Who's The Bike King Of Cleveland?

What: Cleveland's King of Speed Bike Race + King Of The Court Bike Polo
When: Friday, July 18th 5:00PM
Where: Starts @ Cyrus Waterfront Lounge & Patio
Cost $$: Its Free!!!
For More Info Email: dizi4444@yahoo.com

Pedal Republik of Cleveland hosts Bike Polo every Sunday, behind the West Side Market @ 11am/Noonish til whenever everyone is tired. Beginners Welcome!

Its just about the most fun one can have re-appropriating space in Cleveland! Even if you don't play, come by and watch, its quite the spectacle to see!

Bike Week

It's national Bike to Work Week!

Here is some Cleveland info:
Cleveland Bicycle Week
Schedule of Events

Also, I came across this commuter race that occurs annually in Philly.
Bike-v-Car-v-Bus.

Happy riding y'all. Maybe we can turn it into National Bike to Work Year!

Who turned up the amp to 13? Great, it's stuck there now...

Finally on board now. Whew. I just had to get my lazy ass around to clicking on DB's invitation. Expect to see me more often here, and if it goes well, perhaps I might even start my own blog.

--The Past--

Perhaps 2-3 months back I caught the biking bug that Ryan's had for awhile now. I didn't have a bike at first, given that the mountain bike that I had during college was thrown out.
Important note: I use a mountain bike. Ryan and Ted have actual road bikes.
One day Ryan asks me to come over and hang out while he fixes the tube in his wheel. He also asks if I can pick him up a pump while I'm there. I decide that I want to go riding with him and that hey, maybe having a bike would be useful. I roll over to Performance Bike, take a look around, price some up, pick one, and buy the damn thing right then and there. I also opened a Performance Bike account-thingy.
That's a whole other can-o-worms...perhaps I'll make a post later about HOW MUCH FUCKING EMAIL THEY SPAM YOU WITH.
We meet up, something happens (I think he might have fixed his bike, or put that one aside and used the other one), and I think we ended up back in Mayfield Heights. I pitch the idea that once we head a bit North, we'll encounter a nice wide paved pathway next to the 4-lane, essentially flat, grassy median-ed SOM Center. I also let him know about one of the many (or just one section of the larger?) Metroparks up there. He thinks this is a good idea, and we head out. It was a decent ride, but I got my ass stomped. Road bike + seasoned Ryan vs Mountain bike + not-used-to-this-shit Mike = Ryan is breezing along way in front of me while I'm pedaling inefficiently, tired, and wondering what happened to me. This irritates me. I tell myself that despite the fact that I may very well not follow through on this plan, I'm going to try and bike more so this doesn't happen again.

--The Present--
Fast forward to now. I've actually sort of followed through. I've gotten out more frequently. The rides I've been on are MUCH longer, like 1 and 2 hour rides instead of little 20-30 minute sessions. I've become more efficient with my pedaling. I don't always stand up to gain speed and thus blow out my legs. I force myself to sit down and just grind it out. You have to understand that I'm a sprint type of guy. Running, biking, swimming...I don't really do endurance events in those activities. Whenever I've biked before, I did little sprints where I stand up and pedal hard for bursts of speed. It's fun. I love speed. You go fast as hell, and then slow down and pedal slowly. Repeat when the tiredness subsides. The types of bike rides I've done lately are NOT conducive to that, and thus I had to change.

Last big ride I was on was with Ryan. We left from Coventry and headed down to Lake Erie. From the lakeside, we headed up to an abandoned Howard Johnson. Slipped ourselves and our bikes through the gap in the fence gates, quasi-hid the bikes and locked them up, then explored the gutted 15-ish story structure. Dealt with a potential cop scare, snuck over the fence to a gravel road behind the building, and jetted. After the HoJo, the one place we checked out was fully boarded up and in the middle of the a neighborhood, so no real ability to be sneaky and get in there without being visible to a shitload of people. Headed next to the telescope factory. About to head in when Ryan's eye spots an (assumed) homeless dude tucked away in this little brick...thing. He stared at us for awhile while we stood around and decided whether we should still go in. Ryan checks the hole we'd climb through one more time and sees people/hears footsteps. We decided it wasn't a wise idea to lock up our bikes and explore this place when there are bums all over. Take off, hit up THE CORRIDOR (why does he capitalize the whole thing?) and head back to Coventry. One big-ass uphill climb in Little Italy later, and we're back to where we started. Good ride. Good workout. Good sights. Lots of pictures taken on Ryan's end (and one video clip I think). I still can't keep up with Ryan, but I did a MUCH better job than the first time we headed out. I can tell this is turning into something good.

Lately I've been swimming, mostly because while riding is great, it's only working my legs. I want some upper-body activity, so I hit the pool. It's a similar situation there as was with biking for the first time. You try swimming laps again after not having done it for 5+ years, and you find out real quick how you're not in the same shape as you were then. Hopefully I can have a similar ramp-up as I did with biking.

PS - Please excuse the rambling, somewhat incoherent look and feel of this post. I know the layout is iffy. I haven't blogged before, I don't have a blog, and this is the first blog I've dealt with, so deal with it while I get used to this. Oh, and one more thing...you might find that some of my posts are long. Hope you don't mind walls of text from time to time.

Weekend Warriors 2

Last weekend, I was graced with the companionship of Mike Sokol on my Sunday Ride (or the Sunny Day Ride, should it fall on a Saturday and it's sunny; or the Cloudy Day Ride [also occurring on Saturday, aforementioned conditions]), or, simply, The Ride.

The Ride, as I've come to discover over these last few weeks, is a bit different from a ride, in the sense of coming home from work or riding up to Coventry with one's special lady (or gentleman) friend. The Ride is brisk but not exhausting, freewheeling but restrained, deep but not wide, firm but not unaccommodating. The Ride, if it is planned correctly, affords moments of natural reflection and urban exploration. The tandem of natural and urban aspects are most important.

So last weekend, Mike Sokol and I planned a route North towards our Great Lake along the overcultured Martin Luther King Drive. Fall is a good time of year to take this route. Mike Sokol had to work a bit harder than me throughout the course of the day, as he was pushing a mountain bike. I might add that Mike appeared slightly out of his element, as he wasn't in Mayfield Heights bunny-hopping mailboxes and elderly people in carts.

But we made it up to the lake with little trouble and hit the Lake Erie Scenic Bikeway -- West toward the city.











We took a zen break. Mike Sokol, no doubt, vehemently denies any moments of zen occurred during The Ride. Well it happened, Mike, and here's proof:













After being heckled by some women fishermen, we left our little craggy outcropping and pushed forward. I think, maybe, I had intentions of going downtown. But as we approached E. 5-5, that inviting HO-JO, gazing blankly over the lake, waved us off the trail.














So we exited the bike way, and scouted out the rear of the building, where I took this picture before the batteries on my camera died.














A gas station a little further up 5-5 provided the power I needed. Over the fence we went.



We found the place thoroughly gutted, with no traces of habitation, save some pigeons that caused Mike some grief (as pigeons often do) that resided near the roof.


The roof, naturally, was the focal point, but this tree growing out of the lobby was intriguing too.










Here is the view from the top. You've got your lake; you've got your Cleveland.











I would have liked to have gone back down and explored the lobby, but Mike caught sight of a motorcycle cop -- one of Cleve-O's finest, no doubt -- making himself cozy a few hundred feet up the road. Both Mike and I recalled seeing him ride past a few minutes prior and assumed he was there to take us out.

We panicked a bit (I know my heart rate picked up, and it wasn't from the 10-story climb) and beat it out of there -- with VIGOR! It kind of went like this: Me-Fence-Bike-Fence-Bike-Fence-Mike-Fence. We said good-bye to 5-5 HoJo.










There is an abandoned telescope factory on Carnegie near 5-5 that we meant to hit up next, but were rather off-put by a man in a shack seemingly guarding the property. Mike and I stood in the middle of a brick alley -- on one end was an entrance into the factory on the other was the shack with the guy in it. We decided to try the factory another day. On the way out, the man asked if I wanted to buy a tape recorder, which he held up to my face. I declined, politely.

Mike Sokol and I rode the glorious CORRIDOR -- the artery that will once again pump life into this malignant city. As I was taking a picture of the building without a face (below), a passerby asked if I could buy him some food from a nearby Aldi's. I told him I would, as he wasn't trying to sell me a tape recorder, and it seemed like the man could use a bite to eat.














He was gracious, for sure, when I gave him some bread, hot dogs, and milk, but quickly got to work soliciting people in the parking lot for bus fare. Ah well.

Mike Sokol pretty much kicked my ass down the rest of Euclid as his full suspension bike seemed made for that horrible stretch between E.79 and Stokes. We began with zen and ended intense (read: Mike Sokol).

Cassette

In the absence of a ride last weekend, I began thinking long and hard as to a place I'd love go and just spend a few days on the bike. Sure, there's Appalachia and the Pacific Northwest. I imagine New England would be pretty nice. As would the Smokies in Tennessee. But my number one is more local -- close to home but still off the beaten trail. I'd love to ride the The Ravenna Arsenal.


View Larger Map

Tucked neatly away in a densely wooded area between Ravenna and Warren, OH, this site would be ideal for an all-day ride. After researching a bit, I found an article that mentioned bike hikes being held on there intermittently. I think it would be a great place for a cyclocross or cross-country race maybe once a year in the fall. It could be called the Arsenal Assault or the Tour de Ordinance.

Here's an interesting news story produced by Julie Grant, formerly of 89.7 WKSU-fm in Kent, OH. Army Opens Ravenna Arsenal for Tour.

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In other news, I was almost run down by a tractor trailer last week. I heard the unmistakable holler of a diesel engine behind me and took a gander over my left shoulder as the cab buzzed me, maybe 18 inches away. The trailer had me pinned in a narrow trench between the wheels and the curb.

I slowed down and tried to let him pass, but it seemed like he had the same intentions and did the same. I managed to squeeze out from behind, but was almost hit by another car when I tried to zip past on the left. Not the smartest move, I realize, but I wasn't really thinking straight at that point.

A grisly arm waved me past, but I never managed to see the driver's face, even as I glanced back at him. It was vaguely reminiscent of one of my favorite movies.

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Another instance in which I was almost run down.

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Also, I got a new wheelset last week. Can anyone hook me up with a seven speed cassette?

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.

Biking On Rockitecture.

A few days ago, I too wrote an entry, on Rockitecture. on biking...

Enjoy!