Gene James

I can only tell you my personnal experience. The ride East out of Cleveland to Buffalo was great. Light traffic and wonderful small towns. I hugged the lake shore as best I could. I found out that AAA maps are good for auto travel But... The road I was on turned into an expressway in Buffalo. I asked a police officer how to get to the border. He said "just stay on the skyway[freeway] till somebody kicks you off" I just looked at him. I found a mailman who directed me. Crossing the border was a snap. I was waved around the cars and "welcomed". The northern border of Lake Erie is Canada's farming country. It's a little boring but quiet and peaceful. I had two tubes with me and I had a flat. The small towns I was traveling through had "real" hardware stores but they didn't carry 700/23 tubes. This bothered me,having only one tube left. I considered stopping in Leaminton Canada,as they had a ferry across the lake to Cedar Point Ohio. I thought that would be interesting. But the ferry was broken down so I pushed on. Big mistake! Traffic became very heavy as everyone was going to Windsor to gamble. Then I got to the Detroit/Windsor Bridge. The guard said "where do you think you're going?" I'm going to cross. No, no bicycles. Ok, I'll walk across. No, no foot traffic. And you can't use the tunnel either. Now, I was starting to get a little pissed. How do I get across? You either have to hitch a ride or call a taxi. WHAT! I just couldn't believe it. It turns out the bridge has a private owner who makes his own rules concerning the bridge.Then came the ride through the heart of Detroit. Good Grief! I had rocks and beer bottles thrown at me and cars swerving at me. But now I was no mood to be a gracious traveler. I gave what I got. To my surprise,I got laughed at. I can live with that. Nobody takes a person seriously when you're dressed in spandex I had more problems in Dearborn. Car is definitely king there. Plus, I'm sure I wasn't using the roads I should have been using[lack of prior planning]. I crossed into Ohio and again the road I was on close to the lake Rt2/6 became a freeway over the bay. I called AAA and asked if bicycles are allowed on it as this is the only road across. They said, yes, they are allowing bicycles to use it. I got 1/4 of a mile when I sense that there's flashing red lights behind me. STATE TROPPERS! whoppee. I stated my problem. You would have thought he would have given me a ride across the bay,but no. He made me walk back to where I started as he followed me. So I pulled out the maps. I had to travel way south to Findley Ohio and back north again to pick up the route. I can't remember how far it was but I do remember it was 95*. I was exhausted. Just before I returned to my route, I passed a little run-down bar. I figured things couldn't get any worse, I'm going in and having a beer. I walked in, spandex shorts, orange and yellow cycling jersey that said "Test Dummy" on it and look cleats on my shoes, on a wooden floor. Inside were farmers in bib overalls and "Harley Boys". I was sweating like a pig. I orderd two beers and inhaled them. Nobody said a word but I got plenty of stares. The next day was great. I was traveling Rt6 right on the edge of Lake Erie. I had a tail wind and the happy thought of being home for lunch. I'm sure I bored you enough. Sorry to be so long-winded