The owner of century cycles doing some on the spot repairwhile most of us were at the Lauging Lizard
Today's Acronym OIOOO*
I think today was the hardest day of the ride so far in terms of heat exhaustion, humidity and headwinds.
Even before the sun came out it was hot, and since there wasn't a cloud in the sky, we got the full impact as soon as the sun rose. We had to ride quite a ways south to avoid the outskirts and busier suburbs of Cleveland, which took us directly into the 20mph head wind which made trying to get out of the post recovery lactic acid burn and into an efficient muscle burn, all the more difficult. For the first 10 miles everyone was complaining about how badly their legs hurt.
In view of the projected heat and the lack of muscle recovery, I opted to drop out of the "posse" and take it as slow and easy as I could.
Victorian Bandstand in Medina, Ohio
The first stop of the day was in Medina at a coffee shop called "Cool Beans" where we all stopped to drink something cold and beg ice for our water bottles and camel backs. Although the town square was charming and had one of the prettiest bandstand I've every seen, and although the coffee shop was just across the street from the square, the approach into town was the pits. The road was cement slabs, and there was a half inch drop or gap between every slab, so the long grinding climb was complicated by a short drop every 8 feet. There was also vertical cracking in the few parts of the road where the cement slabs were actually paved. The stair step effect of the drops, plus the rotten climb and the less than helpful drivers who insisted on passing as fast and as close as possible while blowing their horns made it an unpleasant 6 miles. In Kentucky and Tennessee you could tell when a group of bikers was ahead of you, going into Medina, even though you couldn't see them you could tell by the blaring car horns. The fact that we were going south into the headwinds didn't do much to improve morale either.
After a pleasant rest in "Cool Beans" we walked our bikes back across the park to take pictures of the bandstand. while we were doing that we got to watch Laurie parallel park the van and trailer- a 5 minute operation of puling up and backing. We gave her a standing ovation. Back on the road again, the ice in our water bottles was melted by the time we got out of town. For the next 40 miles, the day passed in a sodden haze of riding, drinking, sweating, stopping to refill the water bottles at a gas station or SAG stop. Enjoying every chance we got for a rest in the shade of a tree, riding somemore and stopping at each gas station in an eternal search for ice or cold water. The route was a lot of gradual, long climbs which were mostly long and gradual and so very doable, but usually in the full heat of the sun with no shade. At the second SAG stop we sprayed each other down with misters and stood in the breeze and the shade to cool down.
Covered bridge in Cayohuga state park
After the first long downhill of the day we ended up at the covered bridge in Cuyahoga state park. It is right on a curve and the parking is on the other side so we climbed the concrete barrier and walked across the bridge and then down the gravel path to the parking lot and the road, thus saving ourselves about 1/2 mile riding.
Vickie said the termometer on her computer was reading 103 degrees. We were all drinking gallons, but no very many of us were looking for restrooms. We also got word from riders who had already gone through, that the tarred portions of the road, were sticky and tended to glue up tires and brakes and so were best avoided. For most of the rest of the ride, those parts of the roads that were not tarred were rough and broken.
The final climb and a very nice downhill occurred going into the town of Peninsula where we stopped at the local cycle shop and to have lunch. Century Bicycles welcomed us all with open arms and gave everyone cool water and handed out complimentary t shirts. Several of us bought sleevelss jerseys and changed right in the store. Lunch was at the Laughing Lizard Lounge next door. It was such a relief to be in out of the heat that we lingered over lunch longer than we should have and had a very hard time motivating ourselves out into the heat and headwinds again.
The result of our lingering was that we hit downtown Hudson and the town square, just as the afternoon school bus, taxi mother commute happened. After standing in the sun in the left turn lane for 10 minutes as one car at a time made it through, we made a dash for the sidewalk and walked the mile through and out of the town center before remounting our bikes for the final 7 miles to the Comfort Inn. It was not a pleasant 7 miles as we were in the midst of commuter traffic and trying to make our way through and over major highway exchanges and industrial areas with lots of trucks.
We fianlly made it into the Comfort Inn about 3:30 which also made it one of the longer days. When I got up to my room I spent time wringing out my gloves, shirt and shorts so that I wasn't dripping, before I put them back on and went down to get my luggage.
The final sour note of the day is that when I opened the sealed zip lock bag that I had put my Ipod nano into, I noticed that it was wet. When I opened the nano case and sweat poured out I realized that although it was still playing, odds were that it was about to bite the big one which it did when I tried to turn it off.
If it sounds like it wasn't such a fun day, it wasn't, but there is a satisfaction in knowing that I kept riding and that I got through it, and the reward at the end of the day, as always was a shower, clean non bike clothes and a big cold drink, comfort items which can make even the worse day better. The other pleasure is in recalling it in the dinner circle when we can all laugh at our desperation to find ice, where and how and what we did with it, and who had the most risque hot weather biking outfits. Yes that was me climbing the last hill to the final SAG with my jersey rolled up to my armpits and zipped down in front as low as it would go. People behind were complaining about being blinded by the glare from my lilly white skin, but at least I felt a bit cooler, if only temporarily.
Today's stats
66.21 miles
ridetime 5:13
12.7 mph, thanks mostly to the downhill going into Peninsula
net elevation gain 361 feet
Today's acronym Only In Oberlin Or Ohio- They do have their ways.
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