Day 30 of 30: 1% Better

...and so, we have reached the end of yet another 30 Days of Biking challenge. This is now the 6th time I've completed the challenge, and though not grand in fashion, a couple short rides around the neighbourhood today did the trick:

At the end of each April, I'm always struck with a bittersweet feeling. I know I did a lot of riding, and yet, I feel like I could have done more. For the moment, I'll focus on the former: I did a lot of riding.

How much? While I don't set mileage goals for myself during the month, I do keep track of them because it's always interesting to see how things play out and/or how far I can go. I logged 326.2 miles this month, a little over 3 miles more than I did during 30DoB last year. That might not sound like that much, but 3 miles is 1% of 300, so I did approximately 1% better than I did last year.

Interestingly enough, Strava ran a 1% better challenge that began on April 5th, with the basics being to do 15 minutes of activity per day for 5 days a week, adding up to about 1% of a month. Guess what I completed today:

And with 2 days to spare on that, to boot! Why I find this interesting is that I thought I had more than two days this month where I had resigned myself to taking a lap around the block as a means to complete the 30DoB challenge, and it appears that only occurred twice since April 5th. Perception is not always reality.

I'm not sure where the 1% better mantra came from, but my workplace has been using it as our theme for this year and it's continued to come up more and more frequently in the last couple months. 1% can be the easiest thing in the world, if you think about it. I mean, from last year's total, that would have been me riding an extra .1 mile per day, much less than a ride around the block. I'm not saying this month was easy, but it was at least 1% better.

So, on to May, and beyond? Thanks for riding along, and I hope you've had the opportunity to improve 1% somewhere along the way, even if it's NOT on a bicycle.

Here are some of my favourite photos of the month to lead out, no captions necessary.

Day 29 of 30: Bring the Rain

I wasn't feeling 100% before bed last night, but I awoke this morning on day 29 of 30 Days of Biking feeling OK enough to go to work. In hindsight, I probably should have stayed home. It was a bit of a duel-edged sword, because it was raining all day, so it would have been a great day to stay inside. However, there are some organic lawn care applications that are most effective in the rain, so I'm kinda glad I was able to help out at least a little bit.

I did end up leaving a little early and spent the majority of my afternoon sleeping on the couch. The rain continued through most of that time. Finally, around 7, there was a break in the showers and I was feeling well enough to take the bike out for a short spin to take a look at the "damage" from the storms:

I didn't notice any downed trees or anything else severe, but we did receive a good amount of rain. We needed it, for sure:

I'll remind you, that even short rides count towards 30DoB. No need to push it more than I was feeling. I'm still not 100% sitting here typing this, but I'm sure I'll be better tomorrow to finish day 30 as strong as I can.

I can't believe April is already over.

30 Days of Biking 2021 Mileage Total: 323.1

Day 28 of 30: Work it In

I was forced to take my car to work once again on day 28 of 30 Days of Biking due to a mid-afternoon appointment in North Central Columbus (a.k.a. Clintonville), which is relatively far from home. Never one to miss an opportunity, I kept a bike in my car so I could sneak in a ride after fulfilling my obligations. It's always more enjoyable to ride somewhere that isn't my usual neighborhood anyway:

I purposefully cropped the view of that photo because I'm a large fan of the two characters in the background. Also, because the fence mural that they appear on is so lengthy, it's difficult to fit the whole thing in one standard-sized photo:

This mural appears on a section of the Olentangy Trail that winds through the Clintonville neighborhood. I used to frequent this area on Friday afternoons when I would take the long way home to our old house, and I can't tell you the last time I actually rode through here before today.

I did experience something mildly new today, and that was parking at Clinton-Como Park to begin my ride:

I've recently become more open to the idea of driving a bike to a trail head than I used to, because it's somewhat easier to do that around these parts. If you love riding, you always find a way to work it in, right?

Also new, there's a section of trail on the southern end of OSU campus that's open again after some lengthy construction had forced detours. This might have been open for awhile, but as I mentioned above, I also haven't been over this way for quite awhile:

Despite the threatening skies, it was a decent day to be on the trail. I think the possibility of rain deterred a lot of people from using it on what was otherwise a pleasant day:

I don't mind less people on the trails, at least when I'M the person riding on them. Ha...

Two days left and there is more rain in the forecast for tomorrow, but you can be sure I'll find a way to work in a ride no matter what.

30 Days of Biking 2021 Mileage Total: 319.3

Day 27 of 30: Waste Makes Haste

After a much-needed 4 day break from our busy Spring season at work, I was back at it today on day 27 of 30 Days of Biking. I didn't have a ton of time for riding today, but I did take a nice half hour ride after work toward downtown Columbus and back:

It's funny to think that a week ago tomorrow, it was snowing. Today was a far cry from that, with temperatures approaching the mid-80's. It was bordering on uncomfortable due to the sudden warmth and the wind that accompanied it, but in no way was it unbearable. I'll certainly take days like these over a windy Winter day...

The evening was nice enough that I decided to venture out again after dinner, with a purpose. Grove City has made a progressive move and started opening compost drop off stations around the area. We've started collecting our food waste recently, and I took our first small load to the drop off just a half mile from the house today:

Riding a bike to drop off compost is what you might call "extra crunchy." I'll be making plenty of trips here in the future. Depending on the weight and weather, I might actually be able to do this on foot.

Just three days remaining in this year's edition of 30DoB, and I wish I had a big finish planned, but with the month ending mid-week, it's just not in the cards this time around. However, I crossed over 300 miles for the month today, and with 3 days to go, I am within 10 miles of last year's total. That's pretty cool. I never set a mileage goal at the start of the month, but I do like to see how much I can squeeze in, and being better than a previous run always feels good. Provided I don't fall off a cliff, I think even 350 might be possible...

Whatever the total ends up being, I hope you all have a great rest of the week. Get outside and enjoy some beautiful weather while you can!

30 Days of Biking 2021 Mileage Total: 311.9

Day 26 of 30: Pharewell, for Now

Day 26 of 30 Days of Biking involved an 8-hour drive back to Columbus, OH. Before that, I made sure to sneak in one more ride in Philly. It would have been a shame to waste such a beautiful morning in the car, right?

Other than the two pics from Logan Square above, I had one other stop at Green Line Cafe to pick up some coffee and "my" sandwich for the road:

8 hours later, I was back in Ohio. The family was glad to see me, and so was this guy:

Either that, or he was trying to con me into feeding him a second dinner.

Now that I'm all caught up, I'll start adding my mileage total at the end of posts once again. One thing I didn't think about until I was driving home is that this is the first 30DoB since 2018 where I spent at least part of it in Philly, and last year was the only 30DoB I've spent in just one state. That's a streak I'm glad to have broken after one year. Life gets pretty boring if you sit still, right? Only 4 days remain in April, and as I close in on 300 miles, I'm feeling pretty good about this year's edition. I most likely won't get to 400, but 300 is better than a 10 mile average per day, which is kinda awesome if you as me. I hope you've been able to get out and enjoy a ride this month, and if you haven't, there's still time...

30 Days of Biking 2021 Mileage Total: 298.4

Day 400 of 30: Fulphilled

The title is an intentional typo. On Sunday, day 25 of 30 Days of Biking, I celebrated my 400th consecutive day of riding daily. The funny thing is, I realized this day was coming about a week earlier, and I actually forgot about it until today (I'm writing this on Monday, day 26). In a weird coincidence, I decided to make a spontaneous trip to the City of Brotherly Love that just so happened to be on the same day. With no real set plan in mind, the weather cooperated enough for me to take a tour de Philly of sorts.

I tried to hit as many sections of the city as I could at a relaxed pace. It's been a long time since I've been able to spend time in my favourite city, so I wanted to take in as much as possible. What follows will include a good amount of pictures, but there are certainly many more mental images that I appreciate just as much, if not more.

It's always interesting to return to a place and see what's changed. The city appears to be working on some upgrades to Penn Treaty Park, which is a park I used to enjoy riding to when I first moved to the city:

I think that trail entrance is new. Anyway...

It also looks like they added a small buffer to the bike lane on Delaware Avenue, which was always a nerve-racking place to ride before this. It's a little better after this installation:

I headed over to Triple Bottom Brewing for some refreshment after about an hour of riding. They finally opened some time last year after several years of anticipation:

I've been following these guys for a few years due to their triple bottom line mission, which in part strives to help people re-enter the workforce after periods of incarceration, chronic unemployment, rehabilitation, and etc. I used to work for such a company in Wash Cycle Laundry. It's great to see they're open and appear to be doing well. The beer was pretty good to boot:

And in a move that really warms my heart, they have plenty of bike racks outside:

One thing that will hopefully never change about Philly is the Eastern State Penitentiary, which is equal parts cool, interesting, and terrifying:

These views also haven't changed all that much:

I did notice lots of freshly painted bike lanes in the Art Museum area, though:

Unfortunately it sounds like there's still a lot of work to do, because a woman was struck and killed in the area just a few days prior. I didn't notice any signs of the wreck when I was there. Otherwise, I would have paused to pay respects as I usually do.

On a more positive note, I was riding past a skateboarder around this area. We diverged a couple times and kept crossing paths every few blocks it seemed. After the third time, he said "Hey what's up man?" and gave me a high five. We told each other to enjoy the day and went on our ways. It was a really nice moment that I've missed all these months when people were scared to go outside and interact with other humans. I hope more of these start happening again.

Another positive note, the view of the city skyline from the South Street bridge is as breathtaking as always. I think the partly cloudy skies made it even better yesterday:

Another thing I noticed as I was riding around were the plethora of outdoor seating areas that had claimed parking spots (I'd seen a similar approach in New York last summer). Some of them were quite creative in their design:

And finally, I couldn't make it a true Philly day without stopping for my favourite vegan roast beef sandwich at the Triangle Tavern:

From there, I headed to visit briefly with a friend before heading to the far south Philly to spend the night with another great friend catching up and enjoying plenty of adult beverages. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty spectacular way to celebrate a 400th. Sadly, they don't make 400th bikeday cards. I checked.