Ted Kennedy Died!

Riding into Cleveland, OH I stopped at a park to get something to take a break and get something to eat. While sitting there a couple of biker guys(Harley bikers, not Lance bikers) came up to me and asked what the hell I was doing. They were amazed and told me stories of how the rode their motorcycles all over and good places to go see when I made it further north. Near the end of the conversation, one of the guys says, "Oh, you know what? I have a Dago friend up in Hamburg you could stop and see. Don't worry hes one of those nice Dago's, a real 'Hey, hayadoin' kinda guy you know?" without even know whether I would be going through the town or not, the guy gives his friend a call and says that I will be there in a few days. This was not the case, but he told the guy anyway and said, "He's 85 he wont remember it anyways, you know?" He finished almost every sentence with, "you know?" They also insisted on giving me some stuff from their lunches which they picked up from a local shop. This was a nice welcome to Cleveland and began a fun weekend hanging out with my cousin Kate.

I did not know what to expect from Cleveland and was surprised at how large it was upon arriving. Entering the town from the West there is a beautiful view of the skyline and Lake Erie. After meeting up with Kate, I got cleaned up and we went out for a delicious dinner full of vegetables, which seem hard to come by. Following dinner we went out to a local high school football game. I was shocked to see how big high school football was in Ohio and how the ENTIRE community supported the local high school team. The game was a big deal, but at Westlake High (the school that we went to watch) the marching band was, "The pride and joy" of the school. It was strange to be back at a high school football game, but I felt a bit more comfortable when one eccentric coach was shouting when his team would screw up. "What the hell is he doing!!! Who the hell was that!!!"

My second day in Cleveland was just as much fun. I went on a behind the scenes tour of The Q, the Cavaliers Stadium and managed to catch part of the air and water show that was in town. Thanks again for showing me a fun time and taking me up every set of stairs in Cleveland Kate!

While leaving Cleveland I stopped to take a couple of pictures of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when another touring cyclist rolled up to me. Micheal is a 34 year old that is racing across the country. He's not literally racing, but he left Portland, OR the first week of August and is at the same place I am, I left on June 12th. He is riding for a couple of causes, but the most important one is something called Climate Ride. Its a ride from NY City to Washington D.C. to raise awareness for climate change. He is a nice guy and we get along pretty well. It is nice to have company again and it makes the miles pass a lot faster. Having company made the rest of Ohio go by pretty fast and we finished Keystone state in a day. Now I am in Buffalo, NY preparing to head into Canada for the first time. The plan is to stay there for a day visiting Niagara Falls. I am told by New Yorkers that I cannot pass this close without seeing them. In the mean time, I am taking a day off in Buffalo and seeing the tourist attractions of the town: The Buffalo Naval Museum, the home of Buffalo Wings - Anchor Bar, Tower Grove Cemetery, Delaware Park, and I ate a Hoagie.

Overall, I have to say that I am not a huge fan of Buffalo. This is probably because the town is very bike unfriendly...I have almost been hit a couple of times by people getting as close as they can, trying to scare me. Most of these people race past or rev their engines as they shout something out of their windows. Buffalo puts every other town I have been to, to shame. The town is not all bad though. When people see the loaded bike and they are not in their cars, they stop to find out what we're doing. In addition, we managed to find a couple of fellow bikers (Lance bikers, not Harley bikers) to put us up for a night. Hanna and Jordan live up on the north side of town and have done a bit of bike touring. Both of them are recent graduates from Buffalo University and are currently playing in a band together while trying to figure things out. We found them on WarmShowers.org, a site similar to CouchSurfing.com where you can find people willing to have you over for a night if they have a spare couch. When we arrived we were greeted by Jordan, who showed us around and made us feel very welcome. He even went out and bought some beer and a cake saying, "I'd like to eat cake with you guys." I thought this was hilarious and was more than willing to put away a couple of pieces after a long ride. The conversation and comfy couch was a welcome change from the usual park benches.

I will write more soon, but Buffalo is a big place and there is a lot of cool old stuff to explore here.

-Marcus