Merle Gordon’s Story

“My name is Merle Gordon and I’m a lifelong Clevelander who grew up in Lakewood where I lived in for all of my adult life, and I have also lived in West Park, Old Brooklyn, and now currently the Shaker Square neighborhood. I love being outside walking, hiking and cycling, they’ve just been passions and loves of mine. I moved to this neighborhood(Buckeye-Shaker) because I did not want to rely on a car. 

Many years ago I set a goal for myself that on the weekends between sundown on Friday and Monday morning, I would not get in a car.  I shifted the use of my bike from recreation to utilitarian and it was fantastic! I cut way down on useless, needless crap to buy and I got out way more than I would have in the car. I also got pretty organized about where I needed to go and how I wanted to get there. I’d found new ways to get from Shaker Square to the Towpath Trail. For several years I rode my bike to the Boston Mills Art Show in July.

Each weekend, I rode my bike to Lakewood to visit my family and tried different routes each time. When my bike got stolen, it broke my streak and broke my heart. Eventually, I bought another bike. This was around the time I got involved with Bike Cleveland.  I wanted to get involved in safe bicycle usage and road safety.  

I came to know a number of people who have been hit or involved in near-miss car/bike accidents. In fact, just a few days ago I witnessed a severe car accident involving a cyclist. While comforting the cyclist, it was apparent multiple bones had broken. The accident drove home the point again about needing protected bike lanes. We also have a way to go towards educating drivers to be aware of cyclists. While speaking to the driver, he said he didn’t think to look for the bicyclist, only oncoming vehicular traffic. 

When I lived in Boston. I essentially rode my bike or walked everywhere (or relied on public transportation). It is a very dense community and streets are much narrower with very few designated and protected bike zones and bike lanes.  But cycling seemed to be more culturally accepted. Bike safety seemed to be included in most meetings and community gatherings. I hope that we can generate more acceptance of cycling as a mode of transportation and a part of our transportation system. We can do better roadway and city planning to design around safety for cyclists.”