Weekend Warriors

Over the last few weekends, fellow Burning River Bike Blogger, Thed (silent 'h'), and I have been venturing on urban rides around Cleveland. Thed, the intrepid urban design grad student, has been compiling data (pictures) for some inexplicable and inaccessible thesis project (For details, I suggest you ask him, and leave yourself plenty of time). This research involves riding around the seedier, more ramshackle realms of the Land o'Cleve. We've been continuing these weekend afternoon rides for about a month now, and they've slowly become my favorite solitary activity. I realize, of course, that 'solitary' is not the correct descriptor, as I'm executing these rides with my favorite riding companion. . . but, you know, cycling, in and of itself, is a solitary act.

Anyways, we grabbed a late breakfast at Tommy's on Coventry, and decided to focus our attentions this weekend on the region north of Euclid between roughly E.120 and E.55. With the weight of a CeeBee (falafel + hummos + muenster + sunflower seeds + sprouts sandwich) acting as ballast, I settled upon the saddle of my bike and departed the comfortable-but-confined realms of Cleveland Heights. Thed and I made our way North, vaguely in the direction of East Cleveland.

En route, we decided it more efficient to cut through Lakeview Cemetery. Even though one is not allowed to bike around the cemetery (TANGENT: One lazy Sunday afternoon, my special lady and I were biking real casual-like around the cemetery and a security guard, awakened from his afternoon nap by my lady's cranky freewheel hub, rode alongside us in his guardmobile and instructed us to either get off and walk our bikes or get out as fast as a living human could manage. He was completely cool with us -- not a dick about it or anything -- but it made me wonder where this unnecessary bicycle bigotry came from. People can walk their dogs around the cemetery completely unmolested by the guards. And everyone knows that dogs shit everywhere. Cyclists, on the other hand, shit only in designated areas. I, I just don't understand. TANGENT OVER), we deemed it necessary for the soul.















It's a real shame you can't bike around Lakeview, because the scenery is real nice on the eyes. The terrain, on the other end, is a bit rougher on the legs, but that's not always a bad thing. Thed and I conquered a long climb and found ourselves on a bluff that allowed a distant view of our skyline.














We also stumbled upon Carl B. Stokes's grave, which was rather inconspicuous, considering his accomplishments. But, somehow, his modest resting place seemed appropriate.













We left via the Euclid Gate and battled the Avenue's abrasive motorists and even more abrasive road surface. I understand that the Euclid corridor is a work-in-progress, but parts of that road -- mainly the stretch between E.120 and the Cleveland Playhouse -- are not suitable for any mode of transportation. That statement was also meant to exclude walking as a viable means to navigate Euclid -- no sidewalks, most of the time.

We made a northward cut onto E.102 and took a detour into a parking garage we initially thought abandoned, as there were really no large buildings around it. Upon further investigation, it seemed that it might be used as some sort of overflow for the Cleveland Clinic, or possibly, something to do with Case. It may have been part of CWRU's millennial plan to erect a 300-car parking garage for every 2.5 students enrolled. It's always nice to see a plan come to fruition.



Here's Thed snooping around the one car in the whole place. It had gov'ment plates. Huh.












Here's a bike rack I found near the entrance. Just had to make use of it while I was there.












Afterwards, we turned West onto Hough and rode to E.55, passing the prison-like MLK High School. And it's a wonder these kids don't go to class. We looped back onto Euclid and basked in the blinding glory of the CORRIDOR PROJECT. If you haven't explored THE CORRIDOR yet, Burning River Bikes strongly urges you to do so, as the stretch from CSU to E.79 is very lightly trafficked, recently paved, and full of abandoned buildings to explore.

















Always up for an adventure, Thed and I embarked on some infiltration of that big building on Euclid near E.55. You know which one. It's huge. Seven stories. An old factory. Would make great loft apartments. Busted. Full of graffiti. The RTA cut a fucking side off of it to make room for THE CORRIDOR. ('Oh! That building!') Yeah that one. The one without a face. We slipped inside, slimy snakes that we are, and explored each of the seven floors.



















Local artistry:













The roof was the best part, hands down.















Seven or eight stories up, it allowed (arguably) the best view of Cleveland. The aerial perspective of THE CORRIDOR made it appear as a cement carpet that led right into the center of town. You also had a panorama of the entire East Side Metro Area. It was really something.
















We also found our future apartment: a 6,000 square feet loft, right there on THE CORRIDOR! Don't anybody think about jumping on this before we do! Not so sure how I feel about a dog constantly pissing on my apartment, but with 6000 square feet, I would learn to live with it.














We probably spent an hour in the faceless CORRIDOR experiment before heading out. It had grown late in the afternoon and obligations pulled us back to the Heights. Although we didn't cover as much ground distance-wise as we had in the previous weeks, I still felt it a successful ride, and looked forward to our next weekend ride.