Shortly after leaving I return to the countryside for a few miles of crops and orchards. Quickly though, the journey turns to a suburban then urban ride that has quite a few twist and turns. The main route skirts the surf of Lake Erie. There is a wide variety of housing along the way. When the road is hard up against the lake, the homes are magnificent. Some quaint and charming, some massive and mansion-like. Some with the long circle drives around central flowing fountains in front of the the large pillared house. Others were stately older homes in a variety of styles and textures, including siding, brick and rock. All are multi-million (and higher) dollar homes that went on for miles. There were a lot of laborers hard at work keeping up the homes for the daily house parade. At one point it felt like the road was the comma that separates the millions on the left from the hundreds of thousandson the right. It was impressive to see and had something that everyone one would like, and dislike, for that matter. Most of my favorites were on the right side of the road (comma).
Then the road turns and the housing completely changes. As the route turns away from the lake, industry and commerce take over the real estate as I pedal through some hard worn areas. Then in a few miles, massive homes on Lake Avenue again. Ultimately the ride turns urban, which is an altogether different part of the adventure. At this point, we are not a curiosity, we are just an impediment for people who have places to go in a hurry, apparently. As we set off the the final 32 miles, we get to meander downtown Cleveland to avoid the main thoroughfares. We see the underbelly of the city and some of its, frankly fascinating, infrastructure. The best part was the Center Street swing bridge, one of the oldest in the country. It allowed us to avoid the main bridges to create alternate cross routes over the Cuyahoga River.
One of the two best auxiliary sights at these homes were the deer munching on the freshly manicured lawns of the mansions. It happened on multiple occasions. The scenario seemed bizarre this close to the big city of Cleveland.
Second, the most daring antic I witnessed was a banner approximately 3x8 with a large dark blue "M" trimmed in light maize adjacent to the words simple words "Go Blue" screaming from the sign. On a multi-million dollar home on the banks of Lake Erie....in Ohio. Priceless.
As we leave downtown Cleveland we return to many of the expansive homes along the lakefront. Shortly thereafter, the ride is on rough, high traffic roads along harder suburban neighborhoods where we had to stay alert and defensive to avoid some self-absorbed driving. We are looking forward to calmer trails tomorrow afternoon.
It is good to have a friend along and I am looking forward to the next few days. I have blabbered on about my routine, tour expectations, certain lessons learned, what to watch for, both good and bad. At this point, he may be reconsidering his decision.
At times I find it hard to retell many of the experiences I have had on this ride. Having someone along to add perspective and to be able to help retell them, embellishing as necessary, when we get home will be entertaining.
Tomorrow we hit Pennsylvania.
Moose search: not a chance today. Still zilch.
Song in my head: Ian Hunter; Cleveland Rocks. (In honor of cycling past the rock n roll hall of fame.)
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