Thursday, August 05, 2010

Post RAGBRAI Day 5 - Milan to Austintown, OH

Tough day today. There are now hills. I did 107 miles anyway, but I didn't get in until 7:30.



Part of it was I got off to a late start. I fixed a slow leak in the front tire before I left (and destroyed one spare inner tube in the process). Also I had to stop at Maw's Place for breakfast.



It seems the Cuyahoga River is in the bottom of a deep gorge. All I knew was it used to catch fire. Not only is it in a gorge, a bunch of its tributaries are in their own gorges. I had to walk the bike twice because it was so steep (over 11%). I discovered that I can climb 9% comfortably today in my bottom gear. I can climb 9% all day. But over 10% and eventually I'll be walking. I think it was way over 10%.

At the bottom of the gorge they have this nice bike shop. After a lot of digging around in the back, they found a couple inner tubes that fit my very obscure tires. Which is great, because I was down to one spare, which has a slow leak.



Look, hills. That's a nice restaurant across the street where I had lunch. They run excursion trains from Cleveland out to here. This is in the middle of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.



Since it was getting near dark when I got in, and since I was very beat, I stayed at a more expensive motel than is my custom. It's a Sleep Inn. $100. Ouch. But look, all the furnishings match and are tasteful.



The Econo Lodge was booked. I think there is some kind of big dog show here. Everyone has a dog.

Here is the track for today's ride.

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