Buckeye advice needed: Best route through Ohio (Detroit to Pittsburgh)
 

Ohio riders, I need some advice on pedalling through your State. ODOT is restructuring its website, so whatever information they have is limited http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions...s/default.aspx. I have found a few other sites, but I am having a particularly hard time finding routes from Toledo. So that is the point I am at right now. I am looking for the best (shortest, safest, semi-scenic) route and also advice on camping along the way (where to camp along the way). Tentative departure date: Oct 27th.

A quick google search came up with this: http://www.rideforclimate.com/usa/route.html

If you'd like to make a detour into Kent, I've got a couch and some beers with your name on it.

Awesome! One less night of coldness.
I found awesome bike maps on this site:
http://www.noaca.org/bikemaps.html
I still need to plan an actual route though...
I am split between two approaches at the moment.
The first is to just ride along Lake Erie to Cleveland, then drop down. I found a few references to routes from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Or, I could plan as straight a shot to Pittsburgh as possible, which will probably put me South of Akron and away from the lake.
Has anyone ridden around Erie? It seems like it might make my ride a bit more windy, which could slow me down quite a bit. But, it might be a warmer wind (which is good). Erie is about 60F right now (http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/cwdata/lct/glsea.gif). I'd be looking at O2 and US6 which run along the lake it looks like.

tidixon,

Riding along the lake will take you on a North East direction and away from Pittsburgh. Depending on what kind of riding you are used to there will be a lot of traffic once you get to Lorain and thru Cleveland. Rt 6 does have a nice shoulder in some sections for cyclist, some areas not so much. Recently I rode on Rt 303 from Brunswick straight into PA at Sharon then West toward Franklin. It isn't a hard route except riding the hills between Hinkley and Penensula, I actually rode around that section by taking Ledge/Everett which is about 3 miles to the South of 303, into the National park, then North back to RT 303. Once I got to Hudson the hills were only long rollers and riding thru Warren wasn't too bad since all the roads were 4 lanes giving me plenty of room.

I grew up in Western PA and remember the area North of Pittsburgh as being hilly and congested. You'll have to plan that route with care. Tony Ratajczak's route (there is a link to his book on the NOACCA web site) from Medina County to Pittsburgh may be a good bet. One way to get into Pittsburgh from the North is to take RT 19. You could pick up Rt 19 in Mercer PA (about 15 miles East of Sharon) and follow it into the North Side by pasing thru Zelienople, Cranberry, Wexford and the North Hills section. Rt 19 was a major highway until I -79 was built so it is not hilly and does have a good berm. Once you get to Wexford on Rt 19 it may also get pretty busy.

Another option would be to travel lesser roads and go South of Akron or even North of the city to Kent then South East, then aim for South/West of Youngston thru the North Lima area and into Western PA via the "Enon Valley" and pick up Rt 18 South near Wampum. Once again the road will become busy as you enter the Beaver Valley once you pass thru Beaver Falls, and the other cities along the Ohio River before you get to Pittsburgh.

Good luck!

Good advice from Allegheny above. You could also try contacting:
http://www.clevelandtouringclub.org
http://akronbike.org/
http://www.hancockhandlebars.org/

All good clubs that should help between Toledo and Pittsburgh. good luck

mmeiser has some proposed routes that cover part of this on bikely.com
Proposed Toledo to Cleveland
Monroe, Mi to Maumee, OH obviously you won't be wanting to ride into Maumee but it will get you from MI to Toledo.
don't know if he has tried this yet

I looked at the Toledo to Cleveland route. I don't think you can ride a bike on RT 2 on the Bayview Bridge going over the Sandusky Bay.

haven't been that way in a long time

COP has several Ohio cross state maps....

http://www.outdoor-pursuits.org/main/forsale/routes.htm