An Alternative Alternative

I'm a supporter of pretty much any sort of so-called "alternative" transportation; alternative meaning commuting using any method other than driving alone. It's not that I hate cars, but in many cases I've found them to be more inconvenient than any of the other options available (bike, train, etc). Plus, there's inherently something neat about doing things the "non-traditional" way.

Unfortunately, Columbus is the largest city in the US without any form of passenger rail transportation, so that's recently left my options a little more limited than they were in Philly. There have been some significant improvements in other areas of alternative transportation here, including these nifty little scooters my girlfriend and I tried out last night:

Actually, these sorts of things didn't exist (yet) back in Philly. They're a service of Lime, who's been making strides in the dockless bike share world over the last few years (we also have Bird, but I have yet to try them out). Due to mis-use and general human idiocy, these electric scooters have been the source of some controversy since their introduction a few months ago, but if used properly, they can be pretty awesome in situations like we had last night.

We were out with friends and wanted to go to a place that was about a mile from where we were. The bus would only get us so far, and due to our timing, hiring a car share service would have been too expensive to justify the supposed convenience. We instead chose to rent scooters for about $1/each (it's an app-based system, so you don't have to actually feed it a dollar). As you can see, there's really not all that much to these things:

They're quite easy to access and use. You use the app to find one near you, then scan the QR code on the handlebars to unlock it. There's a brake on the left handlebar and a throttle on the right:

So, pretty simple, right? I can't complain one bit about the functionality. However, our choice of route unfortunately took us down a couple brick streets in the German Village, which were a bit shell-shocking due to the hard, thin tires and light weight of the scooter itself. There's also no cargo area, so you're left to carry everything in your hands (not advisable) or in your backpack if you have one. Still, they made short work of a 1-mile trip:

Apparently they have a 20-mile range on a full battery, so in theory, I could take one to work, but that's not necessarily practical. For getting around downtown without using a car, spending a lot of money, OR breaking a sweat, it's a pretty solid idea. I'll definitely use these again.

Now about that train system...

Pedaling for Pints

After several months' hiatus, my girlfriend and I finally stretched our cycling legs again last night and joined in on Roll Bicycles' monthly pub ride. I mean, we've gone on a lot of small rides over the Summer and early Fall, but nothing lengthy since about July. We finally had a free Friday, so last night was a perfect opportunity to get back in the Saddle, with great weather to boot.

The Roll rides usually feature 3 or 4 stops at pubs and breweries throughout the Central Columbus area and run about 20 miles (a great way to learn the territory in my new city, don'tcha know). Knowing that, I decided not to try to kill my girlfriend and instead opted to drive our bikes to the end point. We parked near Hoof Hearted Brewery & Kitchen, and rode from there to the start on the Scioto Mile:

It was about 1.5 miles between the two, much shorter than the 8.5-9 miles it would have been to ride there from home. Interestingly enough, the last pub ride we did met up at the same place. I'm sensing a theme here. Kinda reminds me of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where a ton of Philly bike rides start and/or finish. ANYwho...

We had about 30 in our group when we rolled out around 6:45PM on the Scioto Trail:

We then headed south and began a mini tour through some of the oldest areas in Columbus, first being the German Village:

And then to our first stop, the relatively new Eight & Sand Tavern (not to be confused with Eight & Sand Brewing) in the Hungarian Village:

From there, we headed back north and west to BrewDog's location in Franklinton, another old Columbus neighborhood:

I'm not quite sure why BrewDog chose Columbus as its destination in the US, but they're a pretty neat operation from Scotland that's mostly crowdfunded, and their beer is pretty awesome too.

At this point, we were near halfway. We headed back on the Scioto trail and then picked up the Olentangy Trail, which recently had an encounter with a semi truck (Sorry no pics here but seriously read that article - I still can't believe it actually happened). It was the subject of many a good ribbing throughout the ride, and here's hoping it never happens again.

After a few more miles on trail, we popped up into Clintonville and began climbing some hills. The reward for going uphill is of course that you eventually get to go downhill, which we did by riding the road down Walhalla Ravine. This is the second time I've been on this road since I moved here, and I just read that it's apparently Columbus' most haunted street. I thought it was incredibly fun and not scary whatsoever. I can't wait to go back.

A short stretch later, we arrived at our third stop and one of my favorite Columbus breweries, Lineage:

From there, it was a short ride to the last stop. This stretch of the ride was short in mileage but fun moments were plentiful, as we pedaled past OSU campus housing to some cheers and jeers. My girlfriend said she heard the terms "bikelists" and "cyclers" coined by random students - I'm definitely going to start using those in conversation.

We never did end up at our intended end point because their kitchen had closed, and by that time I'm sure you can imagine we were all starving. My girlfriend and I opted to head up to Seventh Son Brewing just up the street for a quick snack before heading home. Including our extra trip from the car to the starting point, we logged nearly 22 miles. Not too shabby, right?

And of course along the way, we met yet more wonderful cyclists who I'm sure we will see again, provided we can keep coming to these on a regular basis. As long as the schedule works out, I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday evening.

Enjoy your Saturday, everyone!