Day 35: Cleveland Rest Day Recap

This fourth, and last, rest day of the trip has involved a lot of "horizontal time" as I've napped, and watched football and golf - plus the usual laundromat visit (this time in the hotel) and a trip to a local CVS.  It was capped off by a very nice dinner at the Urban Farmer (bottom floor of Westin Hotel) restaurant a few blocks from my hotel.  I arrived at 5pm when they started to serve dinner, got an outside table, and then noticed all of the security people just up the street.  It turns out the Cleveland Browns stay at the Westin Hotel the night before home games (they host the Raiders tomorrow) and I was seated near where their valet parking is located. So throughout dinner I was treated to a parade of very big men getting out of very nice vehicles.

The last five days of riding since our rest day in Madison have gone very well.  The scenery has been nice, but nothing very special.  I have enjoyed going through the many nice small and medium size towns along our route.  I did not enjoy the bad roads in Michigan -  most states at least attempt to patch potholes.  Michigan appears to be attempting to set records for pothole depth. 

What's been most gratifying about the last five days is my overall physical condition.  I am pedaling stronger at a faster pace and have almost no muscle soreness.  I don't know what to credit it to, but I know that I don't plan to change any of my routine for the rest of the trip.  After each ride I use a rubber band to stretch my legs, followed by a leg massage with a rolling pin device that I carry with me. Before each ride, I get up at 4:30am to soak for 20 minutes in a tub of hot water and then repeat the stretching and massage.  I continue to take magnesium, calcium, and potassium supplements - and I've been off of my low dose of statin (Crestor) since early June.  I certainly hope my good fortune continues.

The last portion of the trip involves nine straight days of pedaling with each of the first five being over 100 miles.  Our route avoids any major northeastern city and instead takes us through the following towns: Meadville PA, Bradford PA, Corning NY, Cazenovia NY, Speculator NY, Ticonderoga NY, Fairlee VT, North Conway NH, and then to our destination in Portland.  The fall colors should intensify each day and reach their peak as we ride into the mountains of upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire.  

As always the wild card will be the weather.  Moderate to strong easterly headwinds are forecast for at least the next several days which will make the 100+ mile days more challenging - but at this point we are pretty much calibrated to constant headwinds.   However, we are not used to rain - and rain is in the forecast for later this week.

No matter what the weater brings, I am really looking forward to this final portion of what continues to be a great cycling adventure.

Steve