Day 4 of 30: Detours and Metaphors

A brief aside (or detour) before today's post: I had a great interaction with a customer yesterday morning (albeit whilst standing nearly 20 feet away from each other). She was very happy to see us, way happier than I think she would have been on a "normal" day. Circumstances can change that sort of thing, I suppose. They also changed my reaction to the situation. I was running a bit behind, and on a "normal" day, I might have felt annoyed by being stopped for 10 minutes out of my day. Instead, I had a feeling of gratitude. I've been thinking the last few days that maybe this whole event has been thrown at us to teach us that we need to slow down, and not go out and try to do everything with everyone every single day.

But anyway, back to the real topic of this blog. Detours are going to be a theme, if you hadn't already guessed by the title.

I have a longstanding tradition of taking a longer than usual ride home on Fridays after work. Here in Central Ohio, we have been graced with several beautiful days to begin 30 Days of Biking, so it only seemed appropriate to enjoy the weather and continue the tradition. Let's call it an intentional detour:

That scene is from the Camp Chase Trail yesterday afternoon. I frequently use a small stretch of it during Winter to take quick rides during my lunch breaks, but other than that, I don't come through here very often. It's simply not on the way to most of the places I frequent via bicycle.

Last week, I was venturing out west of Grove City (where I live) and figured out a roundabout way to get to the trail from my house. By roundabout, I mean...it might be about 10 miles out of the way. But what the heck? It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, after all...

Come to find out that my planned detour took a small unplanned detour about a mile out, as the trail is closed for a bridge reconstruction on Wilson Road:

It wasn't a major inconvenience, as the detour was well marked and didn't lead into any really precarious situations. After getting back on the "normal" track, I continued westward. I was eventually greeted with this unnerving sight at Georgesville Road, which was not well marked in advance:

This stretch of the Ohio to Erie Trail has been under construction/redevelopment recently, so I'm not completely surprised to see something like this, but for safety's sake, I would like to see a little more advance notice. I was actually considering that if this detour works out, I may start riding my bike to and from work this way. I'm having second thoughts.

Anywho, I sidestepped that obstacle safely and headed south towards home. I reached my destination after more than an hour:

For reference, my usual bicycle commute takes about 40 minutes and involves a bus ride. Quite a detour, eh? In hindsight, it was well worth it, as always.

So maybe take some time during your quarantine or social distancing to embrace the fact that some aspects of your world are operating at a slower pace. I'll always encourage you to ride a bike, but at the very least, do something that's relaxing. The family and I are probably going to take a nice little ride today (it is the weekend, after all) to enjoy one more beautiful day while we can. Have a great weekend everyone, and stay safe & healthy.


30DoB Mileage Total: 40.7