The 700 Club

30 Days of Biking 2018 FINAL Mileage Total: 701.5

Today was the last day of 30 Days of Biking, and I packed as much into it as possible. Literally:

That was the first of two trips for my last client of the day, which totaled somewhere near 300 total pounds when all was said and done:

Mondays always tend to be busy, and today was no exception. All told, my laundry team processed nearly 1,000 pounds today, I hit the ground running (or riding) at 7:45 AM and didn't really stop (other than deliveries) until about 1:45 PM. Despite some cooler than normal temperatures, overcast skies, and some moderately heavy winds, it wasn't a terrible day for riding:

I took the above picture on my way home from the plant in appreciation/anticipation for the Sixers' starting the second round of the NBA playoffs earlier this evening. I'll admit that I'm not the biggest basketball fan, but I will fully support Philly sports any day of the year, and I always have appreciation for the Mural Arts Program (you can read more about that mural here). Let's not discuss tonite's result though.

Anyway, I took a brief lunch break, then showered and headed back to Center City. Today also happened to be the final presentation day for the students I'd collaborated with from the Industrial Design class at University of the Arts. We'd met several times over the last couple months to discuss possible improvements in cargo trike design elements, specifically making the cargo loading and unloading easier. I'm more than impressed with their results that they displayed today:

The trike is only a sketch model, but the cargo design is fully functional. They designed a retractable ramp system for increased delivery flexibility, as well as a battery and tool storage area that you can't see, hidden below the bin. We're going to meet later this week, as the goal of their course was to create something that was actually sell-able to a prospective client, maybe even patent-able. It shows a lot of promise. I may end up pitching their idea to my boss...

Not ready to go home, I decided to take a quick trip east to Independence Beer Garden, as the weather had dramatically changed for the better while I was watching their presentation. It was a perfect evening to enjoy a beverage (or anything) outside:

Finally, my first beer garden visit of the Summer. It only took until April 30th. Yeesh. According to my girlfriend, these sorts of places are not common in Columbus, but there are 30+ microbreweries and many of them feature outdoor seating areas, so I guess it's a wash. Right?

From there, I headed to dinner with a friend. We didn't sit outside, but we probably could have if we wanted to:

...and finally I finished off the day by taking a minor detour for the sole purpose of getting over the 700 miles for the month mark. I was extremely proud that I didn't really have to do things like that to sneak in extra miles this month (and remember there's no mileage goal during 30 Days of Biking), but when I looked at my total being that close to it, I just had to. By the way, I corrected my erroneous 90 mile ride from yesterday - it was actually about 52.5 miles.

I plan to do a full recap of April (including sharing some cool stories I found from others) tomorrow. For now, sleep. Thanks for riding along everyone! Until next time...

#30daysofbiking