Day 54 – July 27 – Willowick, OH to Conneaut, OH– 75 Miles

Willowick is one of the eastern suburbs of Cleveland and we had to make our way through several more before we were out of the metro area.   For the most part we followed the shore of Lake Erie except near Perry, OH where we made our way inland.  Our route rejoined Lake Boulevard northeast of Perry and stayed within a few hundred yards of the shore for the rest of the way to Conneaut.

We had lunch in Perry, and stopped in Geneva on the Lake for our ice cream break.  There, several customers approached us to ask about the ride.  Geneva on the Lake is a quaint little resort town.  It has many small hotels and a strip with bars, places to eat, arcades and shops.  I thought of it as a Midwest version of Key West, or Gatlinburg, TN.

The last 24 miles took us through Ashtabula then into Conneaut.  Along the way we saw the remnants of factories, foundries and a power plant along the shore.  Both towns showed evidence of a once thriving industrial economy that was no more.

Today’s ride was accompanied with cooler temperatures and lower humidity.  We rode into a headwind out of the northeast most of the day, but it was off the lake and had a cooling effect.

Tomorrow we will enter Pennsylvania, just east of Conneaut.  If all goes as planned we will be spending tomorrow evening in New York state within an easy day’s ride of Buffalo.  In Buffalo we will stay at First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo hosted by the Rev Phil Gittings.