West Siders ~~ where do you do your long bike

[katekosar]

over the years i've gotten bit by hound-dogs & run off the road by red pickups & blasted by semis while trying to ride long on the west side. hate the metroparks roads ... no way to bail. anyone got a line on some favorite quiet country roads not too far from town to do the long stuff? or is there any such thing left now that urban sprawl's taken over? thanks for any info.

[MarkD]

Well, I happen to be a BIG fan of the metroparks, but, I tried a cool long ride course this past fall... Take Lake Road out to Vermillion, then go south and follow the Lorain County Bike routes. It's a terrific change of pace...

[Tim Edwards]

I ride any of the southerly roads from my house Ridge, State, Broadview south into Medina county and do some type of loop into or around Medina.

I also head south on Canal road into Brecksville and into the CVNP where you can ride all the way down to Akron and can stay flat or climb any number of steep / long hills.

[suziharman]

Starting in Avon Lake, there is a bike lane on Lake Road. You can head west out to Vermilion or farther. Downside - it is FLAT. Upside (I guess), you can get some wind to train in sometimes.

[rogermiller]

I used to do a Thurs. nite training ride with a few PDQ riders starting in Westlake to Grafton.

From the Westlake Rec. Center on Hilliard Rd. ....take Hilliard.....turn left on Bradley...which becomes Chestnut Ridge.........then turn left on Durkee Rd. all the way into Grafton. Stop at the Grafton city park (off Durkee Rd.)to rest and re-group, and return back. It"s 28 mi. flat and fast.

After the ride you can lock up your bike and run laps on the I.25 mi. path surrounding the Rec.

[emmy tris...]

metroparks!

i live in lakewood so i start by the emerald necklace marina and ride on from there...sure is lovely...

[Kate Kosar]

Thanks for all the good suggestions. Maybe I'm just being a real wuss about the metroparks roads. The cars coming up around the curves really scare the bejeebers out of me, particularly when you can see the oncoming traffic and the cars behind you can't. There's just not enough room for everybody. I don't trust 'em to slow down before they swing wide behind me. Do you just steel your nerves and keep on keeping on, or what? Even yesterday on the mountain bike I ended up in the snow on the trails because the traffic was so scary-close. How do you deal with it??

[Aussie Rob]

Ride more assertively, and if necessary, take the lane for brief periods so they can't squeeze you off. If you leave just enough room for them to pass, they will....so when you're in a winding section, make them wait. It will only be for a few seconds (although to might feel like forever). If the corners are blind, they're also too sharp to take at speed....so feel better about that one too.

It's the metroparks, and being such i never feel sorry for drivers if im slowing them down for a few seconds. Take I-71 if you're in such a hurry and don't want to get stuck behind a cyclist for half a mile.

[sarajean]

Last summer, I went on a Saturday morning ride with some of the other CTC women. The ride started at Cottonwood in the Metroparks and went south. There was barely any traffic. I turned around after 8 miles, but the rest of the group went on.

I don't remember who all was on that ride, but perhaps one of them could tell us where that route went and whether the traffic is always that light.

ETA: I'm another fan of taking Lake Road out to Lorain County.

[pkertes]

I've been with the Cottonwood group a few times. You can stay in the metroparks and continue on Valley Parkway. You can also turn off south by Brecksville. I also ride west on Lake. I do the Cedar Point ride once or twice a summer. I ride to Cedar Point, check out the parking lot and ride home. Whoopee! I've also ridden west and turned off from Lake Road just before Huron, I think it's rte 61 and ridden south to Norwalk and environs. I've also done the perimeter of Lorain County (as much as possible)