Sunday, May 29th
My longest day yet – both in distance and time, as I covered 115 miles to reach Toledo just before sunset, having woken up just before it rose.
Mosquitoes attack my legs as I pack up my tent as quickly as I can and exit the park I camped in. I rejoin the route 6, the coastal road around Lake Erie, and make a few miles around the water. The sun is still rising and I catch the warm glow of it on the edges of houses which look out over the lake.
I stop at the Veterans Memorial Park in Avon Lake and take a short set of stairs down to the beach. The water is flat and milky and I swim in the water briefly to wake myself up and wash. I get dressed again and feel more awake and clean and carry on going, aiming for a Panera Bread about 20 miles away in Amherst where’ll I’ll get breakfast.
It’s around 7 and the roads are quiet, I pass a few joggers and dog walkers, there’s not a lot of traffic at this time and the miles pass easily. I stop for a coffee to keep me going, and reach the bakery at around 9, buy oatmeal, a bagel and some coffee and sit outside. I speak to a photographer from Seattle, he gives his business card and offers a place to stay once I reach Washington state. After a slightly unsettled night camping in the park I decide that i’ll make more use of Couchsurfing, Warm Showers, and chance meetings like this one, as after all the people I meet will help define this trip as much as the cycling will.
I push on for Sandusky for lunch, another 30 miles away. It’s more overcast today, which makes it a little easier to cycle, but the air is still humid and feels thick. A pass a few small cities, including Vermillion and Huron. A lot of motels and more bikers.
Sandusky is the biggest city in a while. Ferries go to some of the small islands in the lake and also to Pelee Island – Canada’s most southern point. Bikers congregate near the waterfront and I head down to a cafe to try and get some perch tacos which seem a speciality of the area. In the water are small thin snakes swimming around that kids are pointing at, some bask on the rocks too, a guy reassures me they aren’t venomous.
The cafe queue is long and I realise how much i’ve still got to cover to reach Toledo, around 65 miles, on top of the 50 i’ve already done. I’m meeting my friend Paul, and tell him to get there for adorn 8.30. I’m going to be staying with him a couple of days in Windsor, Ontario, close to the border at Detroit, and have arranged to leave my bike with a Warm Showers host in Toledo, the nearest biggest city on my route. It’s put me under a bit of pressure, to meet all these arrangements, but in a way I like the challenge to make it in time.
I grab a quick and dirty lunch at Subway instead and leave to city, heading inland, and away from Erie. I’ve probably seen the last of it now, and i’m glad I managed to fit in a second quick swim this morning before it passes behind me.
The road I join out of Sandusky is long and parallel to a freight train track. There’s a strong headwind and progress feels slow and hard, made harder by forgetting to fill my water bottles at lunch. The route i’ve got is mainly small roads close to farmland, services and shops are some distance away, probably another hour, perhaps two. I battle on through the wind, things get a little easier when I turn a corner so it’s now just hitting me from the side and is more distracting than anything else.
Eventually I make it back on to the route 20 and stop at the nearest services to fill up on water and buy drinks and snacks.. I have about 40 miles to go now and i’m just counting them down rather than paying too much attention to my surroundings. Soon enough I join the North Coast Inland Trail. Another old railway track now cycle track. It takes me out of the wind and continues a large chunk of the way to Toledo. I pass through Fremont, Lindsey, and Elmore. All small towns alongside the trail which I just get a quick glimpse of.
Rain hits briefly and heavily but clears again. It almost feels pointless putting on a coat on for it. There’s more farmland, train track, water towers announcing the names of the places I pass through. Time is getting on. I join the route 51 which would run straight into the city, but have to take a diversion which adds another 3 miles, but each mile feels twice as long at this time of day.
15 miles away I stop for a last ice coffee at McDonalds. I’m not sure what to expect at Toledo, the outskirts seem a lot like Cleveland but on a smaller scale, and in the sun feel a lot more welcoming. I cross the Anthony Wayne Bridge. Below people are picnicking and out in boats on the water.
I make it to the house just before sunset, around 8.45. Howard my host greets me from a chair on his porch. The house is old and wooden, painted a light shade of yellow. He has some ice water and pretzels waiting for me. I’m just happy to stop. Paul is waiting and after putting my bike inside, drinking the water, and chatting with Howard briefly about the cycling he has done with his wife, Sarah, a cross country trip on an ancient 3-gear Raleigh bike on his porch, me and Paul make out excuses and head off.
We drive quickly back to Detroit to reach the city’s best BBQ place before it shuts and we make it just in time. I often lose my appetite at the end of a long day like this, as i’ve been snacking so much, but the BBQ is a welcome treat.
At the border crossing I get pushed hard on my reasons to enter Canada. I’m scratching the mosquito bites on my leg and the border agent thinks i’m hiding something and asks me to show my hands. I’m tired now and find it hard to deal with the questions i’m being asked, despite having legitamte answers to all of them.
Eventually we make it though. Back in Canada again and time to slow down.
Map
