It was cold again this morning - definitely needed to be wearing my jacket as we started our final ride of the tour.
The bike path along the canal goes downhill from Akron to Cleveland, but the altitude drop is so gradual that it is not noticeable at all.
There are plenty of historical markers along the tow-path. One sign showed that there were 44 locks between Lake Erie and the highest point of the canal. But since each lock
only raised the barge boats about 10 feet, the change in elevation was less than 400' over more than forty miles.
The tow-path is a park along its length. At one point, we entered Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This stretch was where we saw the most fall
colors in the tree leaves.
I was surprised that we were able to ride on bike trails so deep into the heart of downtown Cleveland. I thought that we would be shunted onto
city streets, but we actually got close to Edgewater Park riding on multi-use trail. Lance and I were riding together, and we made a wrong turn in the last few miles. However,
checking the mapping function allowed us to get back onto the route without too much problem. We were the first to arrive at the end of the ride. Lunch was at Edgewater park. It
seemed to take a long time before any of the other riders showed up. They said something about a detour, so maybe the wrong turn that Lance and I took fortuitously avoided the confusing
detour.
After the lunch, we rode four miles to the hotel. The Cycle of Life Adventure van would be returning to Cincinnati the next day, anyone that had left
their vehicles there could ride back and then return home. However, Lance and I went to the Cleveland airport - he flew out that evening to San Diego, and I rented a car so I could spend
a couple more days in town visiting relatives.
Panorama Photos
Still Photographs
