30 for 30 and 5 for 5

When I last checked in here yesterday morning, I had yet to actually ride on day 30 of 30 Days of Biking. As I unexpectedly had the day off yesterday due to the potential for inclement weather, I made time in the morning for a quick ride in between rain showers:

With that short ride, I completed the challenge for my fifth year in a row. I look forward to the challenge each year, because every year offers something a little different. This year was more different than most, for obvious reasons...

In what I can only describe as a microcosm of how this year's experience felt on the whole, yesterday was very annoying. We were called out of work, only to see zero rain showers after about 9AM. With all due respect and gratefulness to having a job in this difficult situation, it was frustrating to know that I'll now have to spend my Saturday at the office. I know, beyond my control, but it still doesn't sit right with me.

I'm not going to blow a whole bunch of sunshine up your butt, even though I'm usually of the "focus on the positive" mantra: I didn't really enjoy this year's edition of 30 Days of Biking. As I'm sure most of you can understand, cycling is a thing that I love, but it can only excite me so much without the ability to truly share it with people I care about. It was difficult to get the family motivated to be involved because we couldn't really "go anywhere," and group rides were not a thing. This is also my first 30DoB that hasn't taken me out of my state or even out of my county. That in and of itself is bizarre enough to make me wonder how I actually got motivated to ride a bike every day for a whole month.

But therein lies the rub. I did it, and for 5 consecutive years, so that is pretty cool. And who knows? Maybe I inspired someone else out there to get on a bike. I don't have many standout memories from this past month like I usually do, but I decided to check up on a couple of my goals that I set for myself at the beginning anyways.

• Final mileage total: 323.7 (there is no mileage goal, I just like to see how far I traveled)
• Time spent on a bike: 32 Hours, 22 Minutes (also not a goal, but interesting to see)
• Commutes via Bicycle: 16
• Commutes via Car: 5
• Local Businesses Supported (on bicycle):

1. Grove City Brewing
2. Jolly Pirate Donuts
3. Hop Yard 62
4. Transcend Coffee + Roastery
5. Sideswipe Brewing
6. Boston Stoker Coffee
7. Land Grant Brewing
8. Third Way Cafe
9. Nowhere in Particular Brewing
10. Kenny Road Market
11. Local Cantina
12. Jeni's Ice Cream
13. Mona's Eats & Treats

When I look at it in those figures, it was actually a pretty good month. In a full circle coincidence, I stopped by Grove City Brewing again yesterday, the same place I stopped by on day one:

And of course, I have my health, my family, and my ability to ride a bike to be thankful for every day. Annoyances will never make me lose sight of that. We will get through this, and the ride will continue for hopefully long afterward. Thanks for riding along with me this month and always. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I'll see you on my bike.