Triggered

Bike-friendly transportation infrastructure can take many forms. The preferred method is to keep cyclists and cars as separated as possible. In areas where this isn't possible, adaptations are necessary.

Since I've moved to Columbus, I've been seeing these little bicyclist icons painted in the travel lanes near intersections on so-called "bike-friendly" roads. At first, I just thought that was a way of letting people know this was a preferred bike route, similar to sharrows that you'll see in a lot of areas. It turns out they mean something completely different entirely:

Those signs should be posted at all such intersections, but they're not. Anyway, the little icons are actually guidelines for cyclists to trigger a traffic signal, using the same actuation method as cars do:

Maybe you've seen this before. I certainly haven't seen it anywhere in my travels throughout the greater Philadelphia region (but they do exist in Portland, which I visited long before I was using a bike on a daily basis). It's a pretty simple concept. Stop in the designated area to activate the signal. Some trigger areas are larger than others:

Of course, during rush hour when signals are timed based on traffic patterns rather than real time activity, this all goes out the window, but it's still pretty handy to know.

Mixed Use Merriment

I mentioned in my last entry that moving has been a big change to say the least. That includes not only where I ride but how I ride as well. I've vacated the tight, bustling streets of Center City Philadelphia for a more expansive, suburban cycling environment in the outskirts of Columbus (most days, that is). I'm less frequently dodging parked cars and more often dodging pedestrians these days, as this area is largely populated with mixed use paths like this one just down the road from our house:

They're a blessing and a curse at times. As any trail rider will tell you, it's sometimes frustrating and dangerous competing with pedestrians and runners for space on a shared trail (like the SRT back home), especially if they don't understand the "stay to the right" etiquette. It's great not having to compete with cars for road space, though. On the whole, the danger drops nearly to zero except when crossing intersections, where you're at the mercy of cars treating cyclists as pedestrians in the crosswalks.

Of course, there are mixed use trails here that are completely cut off from automobile traffic, like the one I've found myself on quite a bit lately, the Olentangy Trail:

I took a personal day on Sunday. That is, my first real day alone on a bike since I've moved. I had a loose plan in place, but I basically wanted to just ride and see what happened. It worked. I actually took a wrong turn on the trail as I was heading to an intended waypoint, and ended up following it to its northern end:

My intended destination was the Highbanks Metro Park, a park that itself has several miles of multi-use trail. It took a little bit more road riding to get there than I first thought would be necessary, but I did make it:

After a brief break, I took the trail around the park. I will definitely have to come back to try one of the many hikes I saw on my way (I would have done it that day but I was ill-prepared for a hike). Beautiful scenery and lots of hills! My favorite kind of ride.

By the time I got back to the road, I was already about 15 miles into the ride and ready to start heading home. First, I needed an oasis. A microbrewery always fits in nicely to a loose plan, especially when it includes a 2-mile sidetrack:

That was at Ill Mannered Brewing all the way up in Powell. It was well worth the detour. Dig their logo too in addition to the beer. I packed up my bike and started to head home, when I happened upon a new brewery on the way, Random Precision (if that doesn't sum up my cycling adventures perfectly, I don't know what does):

A random stop I'm glad I made. They brew more towards the sour side, which I only really enjoy during Summer. It just so happened to be a beautiful 80-degree day. As it turns out, it's literally 10 minutes from my house. The more you know...

In any case, by this time I was pretty sweaty and tired, but I did make it home in great shape:

Had to get that Eagles plug in there. All told, I ended up just shy of 30 miles on the ride. Not too shabby for some random exploration, no?

I'm torn as to what I'm going to do next. I found out through the propaganda I picked up at the park that there's a tour of one of the parks this Saturday...on bike. Seems like a perfect fit. Hope I wake up in time!

Zippity Doo Dah

Moving to Columbus has thrust me head first into family life. Thankfully, my girlfriend has been more than understanding that this big of a change shouldn't have to come at the expense of all things that I loved about the bachelor-esque lifestyle I'd been living up until about a month ago. For example, if I have a place to go or an errand to run, the bike is still my preferred mode of transportation regardless of distance or load factors. Having a child thrown into that equation changes things. Taking a child literally along for a ride is much different than 2 adults deciding to just go somewhere, of course.

I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow we ended up with a trail bike from our daughter's Grandparents (I was out of town when they dropped it off), and it's a decent enough compromise for long rides such as the one we decided to take on the 4th of July:

Nifty, right? It's a bit cumbersome to attach, and the pedals don't actually do anything, but toting laundry around on a bike trailer the last 3 years has more than prepared me to be Bike Dad, I'd say. At any rate, as I mentioned above, we decided to test it for the first time on the 4th of July to take a ride into Downtown Columbus. It was a hot day, with temperatures well into the 90's. We were well prepared from a hydration standpoint, and I wasn't concerned about the sun being an issue because most of the ride would be on a shaded trail.

EXCEPT...parts of the Olentangy Trail were closed due to firework activity. In the middle of the day. Look, I get it. Safety comes first. But, did they really have to close the trail at 7AM on the 4th of July? I mean, it's not like it's a holiday and anyone would want to ride their bike or anything...

To make matters worse, the detour wasn't well marked at spots, and we had to stop at least 3 times to make sure we were going the right way. In full disclosure, these frustrations coupled with the 90+ degree heat and knowing we also had a child with us actually made me ready to go home and get in the car. We ended up riding on, and soon after we found an oasis of sorts in the form of a lemonade stand:

And suddenly everything was good again. After a brief break, we ended up back on the trail, where we eventually found another oasis:

I don't know who or why someone left a case of cold bottled water at one of the trail heads, but I was sure thankful they did. We had plenty of water, but a little extra never hurts. Side note: I couldn't take many more pictures other than at stopping points. Riding with an 80-pound child with free will is much different than towing 300 pounds of dead weight laundry, as I'm sure you can imagine. I needed my hands on the bars at just about all times.

Anywho, 10 miles later we had reached our destination in downtown Columbus, the Doo Dah Parade:

We paused for a victory photo before getting into the festivities:

Essentially, it's a political satire parade from my understanding. Any parade is really just an excuse to drink in the streets and have a good time, which was most certainly the case here:

Again, my apologies for the lack of pictures. Due to the earlier delays with the detours, we missed most of the actual parade, but as my girlfriend had been meaning to go for the last 3 years, at least now she can say she saw it. I had a pretty good time, and I'll definitely go back next year if we're in town.

The parade also includes a before and after block party, where we saw a couple of the art cars on display. Imagine trying to drive one of these things:

They provide for some unique photo opportunities:

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figurines are very near and dear to my heart, as is this figurine of my favourite member of the Legion of Doom line:

Neat. We hung around long enough to eat some lunch and relax a bit before heading home. By this time, clouds had moved in, so other than a little fatigue in the legs, the ride home wasn't nearly as oppressively hot. In total, we did 22 miles on the day round trip. Not too shabby for a first family adventure, right?

Needless to say, we were all pretty pooped by the time we got home. We had plenty of time to get cleaned up and take a nap before fireworks, which we did not ride to (ha!):

So now that we know we can do it, maybe this will become a family 4th of July tradition? Who knows? One thing I do know is that there will be plenty of family bike rides to come...

North High Heat

I survived my first major ride in Columbus this past weekend. Survived is the correct word. Temperatures were easily into the mid-90's with a heat index several degrees higher, which is the type of stuff that will only bring out the most dedicated or psychotic cyclists. Despite the excessive heat, Saturday was a beautiful day for cycling. There was a minor amount of cloud cover and a slight breeze when I arrived for the ride meet up on Columbus' first green way, the Scioto Mile:

When I said it only brings out the most dedicated or psychotic cyclists, that apparently also includes my girlfriend now:

Tough to see, but that's her blue Specialized in the background there. Welcome to the dark side, baby. It's nothing to be afraid of. We have beer:

...Which was largely the point of this whole endeavor. The ride was sponsored by Roll Bicycle and North High Brewing, and all of the stops on the way were bars or restaurants that featured North High beers on tap.

Beer is actually how I found out about the ride. I was at Southern Tier Brewing in Upstate New York a couple weeks ago when I ran into a couple from Columbus who mentioned it in casual conversation (small world, huh?). They ended up not showing up, and I guess I can't blame them. They were an older couple, and even I wasn't sure if I was willing to tough out an alleged 30 miles on one of the hottest days of the year (so far).

The coordinators ended up shortening the ride by about half. That said, including the ride from home to the meet up, I did come close to 30 miles on the afternoon:

I'm extremely glad I went, and extremely proud that my girlfriend toughed it out too. It was actually a lot more fun than I'm sure either of us wanted to admit by the time we got home. We met a few really awesome people on the way, and finally crossed a few new spots off our list. These guys coordinate a ride every month, and I'm sure this won't be my/our last. Next time, I hopefully won't have to be spending so much time chugging water so I can take some more pictures...