Cleveland Report

Just back from a trip to Cleveland--along with Detroit, one of my favorite neglected industrial cities, or as I prefer to think of them, cities of the future. Like Detroit, Cleveland is so depopulated that cycling through the city is effortless. We Chicagoans would consider it a paradise--until we realize that the absence of cars on the streets has everything to do with the absence of people in the city. For some reason, however, the main bicycle lane artery shares Euclid with the enormous Cleveland Clinic buses, which have their own dedicated lanes, but which travel at what seem to be unrealistically high speeds. We arrived Friday evening just in time to see a very healthy Critical Mass take over one side of Euclid, riding from the Cleveland Clinic/Case Western area into the Downtown. Lots of happy cyclists and lots of very cool bikes.

Saturday, we visited the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op, Cleveland's answer to Working Bikes, and indeed, director Jim Sheehan works frequently with Lee Ravenscroft and WB, as do most of the country's other co-ops. Here's a picture of the co-op down in the Flats on the banks of the Cuyahoga:


Here's a peek inside, with one of the volunteers pausing from wrenching a department store mountain bike:
 

Here is director Jim Sheehan pointing out a particularly fine bicycle for sale. Jim was kind enough to give us a tour of the co-op and tell us something about its history and mission:


The setting of the shop on the banks of the river:


Retail hours are Thursdays 5- 9 pm and Saturdays noon- 4. The co-op rents out really good road bikes for $6.00 a day or $20.00 a week, so if you are ever visiting Cleveland, no need to take your own bike. They also offer rentals on very high-end road bikes for twice these amounts, specifically so that racers and triathletes can continue to train while visiting the city. I can't think of anyone who does anything like this in Chicago. Here is a link to their website:
Lastly, Cleveland seems to have given over to artists and designers many of the physical features of their public spaces, from garbage cans to the metal plates protecting the bases of trees. Here is a shot of their very cool paper-clip inspired bike racks next to one of the Garbage bin designs:



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Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on August 2, 2010 at 1:46pm
Nice write-up and photos!

I also had fun biking around Cleveland. Here's my write-up on
my blog, Vote with Your Feet:
http://votewithyourfeetchicago.blogspot.com/2008/05/bike-ped-and-tr...

Cheers,

John Greenfield
Permalink Reply by Moc Artsy on August 2, 2010 at 2:43pm
Thanks, John. Your blog has long been up on my bookmarks bar, and I'm a dedicated reader.

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