The Longest Route
Clocking in around 8 miles, today was my longest route so far, and I think it will probably end up being the longest for the entire challenge. I rode my bike down to W. 117th Street and then began walking all the way back to the Clifton Boulevard Bridge to Rocky River. Lake Road actually continues across Clifton for a few more houses before it ends.
That brings up the first revelation I had today – Lake changes from an Avenue to a Road where it jig-jogs at Webb. The street signs just say “Lake” so I wasn’t certain until I looked it up on Google Maps. Although there were a few houses on the Avenue portion of the street that had Lake Road on their address signs, so I think some of the residents were just as confused as I was.
After walking for about an hour I passed a driveway with a safety mirror to see past their hedges. I used it as an opportunity to snap a funhouse style selfie. This picture perfectly captures how wobbly my legs were feeling by this time.
A few cool things I observed on my walk:
- Winton Place was the tallest apartment building between New York City and Chicago when it was built in 1963. There is a historical marker near it on Lake that has info on its namesake, Alexander Winton.
- There is a bocce court in front of Cove Community Center.
- I saw a house on the south side of Lake that is completely hidden behind a forest of trees.
- The Oldest Stone House at Lakewood Park was built 190 years ago.
- There are four Little Free Libraries on Lake (2 are across the street from each other).
I also saw at least a half dozen deer tonight. I took a pic of one that was in a front yard near Lakewood Park. As I was nearing the end of my walk, I actually heard a deer sneeze (first time that ever happened to me). It was behind a bush right by the sidewalk. We completely freaked each other out and I actually ran away before I realized what the sound was. I yelled back “gesundheit” and then finished up my walk.
