Now I was something of a blank slate when it came to Cleveland. I guess I imagined it as something like a smaller version of Detroit, and an equally car-dominated city. Wrong on both counts as it turns out. At least for those travelling from east to west, the city has a great cycling route that stretches at least 10 miles along the lakefront. A few photos:
At the western city limits
The bridge into downtown.
A strange white building between Browns Stadium and the R&R Hall of Fame.
Just past the end of North Marginal Drive.It's a sweet ride, especially near sunset with the light all golden. You cruise through the western neighborhoods, through a giant park along the water, up through Ohio City, over into downtown, and then past the stadiums onto North Marginal drive, which goes between the freeway and a tiny airport. Around E 60th you start getting exits, just like the cars do! I took the MLK Boulevard underpass, which connects to another nice sidewalk trail up to the Case Western Reserve campus.
The Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway actually changed my views on bike routes. The genius thing about it is that it's only about 25% off-road. But the on-road parts don't have agressive traffic. The key thing is extremely aggressive signage, to the point of having two in one block sometimes. The signs are large, well-placed, and easy to spot: so even when the route meanders through some residential streets in Ohio City and looks like it's going nowhere, you're confident that you're not lost. I hadn't really thought so hard about the signage issue before, but I've become something of a convert.
1 comment:
I dream about bike exits, sometimes I even ride on highway exits to see how it feels. The signage issue is super important as, like you said, it makes riders feel more comfortable. For the slower pace of the bicycle they need to be much closer together than one might think. Ride safe man.
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