Day 24--Westlake to Mentor, OH

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Well, here it is nearly 9 p.m. and I'm just sitting down to write the blog post for today. I am at the home of Richard Kandalec, an avid cyclist and the area's bike wrench, retired shop teacher (35 years with the same school), snowshoe and cross-country ski instructor, and father of two. Richard's daughter, Julie, is quite the celebrity. She is a nail artist whose work has been in Bride, Fitness, Inked, and on two Nail magazine covers. She does the the nails of stars and models. Julie recently moved to NYC to further her career. Richard's son, Jason is a videographer and also loves to work on cars, particularly Hondas. Quite a family!

Richard Kandalec on his back steps

Richard and I just got back from the Olive Garden where we (over)enjoyed OG's salad and pasta dishes! Prior to that we spent the evening at Lake Metroparks Environmental Learning Center where Richard and instructor Seth Begeman taught a Boy Scout cycling merit badge class (see pix below).  I was the human interest story and, since I am also a certified League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor, I could add a few points.



Richard talking bike mechanics to the scouts

Before he took the boys for a bike ride on the Center's trails, Seth asked me to explain to the scouts how to ride in metro areas. This because today I rode directly through downtown Cleveland, and I'm still around to tell of it. I was cycling along when suddenly the Cleveland skyline arose before me on the other side of the Detroit-Superior Bridge over the Cuyahoga [Native American for "crooked"] River into the city.

I crossed the bridge with a woman named Theresa, who kindly filled me in quickly on the next part of my route and pointed out the Federal Court Tower, the Tower City Bldg--hub of the city's rapid transit system--told me that I would ride through Public Square, pass The Mall, and ride past Cleveland State University. Theresa worked, I think, at the Fred J. Laushe State Office Building just the east side of the bridge.

Detroit-Superior Bridge over the Cuyahoga River

Soon I was riding the "bike lane" between one lane to the right and two lanes to the left. The right hand lane closest to the curb was dedicated to Cleveland's buses. And, boy, those buses were possessive. They did not want a touring cyclist in their lane. I rode just right of the next lane left, but had to jockey for position every time a loaded bus pulled into traffic. Often I was caught waiting for a light right next to the bus driver. The bike lane ended abruptly when traffic was funneled to one lane due to construction and then it never reappeared. There was a lot of bus, truck, taxi, and vehicle traffic. I kept my cool and took the lane in several spots.

Quite a bit of my route through the city was through rundown areas with very potholed and patched streets. At one point when I was waiting for a light, a woman crossed the street in front of me and then marveled that I would stop for a red light. I told her it was the law. "Most cyclists don't stop," she told me. At another intersection a woman hobbled slowly across. The light changed, but I waited for her to get across. "Just hold yourself up," she spat at me. "I got the light." Which she didn't. My third encounter was with a young Black guy. "Where'd you get that suitcase?" he asked, eyeing B.O.B., who was pretty indignant at being called a suitcase. "Bike shop," I called out as I pedaled past. When I exited the city on route 20/Euclid Ave, I was on five-lane commercial road with lots of traffic. I just motored on.

Just east of the bridge on Superior Avenue. I was resting a bit and found a place to take a photo. Unfortunately the photo makes the streets look empty, which was anything but the fact.






Internet view of Cleveland. I came in over the bridge to the left

Richard lives off 20, and I called him several times when I was perplexed by the route directions. When I finally got to the house, he fixed chicken and rice and a super salad for lunch and we became acquainted and told our cycling tales.

Richard Kandalec's house. His azaleas were just beginning to lose their blossoms.

There was sunshine and no rain on my ride today, also a bit of a cross/tailwind. I first rode along with Lake Erie to my left. Got a glimpse of it today because there was no fog. More of the lakeside homes were McMansions than those I saw yesterday. Near Cleveland they turned into simpler but  nice two-story family homes, similar to the one I grew up in. It is raining right now. Temps have dropped into the 40s and the wind has picked up. I brought only two long-sleeved tops. I think I will buy a zip-front sweatshirt for when I am off my bike at a Warm Showers host's or in a motel room.

The first 10 miles of my ride today were on OH-6, the Lake Erie Coastal Trail. I was on OH-6 most of yesterday also but it was raining too hard for a photo.

Thank you Richard for fixing B.O.B.'s droopy flag post. Thank you also for your Warm Showers hospitality. I will be sure to give you a good rating on the Warm Showers website.

Tomorrow I'm off to Conneaut (Connie-aught), OH. Tune in.