30 Days of Biking Eve, With Apologies

You know that feeling you had as a kid the night before you knew you were leaving on a big family vacation? Since 2016, that's what March 31st has felt like to me. The eve of what has become my favourite month of the year, which is not my birth month, but rather the month of 30 Days of Biking. If you're unfamiliar, it's pretty simple: it's a pledge to ride a bike every day in April, and share on social media with the hashtag #30DaysofBiking. No mileage goal, no other goals except riding a bike every day. If you've been following me before today, you know that this is no longer that much of a challenge.

Somewhat sadly, I don't have that same feeling this year, and of course there are some reasons. I'm not going to blame the somewhat sentient being that is "The Pandemic," but last year left me feeling somewhat unfulfilled. I also feel like the idea of the challenge has lost some of its lustre - if you want the most literal representation, read how much more enthusiastic I was about this day 5 years ago when I first attempted the challenge. I attribute at least some of that to my decision to move to the suburbs in Ohio, which are quite boring after you've been here for awhile (I promise no more potshots directed at Ohio for the remainder of this blog post. One dig is enough).

Still, I am looking forward to 30DoB for a few reasons. One, it will give me a push to write on here much more, and to write more in general. My personal tradition has been to post every day on here, no matter how brief the post, and this has always been rewarding. And two, it seems like things are returning to the "old" normal slowly but surely, as evidenced by the willingness of friends (and girlfriend) to take rides together on the last couple weekends:

This is your reminder that biking is one of the best socially-distant exercise activities. Mask worn for good measure to prove that it's not a big deal to wear a damn mask. Anyway...a brief aside to show a few more pics from a nice 10-mile Saturday last weekend:

I apologize for the overall "Eeyore-esque" nature of the first part of this post. It's not my usual M.O. If you're a regular reader of this blogspace, I bet you didn't expect it. But that brings me to my final reason to look forward to 30DoB, and that is, I never know what's going to come of it. I like that aspect of it. Every year is a little bit different.

I know better than to expect to bike 700 miles this month, something that may never happen again. I know better than to expect anything, other than some form of enjoyment from riding a bike even if only for a few minutes a day. That's really what it's all about - the ultimate goal.

Speaking of, I do set extra goals for myself during 30DoB every year, and they don't usually involve mileage, though it becomes a quest of sorts to see "how far I can go" and so on. I'm keeping it extra simple this year: visit AT LEAST one new park each week, meaning a park I have never been to, either here in Columbus or otherwise. This might not sound like a daunting task considering that Columbus has 19 Metro Parks, but by my count I've visited 12 of these and most of them are relatively close to where I live, so it's going to require some adventuring. So, I guess I'll see how far I can go?

Of course, my real deep down hope in all of this is that I'll post these things and inspire you to do amazing things on your bike, or with your running or hiking shoes, or your rollerblades or even roller skates if you own said things. It's Spring time. It's time to start being outside again. Time to appreciate the thing that makes me happiest of all. Let's ride.