To Austinburg

July 4, 2021

We were both somewhat apprehensive about today’s ride to Austinburg, a village a few miles south of Ashtabula. It’s on the long side, and the weather is heating up again with today’s high in the low 80’s - not that bad really, until you factor the high humidity in too. And, I’m uncertain about the route itself. It looks quieter and slightly shorter to take an inland route, but it adds quite a bit of climbing as it drops through and climbs out of a series of river gorges. Rachael and I discuss the possible alternatives and decide to take the low route along the lake, hoping that the traffic along the waterfront won’t be too heavy on Independence Day.

The view of the Geary building from our room this morning. I imagine it must be fantastic seeing it under a variety of conditions.

We have a quick breakfast of coffee and cereal in our room and make an early start of it, hoping to beat the worst of both the heat and the traffic. We’re rolling by 7:30, following MLK Drive down through Rockefeller Park, the greenbelt along Doan Creek that runs from University Circle to the lake.

It’s a fascinating park to ride through. My first thought was that it reminded me of one of the great green spaces left to us by Frederick Law Olmsted and his sons; and in fact they did have a hand in establishing the Fine Arts Garden that sits at the top of Rockefeller Park and includes the city’s famous museums. The ribbon park though is named for John D. Rockefeller, a Cleveland resident and partial founder of the park.

And an aside. Yesterday we biked through town up Euclid Avenue from Public Square to our hotel. I was surprised by the many obviously once fine buildings we passed along the way, but at the end of the day’s ride our interests were just in getting to our room, showering, and heading off to a meal so we just biked on by.

Knowing what I know now though, this area is obviously worth much more attention. A century ago Euclid Avenue was known as “Millionaires’ Row”, and was one of the most prestigious addresses in the country. Its splendor and reputation rivaled New York City’s Park Avenue, and was even compared to the Champs-Élysées. In fact, Cleveland as a whole comes as quite a revelation. It looks like it would be a rewarding place for a longer visit and an exploration of its museums and heritage.

The Wade Park Avenue Bridge, one of four fine stone bridges that span Martin Luther King Boulevard. All were constructed between 1897 and 1900.

One especially intriguing feature of Rockefeller Park is the series of Cultural Gardens that line both sides of the boulevard. each of them is dedicated to a different nationality or cultural group: India, Lithuania, Italy, Estonia, Armenia, and on and on. All of them would be worth a look, but we stop only for the India Garden. From the website of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Foundation:

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens are one of Northeast Ohio’s oldest and most beautiful treasures. Some 33 dedicated gardens, designed and cultivated by distinct cultural or nationality groups, adorn the drive along Martin Luther King Boulevard and East Boulevard in Rockefeller Park.

Founded in 1916, the Cultural Gardens are unique to the world. They represent the diversity and multiculturalism that is Cleveland, and bring to life the Gardens’ mission, “peace through mutual understanding.” They also tell the story of our region’s immigrants.

Depicted in the gardens are the poets, philosophers, peacemakers, composers, scientists and others who have contributed to world culture. Also featured in the gardens are symbolic sculptures and replicas of or tributes to sacred monuments in other lands.

In the India Cultural Garden, a statue of Mahatma Ghandi.

Leaving Rockefeller Park, for the next 20 miles we follow the lakeshore east on Lakeshore Boulevard. This was the part of the ride that I was most uncertain about, but in fact it’s an excellent ride. Traffic is light, there’s a decent bike lane most of the way, and it sees quite a bit of bike traffic. Today we pass three different fully loaded cylists biking the other direction.

On Lakeshore Drive, an excellent bike route east of Cleveland.

Even though we’re never far from Lake Erie, we seldom see it. Most of the time it’s a hundred yards or more from the road, back behind a line of immense mansions and estates. Millionaires’ Row may be long gone, but it looks like all the millionaires just moved down to the shore. Some of these places are so elaborate and spacious that they reminded me of French chateaus.

One of the mansions along Lakeshore Drive.

There is intermittent access to the water though along a few dead-end streets that run between the mansions to the water’s edge. We detour down one of these to take a look at the lake for ourselves and to let the GBO add another trophy to his life list.

It’s not like there’s no public access to the lake along here. We can at least go out to the end of the road and take a peek through the fence at the top of the cliffs.

The GBO gets his big chance to check out Ohio, and makes the most of it.

Along Lakeshore Drive. These two were quite blasé about our presence.

Two pictures of this subject, because Rachael liked one best and I the other.

Continuing along Riverfront Drive we see a pair of obviously fit cyclists turn onto the drive in front of us and then pass us going the other way. One of them waves and smiles as she whizzes by; but seconds later we look in our mirrors and see her and her bike sprawled on the pavement. I circle back to see if she is alright, and then holler to Rachael to bring the first aid kit. For the next several minutes Rachael plays nurse/road angel, offering up antiseptic wipes and bandages and ripping tape with her teeth.

Dana, the injured party, fortunately appears to ‘just’ suffer minor abrasions to her arms and legs, but thankfully nothing more serious than road rash. It’s not quite clear what happened but it sounds like she clipped her partner Emily’s rear wheel, perhaps distracted by waving our way.

Emily, Dana, and the nurse of the moment.

So that was enough excitement for one ride. We settle into a groove, putting in our miles and hoping to arrive in Austinburg before the day gets too hot. We stop at a service station to get some electrolytes into my system and some ice cream into Rocky’s; and later pull off at a YMCA camp to sit in the shade and have a snack lunch. But otherwise we just ride.

In Eastlake, the Boulevard of 500 Flags: “An inspiring memorial to remember the attacks of 9-11 and to honor military veterans, police, fire and others who have risked their lives for us all.”

A bridge crossing the Grand River, one of the only rivers in Ohio to be designated a wild and scenic waterway.

For ten or fifteen miles our road followed the top of a ridge alongside the Grand River.

This land bordering the Grand River is the most important wine growing region in the state. We passed several wineries and tasting rooms along this road.

Well, there is one more interruption to our rush to get to our hotel and escape the increasingly oppressive heat. When we pass a sign to the Harpersfield Covered Bridge, I just have to go see. Rocky is of course happy to tag along as I drop a quarter mile down to the river and doesn’t mind climbing back up again in this heat, at all.

The Harpersfield Covered Bridge, built in 1868, spans the Grand River. It is one of 17 driveable covered bridges in Ashtabula County.

An interesting bridge, but it’s much cooler on the inside.

At 228 feet, this is the the third longest covered bridge in Ohio, and about the longest I ever remember seeing. At its far end is a new metal extension to replace the span that was washed away by a flood in 1913.

We’re staying tonight at a motel on the outskirts of little Austinburg, about seven miles south of Ashtabula. There’s not much nearby, and much of what is here is closed for the holiday. It looks like we may have to choose between McDonalds, Burger King and Taco Bell, but fortunately there’s a pizza restaurant open a mile away that does delivery and the nearby Dollar General is open and has a few uninspiring beers to choose from. We’ve done worse.

It’s not easy being responsible for loading routes to our Garmins. Look at all the devices required - an iPad, two cellphones, and two Garmins. I could never do this, but fortunately Rachael has a younger brain and can handle the technology.

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Ride stats today: 57 miles, 1,400’; for the tour: 1,356 miles, 35,500’

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 1,356 miles (2,182 km)

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Rich FrasierNice ride, nice writing. Happy 4th!
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierThanks, Rich. Doan Creek isn’t quite as spectacular as the Aude, and take-out pizza doesn’t match up so well with French bistro fare. Still though, a fine day.
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2 years ago