June 29, 2024
Riders on the storm
Day one: from Elyria to Oberlin
Flood watch, thunderstorms, damaging winds, hail. These are not the words you want to see in the forecast for the first day of a bike tour.
To quote Mick Jagger, you don’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.
A strong storm was scheduled to pass through the Cleveland area right as we would be arriving by train. So we opted to drive there, overnighting in Erie, PA, and dropping off the rental car closer to our hotel in Oberlin.
It worked mostly. We avoided some heavy downpours and lightning storms early in the morning. It meant we would start the trip by creating a gap in our cross country route. So that will be an asterisk on our trip across the continent, something I had hoped to avoid. But sense and safety won out.
Even so we didn’t entirely escape the weather. Several miles after saying goodbye to the rental car, the skies opened again. We got soaked and listened to nearby rumbles of thunder, hoping it would not get any closer.
Let’s just say the rain and thunder passed, and we made it to the great little town of Oberlin. Fortunately, the folks at The Hotel Oberlin were cool with us rolling our dripping bikes and selves through their lobby and to our room.
It was an excellent destination for a short ride. This place has history as a center for the abolitionist movement. It was a major stopping point on the Underground Railroad, and several of its citizens participated in John Brown’s raid. Oberlin is also home to a college (Oberlin), which was both country’s first coed college and the first to admit African American students.
Because today’s ride was so short, we had time to tour the town and campus when the storm was finally over and taken care of our waterlogged bikes and selves. Highlight included a great meal at Aladdin’s Eatery, a Lebanese restaurant, and a checking out the downtown shops.
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Listen: Riders on the Storm, The Doors
Today's ride: 9 miles (14 km)
Total: 9 miles (14 km)
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