Half of today's ride was in the countryside and the remaining half was in the more developed areas surrounding Akron and Kent. I resumed riding on the same path that yesterday's ride concluded on: the North Coast Inland Trail, which is on the old bed of the Lake Shore and Southern Michigan Railroad. When leaving Clyde, the trail's surface transitioned from asphalt to crushed limestone, and the condition of the trail was great for riding on. In its driest and most compact form, crushed limestone is a great surface to ride on. When it's wet and/or consists of gravel more than limestone, it becomes a much less favorable surface to traverse. After riding along the trail for some time, I was back to riding along the paved shoulder of state highways. One of the many differences between these state highways and those further out west was the number of towns along them. Out west many, many miles could separate two towns, where here in the more densely populated east, it seemed like distances of eight to ten miles usually separated towns. This meant I didn't have to pack as much food and fluids during the day. Despite this reality, I still packed as much here as I had out west: doing so meant I made fewer stops. Give or take 50 miles from Kent, traffic became more prevalent, and this was especially so in the Akron area. Hills were also increasingly common in the Akron area, some were surprisingly steep, and a few of these hills were the steepest I had ridden in weeks! After all, the past several days of riding through the Great Lakes region had been the flattest riding throughout the entire trip. One hill I estimated to be at or near a 20% grade! Despite its short length, I was huffing and puffing after climbing this hill, and in this part of the country I know my shortness of breath wasn't due to the elevation. When I was nearing the end of riding for the day, I reflected on the day and realized that today likely featured the greatest variety of surfaces ridden on: asphalt (path and road), crushed limestone, concrete (path and road), gravel, and a brick roadway were the ones that came to mind. After today's ride, I had planned to meet up with Fred, an old friend from Dixon that had recently moved to the Cleveland area. After resting and cleaning up, Fred picked me up, and we headed out for dinner. Completely by chance, the restaurant we went to was the most memorable of the entire trip. Stating this with over a week's worth of riding to do may have been bold and premature, but the likelihood that Mike's Place would be outdone was extremely slim. For those that are familiar with Star Wars, Mike's Place has an X-wing fighter in front of the restaurant. Inside, patrons could dine in one of two buses, or dine on a boat. This place has unparalleled and unrivaled character! Fred and I were amazed at the number and variety of knickknacks, photographs, and signs used as decorations. Much like Father John, it was challenging to look at the menu, because of how intriguing the decor was! Once attention could be redirected to the menu, over 200 choices on the menu made for an additional challenge! Deferring to the waitress for her recommendation made for an easier choice: reubens it was for the both of us. Our meals were very good, and catching up with Fred was great! Seeing familiar people away from home is great, and there's an additional dimension to all of this when you're out on the road on a bicycle. The familiarity of reconnecting with either friends or family along a journey like this can make you forget for a moment, or for a while, that you got here by bike; and you would get to where you were going next by bike: Pittsburgh.
