot. The AC wasn’t even touching it.
We’re just about ready to leave for Day 2 of the trip which will take us to Sandusky. It’s about 50 miles and should be flat.
