81: 2-3 cylinders, barrier proud, the thin man, turn around, electric sex, steel mill, gregly pad, the bug dance, guardians of transportation, jacknife/swing/lift, sunburn, small giants, 6 bridges, jose & rocky, skyline, hore house, door zone

July 17, 2025

Valley View to Lakewood

I have an Air Tag on my bike, and three additional ones in my panniers and handlebar bag. Curiously, as Andy was driving me back to the trail this morning, I received a notification that I had left a couple of them back at their house. It was weird, and I dismissed it, because I knew they were in the trunk of the car - the only bag I brought into the house last night was the one with a change of clothes and toiletries.

At Oxbow Farm we chatted with Beth and Kylie for a minute (where I learned that Andy helped build the barn I stored the bike in), then I retrieved my bike from the barn. When I opened the trunk of the car to get my bags, they weren't there.

Before we go any further, you should realize that I'm not a morning person. If I were an 8-cyclinder car, I'd be puttering along on two, or maybe three, cylinders until about 10:00 (after which I might get up to five or six cylinders. On a good day).

My panniers were still in Hiram. When Andy picked me up last night he was driving DeeAnn's car, and when he took me back he was driving his own car. In my defense, they're both dark-colored, and have wheels. Four, I think.

There's no way I could ask Andy to drive back and get them - he's heading to his apartment in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland (where I'll be staying tonight), and has some appointments today. DeeAn and Jim are coming into town to meet us for dinner and can bring my gear then, but in the interim I'll be riding without three panniers (which includes sunscreen) and without my helmet.

So, with no way to get around it, off I go, feeling naked without my helmet and, oddly, judged by people who passed me. Never again will I judge anyone for not wearing a helmet. They're probably just stupid like me.

The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath will take you all the way to Lake Erie without getting on a road.

They seem very proud of this concrete barrier.

I sure hope he catches something.... ANYthing.

Sometimes I wish I couldn't read. Then I wouldn't have to follow all these directions. I'm just glad there were TWO of them, or I might never have made it to Cleveland.

Starting to get into suburbia, but mostly industrial. I'm not sure what this structure is.

Cleveland's industry seems to be doing okay, especially compared to some other cities in the Rust Belt.

The house from the movie A Christmas Story was a block off my route. It's one of my all-time favorite movies.

The inside parts of the movie were filmed elsewhere.

We have exactly one decoration for Christmas.

"The soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

Andy let me know that there are only six steel mills left in the country. This is one of them, and where all that ore on the train I saw (and felt) was going a couple of days ago.

It's pretty massive, and the pictures don't do it justice.

St. Theodocius Orthodox Cathedral suffered a fire last year and one of the domes burned. There was about a million dollars worth damage, and the restoration was just recently completed.

I believe I saw more bridges in a the concentrated area of Cleveland I passed through than I did in Pittsburgh, The City of Bridges.

This is a very short clip because as he approached the guy changed his gait back to normal, maybe because he saw me looking at him. At first I thought he was drunk, or maybe avoiding cracks to prevent breaking his mother's back, but it was neither.

then I realized why he was walking like that (you may recall my post from Day 71, "Ichabod's pogrom")

Individually, they're beautiful bugs, but collectively they're kinda creepy. There isn't a collective name for them, so I'll create one: "an infestation of spotted lanternflies," I don't think it's original, and certainly not creative.

Another bridge, with two others in the picture.

These are the Guardians of Transportation, and the pictures are the best I could get from where I was riding.

There are eight of these massive 43-foot-tall sandstone figures, each weighing 35-45 tons, which are part of the Hope Memorial Bridge.

Each Guardian holds a different vehicle: a stagecoach, a covered wagon, an early motorcar, a 1930s-era truck, a hay wagon, a trolley, a steam locomotive, and an airplane.

Each of the eight modes of transportation celebrate humanity’s progress in travel. Unsurprisingly, they were almost torn down, but preservationists argued against it.

When the Cleveland Indians rebranded as the Cleveland Guardians in 2021, the statues directly inspired the name and logo.

I can feel the sunburn by now, and have looked at the nonexistent mirror on my nonexistent helmet at least a hundred times today.

I had to wait about ten minutes for this swing bridge, one of the few remaining in the US and the last one in Cleveland. It was almost finished by the time I realized I should video it.

I rode across this lift bridge, the type of bridge which replaced swing bridges because they're faster to operate and safer for tall boats (safer because a lift bridge raises its center span straight up, leaving the entire river width clear for vessels to pass through, while a swing bridge results in the captain having to navigate around the pivot).

There's no perspective, but Andy said when there's a bulldozer on top of this ore, it's just a speck. The piles are massive.

I took a break at Edgewater Park and enjoyed the cool breeze off Lake Erie.

Jose stopped as he was walking his dog and asked me where I started my trip. When I told him Key West he thought I was just giving him a smartass answer, and I had to reiterate twice that, yes, that's really where I started. He likes to bike but hasn't in a while. In fact, he used to be pretty fast on one when he was younger, but just stopped riding. Raised in Harrisburg, he's lived in Cleveland for the past twelve years. The light of his life is Rocky, whom he loves more than some of his family members. The little guy is getting older, and he's just not sure how he's going to cope after he dies, but hopes to be reunited with him eventually. He did warn me, though, that he'll hump your leg if he gets a chance, and won't even treat you to dinner first. We had a very pleasant conversation by the lake.

Andy said this is Ohio's best beach, with the insinuation that it isn't that great. There were definitely some people enjoying it, though.

This shot of Cleveland's skyline was taken near Andy's apartment...

...where only people with houses like this can enjoy the view.

I did a double take as I was approaching this building.

...but figured it out as I kept rolling.

Sure wish I hadn't been looking down reading the words on the bike path when that guy opened his door.

Andy was really gracious to let me stay at his apartment, and I had a great visit with him. He has some stories from his time in Africa when he was working for the Peace Corps, as well as tidbits and anecdotes about the Cleveland area. He's also the one who plotted my entire bike ride today. He knows pretty much every bike path in the area because he's personally biked them, and routed me here and there to see those items you just saw.

It looks like I got lost a lot, but each of those are just small excursions to get pictures for you, compliments of Andy.

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Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 2,050 miles (3,299 km)

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George (Buddy) HallDiscussion of the pros and cons of helmet vs. no helmet is a banned topic - so I won't do that. But, in regards to your situation today, you should know that drivers who passed you likely gave you an extra 3.25 inches (on average) lateral distance than they would have if you had been wearing a helmet. I'm confident in saying this because I have measured it - I have thousands of data points actually - and my own measurements (which were intended to be published, but it seems unlikely I'll ever get around to it) agree with published research. Just an interesting FYI, and certainly not an advocation for riding helmetless. But shame on you for not having a rearview mirror!
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2 days ago

Mark BinghamTo George (Buddy) HallFortunately, I was only on the road for about 3-4 miles, and the rest of the time on bike paths and sidewalks, but....
Questions, Questions, Questions!
1. How did that end up being a project for you? Personal or Professional?
2. Was it statistically significant? What was the p-value?

No rearview mirror because it was attached to the helmet.
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1 day ago

George (Buddy) HallTo Mark BinghamIn eye doc office waiting for annual checkup. This answers some of yur question --> https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/heartattack/pre-trip-details-gear-research-project-and-other-tidbits/ Yes, the data supporting my conclusion is statistically significant - I don’t remember the p value. For years I made a living as a Forensic Engineer specializing in vehicle collidion reconstruction - I've testified in state and federal courts in both civil and criminal trials as an expert for either the defense or the plaintiff - I've been involved in investigations of several bicycle fatalities, I've taught bicycle accident reconstruction to police groups - so this project had both professional and personal interest to me. I have published in the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) journal, was an active member in their safety committee - but I'm retired now and this project will remain unpublished as I have other priorities. Got to get eyes examined now, more later
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1 day ago