Wednesday, September 16, 2015

2015 Underground Railroad and Erie Canal Ride

9/15/15

Wellington, OH to Hudson, OH

OMG! It was a day I am glad is finally over.... After the previous day's brutal ride, I adjusted the route to cut off 10 miles and hopefully some climbing....the best laid plans sometimes never come to fruition...

We left Wellington, at around 8 am and ...Not even a mile out, my feet, which had been going numb since we started this trip, now decided that they were going to do a complete revolt and each pedal stroke was sheer agony...they hurt to pedal, they hurt to stand, they throbbed continuously...it was like pins and needles x100...

So when we realized that there was a bike shop in Medina, OH (about 5 miles off the route) we decided to detour there to get air in our tires and me hopefully get some foot relief....


After about 2 hours at Century Cycles in Medina, OH, I had a new (albeit ugly) pair of shoes which believe it or not, while it didn't totally cure the problem, made a big difference.

We had lunch at Panera and changed the route again cuz there was a Heron Rookery nearby. The last thing I wanted to do was add more miles, but alas, we did.

I didn't go to the rookery as I realized that it was at the bottom of a very steep hill, which to me translated into a very steep climb to come back, so while Marnie and Miriam went to the rookery I plotted the shortest course to the next hotel and took it.

My route cut through Cayouga Valley National Park and put me on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath, which was a very beautiful ride. I got off the towpath in Peninsula, OH and stopped at the other Century Cycles shop and Marnie and Miriam tagged up with me there. 

Turns out the Visitors Center for the National Park was right across the railroad tracks from the bike shop. I was able to get my national park stamp and my patch! 

Peninsula is about 7-10 miles from our hotel but is really the only place to find food unless you want pizza delivery. 


We had dinner at the Winking Lizard which was also across the railroad tracks from the bike shop and it was a very good meal. The down side was that we had a 7 mile bike ride to the hotel which included a brutal climb on a busy road with construction...it almost killed me but I made it and then the road to the hotel was all torn up so the last 1/2 mile was very, very bumpy. I finally finished the day at 7:15 pm! A very long day indeed. 

We stayed at the Baymont Inn, Industrial Parkway, Hudson, OH, which was very nice, what I saw of it before collapsing into bed!

55 miles / 4085 feet of climbing

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