Avon Lake, OH

So my first time through Pennsylvania... We got into Avon Lake, a suburb of Cleveland, yesterday and we spent today a build site in East Cleveland. Yesterday was an interesting ride because we went through East Cleveland (not the best part of the city) and through downtown. I am pretty comfortable in traffic so the latter was nothing noteworthy, so my story of the day comes from East Cleveland. So this area of town is as I said before not the best, lots of boarded up houses and the like. A couple block in I decided that I really needed to find a toilet. So I was biking with Eric, Katrina, and Reed (a Dartmouth mob to say the least), and luckily I wasn't the only one feeling the need for a bathroom. So we first checked out a natural food store, definatly no bathroom. I then went into every gas station mini mart for about 2 miles with no luck. At each one the scene was always the same. Everyone in the store would stop what they were doing and look at the small scrawny white kid dressed in tight colorful spandex and a bike helmet with funny looking glasses. Needless to say, I didn't fit in, at all. So about 20 minutes into our search we find a Subway store and go in - I see the friendly bathroom sign and try to go in, it's locked, we wait around for a couple minutes only to find out, it was out of order, great. Then I tried a pizza place in the same mall, no luck. Our over half hour search finally came to an end with a McDonald's about 3 miles from where we first saw the natural food store.

After miles and miles of rough road, we got to Avon Lake (after a "flat tire" that ended in ice cream). The church was wonderful, what was even better was we got to stay in host homes. So for two nights (we had a build day) we got a warm bed, home cooked breakfast and did I mention a bed? or that bed I'm sleeping in? Thank you to all the host families especially the Fischers for bring us into your homes.

On our build day in East Cleveland (again) we were hauling dirt around all day (very glamorous) but the Habitat house next door was sponsored by the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball organization and a bunch of stadium and admin workers (I think) were there and I got to talking with one and he asked if we had gone to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I said no and he asked if we'd like to, and I answered "sure". So minutes later he had called up a friend of his at the Hall of Fame and had gotten all of us free tickets for after our work was done! So that was defintely the highlight of the day, seeing all sorts of music memorabilia (and Dad, I got a picture with some of Jerry Garcia's guitars).

If anyone reading is wondering what the heck a cyclist needs on a cross country trip, it is chamois cream, keeps the saddle sores away and makes the butt feel better at the end of the day. Especially Assos Chamois Cream, probably a rarity besides a some bike shops, but it is the gold standard!

It is time for me to go to bed to get ready for our first over 90 mile day, maybe our first century, depends how much we get lost :P.


There is something uncanny in the noiseless rush of the cyclist, as he comes into view, passes by, and disappears.
— Popular Science, 1891