the cobbled roads of cleveland...

 or cleveland cobbles if you will. 

I have been putting on this ride for; do the math, my daughter is x years old, minus the pandemic...12 years now. it started off as a good friend of mine were riding and we noticed a few brick roads near my house & as discussions go during rides "wouldn't it be cool to have a cobbled ride in cleveland?" but there couldn't be that many brick roads in cleveland...or could there be? so I g
ot to looking via google maps, & as I started scanning the area; I started to find more & more brick roads. I found questionable alleys to ride. then brick questionable alleys as well. I started to string together these roads, these alleys, & then throw in some quick hill climbs and a route was starting to come together. 

I then hit up a few good riding buddies & said "hey i've got this route..." & they were in. thus was the first official "cleveland cobbles" ride. so I kept looking for brick roads in cleveland, & linking them together in a way that made "sense". going the wrong way on a one way, made sense. overlapping roads & sometimes riding in circles, made sense. one of my all time favorite quotes from one of the early years was "who made this route? a 12 year old?!?! I LOVE IT!!!"

the ride continues to grow in popularity. I try every year to change up the route. to move to different areas of cleveland. so far, i've been pretty happy with my attempts. as this has gone on, I have found that there is enough in cleveland to keep it fresh & interesting. this is one of the reasons, I believe, that people keep coming back (& newbies come). what's the point of a ride if the course is always the same?

I always have the ride during the spring. usually the sunday after Paris-Roubaix. as everyone has the spring classics on their mind, lets keep that spirit going. that has proven to be very interesting here in cleveland with the weather. the 2023 edition was probably the worst weather we've had. just down right cold & rainy. a few people got flats that took forever to change, & that took the wind right out of everybody's sails. so cleveland can run the gambit from gorgeous sunny day (like this year) to snow (that was a fun year). with a beer stop near the end.

like I said before, the ride took a break during the pandemic (for obvious reasons) & when the time lifted to get back to socializing; I didn't know if i was going to bring it back. I thought time passed & everyone forgot about it. but holy cow was I wrong. I started getting messages. people asking me...when's the cobbles ride? so I brought it back. and holy shit did that ride open my eyes to how much people actually love it & look forward to it.

as I lead the ride, people come up to the front to chat; which is always cool, but that first ride after the pandemic...I got a whole new appreciation for what this ride means. the shit that some people went through & to just hang out with people & ride their bikes (this isn't a race) with other people meant the world to them. "hey man, thank you so much..." & then the stories would start. to be able to put on this ride where people could come together. hang. ride a crazy route through cleveland & have a good time doing it is cool. i've always been humbled by the turn out. I joke that maybe five people will show. but after that ride, I was truly humbled by what this ride means to people & what it does for people.

so to this end...I want to say thank you. thank you for coming out year after year. thank you for coming out for the first time. thank you for believing in me that i'll put together a "good" route. 

namaste...

what's the point?

 my wife asks me one day when I was telling her about one of my recent workout sessions. of course my reply was 'what do you mean?'

but it was a question that stuck with me for a few weeks. what is the point of me working out with weights like I do? i'm an old man. i'm not here to do 10 strick pull ups, or a bunch of muscle ups. i'm not seeking out a community. I work out alone in my garage. 

a quick back story...one of my good lifetime friends got me into working out in high school. it stuck with me through out my life. I was never massively into it to get a crazy big body, but I have always enjoyed it. so it has been something constant in my life. sometime ago I did crossfit. I loved it. I had a really good time there. the people were amazing. everyone was very supportive of each other. it was a community that I never experienced. everyone supported and cheered the newbies achieving their new goals and accomplishments. to the veterans getting a new pr. however; there was one problem for me, I couldn't ride my bike. I would work out early in the morning, and then I wanted to ride to the shop I worked at. it was difficult. I was cooked after my workout, and riding a bike just killed me. so my time there changed, but it was better for me to achieve some riding goals. fitness for life if you will. the box closed down and I sought a new avenue as I built up my garage space which was coming along nicely. however, I lacked direction. so I found a coach through my daughter's soccer club. he knew how important riding my bike is to me, and developed a strength plan around that.

from this strength plan, I have noticed some things changing. first, and obvious, is my lifting has gotten better. i'm moving more weights; which in and of itself, feels great. i felt more complete in my workouts. that is true progress that you are able to see. to feel the numbers go up. this is really what my wife was asking...haha. why lift so heavy?

i've then have done some reading on this aspect. there are some studies out that lifting may help with alzheimer's. this is one "point". I want to be an old man, and have my faculties. 

second, I have noticed improvements in my riding. last season I was getting pr's on some strava segments without even trying. so that was really uplifting. to 'see' progress without putting forth a major effort. now, truth be told, there are a few segments out there that I do want & will need a major effort...haha. another cycling related note, is that the other week I noticed that I was stronger climbing some hills. not faster, but stronger. I wasn't wearing out as quick. I felt different muscles in my legs doing some work; which was really cool to experience.

third, I believe that I am "fit". not crossfit fit. not strongman fit. no way in hell am I GQ fit. my wife calls me the "fittest fat guy" she knows. hahaha. but I can throw the weight around. I can ride my bike for long distances. hell...I can even go on a 5k run if I wanted to. once and awhile that happens, but not often. a friend of mine once called me "unassumingly fit". as you couldn't tell actually how fit I was. he knew what kind of work I was putting in and what I was lifting. however; to be clear, I spend from 3-5 hours a week in the garage. the rest of the time I try to get out on my bike. this is the balance i'm looking for. this is what is right for me. a "normal" (whatever the hell that means) functional fitness.

so what's the point? I want to be fit for life. what do you want to do? i'm in. i can do it. I want to move. I want to be able to move. now. tomorrow. when i'm 80. i want to walk up steps. bend over. pick up the remote (if that even exists when i'm 80) and that's the most important. 

take care of yourself for yourself and your loved ones.

amitabha...