Bike to School

Before I moved to Columbus, my girlfriend told me she was excited for me to explore the surrounding area, as I am wont to do pretty much everywhere I go. I was/am pretty excited about it too, and in addition to the exploration, I'm always excited to have others along for the ride, even if it is just around the corner.

After 3+ months here, I've explored quite a bit and I've pretty much figured out my immediate surroundings. I (we) have my routes to the grocery store, post office, work, and so on. On one of those routes, there was a path that my girlfriend and I thought led to an athletic club off in the distance, and nothing more. So, we never bothered to ride it.

One day, we had to go to the kid's school for some sort of event, and knowing that it's really not all that far from the house, of course I decided to see if there was a bike-able route. Via main roads, there is not, but there's an old saying that "Sometimes what you're looking for is right under your nose." I prefer to say "It's right there in front of you where you never would have seen it." I didn't end up biking to the school for said event, but I did eventually take that previously untraveled path and it happened to lead right to the school. Who knew?

So naturally, eventually someone (it may have been the child) suggested riding bikes to school instead of taking the bus or a car. Even though she's still pretty young, I was all for it. After a few practice runs over the last couple weeks, she and her Mom took the first ride to school this morning, and I showed up after school for "pickup":

For now, one of us adults will be accompanying her until she's fully ready to go it alone, but this is still pretty awesome stuff! Apparently they're going to install a bike rack at the school for good measure (They should have one already. Baby steps, I suppose).

When I had moved, my girlfriend had mentioned that she really wanted her to start riding a bike again. She already knew how, but it had been some time since she had done it and she needed a boost to remember (It's like riding a bike, you could say). Now, we've not only helped her remember how to ride a bike, but by biking to school, she's done something that neither one of us ever have. Excuse me while I live vicariously... I don't know about you, but if I were her classmates, I'd be pretty jealous that my friend got to ride a bike to school. Just me?

Basically, keep exploring. You never know what you might find, or whose life it might change (including yours).