Thursday, August 5, 2010

Sandusky, OH to Cleveland, OH

We woke up at 5 AM and got ready for another early arrival. Today was 65 miles, but we had to finish before 10:45. We left SS Headquarters, our lodging for the previous day, and headed to breakfast, a small restaurant near some of the busier parts of Sandusky. We biked an easy 5 miles to breakfast. For breakfast, we were sponsored by a restaurant that served us bacon and French toast. It was unbelievably good, but not exactly the best thing to eat before biking.

After breakfast, it was already 7:45, so we only had 3 hours to go 65 miles, which means we had to average a little bit over 20 miles per hour…not much of a realistic task. In my paceline today was Alex (Illinois), Jason (George Mason), Matt (Colorado), and Rich (Iowa), 4 of the fastest guys on the team. I really didn’t want to go too fast, because my legs were killing me from yesterday.

Regardless, we started to head out and I was doing alright. Then after 15 miles, we picked up the speed and then I was struggling, my legs were dying. At one point we were going at 30 mph on flats, and I physically didn’t know if I could finish today. Anyways, I kept on pedaling, and we ended up making rack point and biked the entire way. It wasn’t easy, especially with the speed we were going and the stretch of roads that were covered with potholes, but we finished. We were the first group to stage-up for are arrival, and only one other group made it. It was a pretty cool accomplishment to say the least. The best part of it all, was that stage-up was at this park that had an amazing view of the skyline of Cleveland, and only showed the best parts of Cleveland. From this distance, you couldn’t see any of the poverty and bankruptcy of city.

Once all the crew vans filled with racked cyclists got to stage up, we biked to our arrival. We had a police escort to downtown Cleveland, and we were meeting up with a sponsor outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He brought us lunch which was pulled pork sandwiches from I guess, a reputable restaurant, and Italian-styled pizza from another restaurant. I was so hungry that I scarped it down, but from what I could remember, it was pretty good.

The local Fox news were a little late for our arrival so they had six of us get back on the bikes and cycle around the block for about 10 minutes. Pretty cool, so if you’re in the Cleveland area, watch the 6:00 news.

After lunch, we got to go inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We only had a few hours to spend there, so we got the most out of it and rushed through it. It was pretty interesting, especially about the impact rock and roll had on society in the middle of the century. There was a 15 minute movie that we saw in a small theatre. I don’t really know what happened in it, considering me along with all my other teammates, just fell asleep 5 minutes in.

After we finished, we drove to lodging, which was at a hospital. We were staying at one of the rooms in the east wing. We showered up and had a couple hours to dinner.

After a nice nap, we headed to dinner, provided by another sponsor. Dinner was on a cruise ship that departs into Lake Erie. We headed to the port where we met Jim, who was the first Project Manager of the first Journey of Hope team, and he was the guy who started the Journey of Hope.

The dinner was great, vegetables, steak, chicken, and cheesecake. But it was an all-you-can-eat buffet, which was the best part for a hungry team.

The cruise ship departed the harbor, and got to see the Cleveland skyline once again, but a little closer. I was really impressed at how big the city was. The sponsor, was telling me that Cleveland was the Beverly Hills of the 1800’s, where all the multi-millionaires of that era lived, including the Rockefellers and the Morgan. It was also the home of Standard Oil and US Steel, two of the biggest companies of that era.

I liked the sponsor, but I could tell there was something a little off about him. His story of the reasoning behind the first Journey of Hope is a little different than the one that PUSH America tells. He was a little bit bitter about the whole thing, but I guess I would be too if I was in his shoes. He was really pissed off that we didn’t ride every mile, and I complete agree.

After the boat docked, we headed back to the vans and drove back to the hospital. It was already 10:30 and I was exhausted from the day. I went back and finally just slept.

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