A friend of mine in Southern California keeps chickens for their eggs, and he once explained to me that the glory of chickens is that they are just chickens. You don’t name them, or pet them, or take them to the vet when they get sick. They just do their thing (lay eggs) and you enjoy them for what they are.
After riding through Cleveland today, I had the same reaction. It’s just Cleveland. It has its virtues. I know a few people who live or spend time in Cleveland, and they value it and contribute to it. Cleveland just does its thing, and you enjoy it for what it is.
We got an early start this morning because i knew we would be riding on roads that could be hard to ride on with much traffic and I wanted to get off the road before traffic picked up. We started on the outskirts of Cleveland with some open spaces mixed with suburban housing developments.
About 15 miles into the ride, I reached the lakeshore with its view of the Cleveland skyline.
A nice system of bike paths brought me into the center of town.
On a beautiful early summer Saturday morning, there was plenty of activity on the lakefront, including a Black Girls Run event and a walk-a-thon.
I’m told that when in Cleveland I should stop at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so I stopped long enough to take a picture (complete with walk-a-thon participants).
After I left the downtown lakefront, I rode through the posh Bratenahl neighborhood, with its stately mansions along the lakefront.
We finished the riding day by noon in Mentor, on the eastern edge of the Cleveland area where we relaxed and got some ice cream at a local favorite shop.
There were no barns per se today, though this shed in Avon came close.
And there were gate houses in Bratenahl. Does that count?
The technical stuff:
Elyria, OH to Mentor, OH
56.1 miles
1000 feet of climbing.
Average speed 13.9 miles per hour
Weather: Bright sun all day. Temperatures mid 50s to start 60 and mid-70s at the end. Winds calm.
You can see the entire route to date here.