30 Days of Biking Day 30: 30 & 300 Miles!

Good evening on the final day of 30 Days of Biking 2022! Today was a microcosm of this month, which means it ended better than it began. Some early morning rain kept me inside doing household chores, but the afternoon weather was great for a distance ride into downtown Columbus:

Some clouds and a little wind not withstanding, the rain held off long enough to get in a solid 30 miles. I didn't stop for many pics along the way as a result, but here are a couple:

Really liking that sculpture. It's only a couple blocks from Land Grant Brewing and/or Brewdog Franklinton. I can envision many a drunken picture taken in this spot. Ha...

On the way home, I stopped by my friends at Heritage Cycles in Grove City to pick up some new tires for My Therapist:

They're definitely needed, and this will be a good project for a future rainy day. I probably could have done it today, but I had a bunch of other household things to get done. On top of that, the girl is going to require some serious cleaning after today:

I gave her a quick hose down before putting her in the garage for the evening, but I'm going to need to get the real deep cleaning tools out once I take the tires off. So, it actually works out perfectly. Sort of.

With that, this wraps up my 7th completed 30 Days of Biking challenge. This has been the weirdest, and dare I say most challenging, I've experienced so far. It rained or snowed and temperatures barely got above 50 on just about every day for the first two weeks of the month. In hindsight, it's no surprise that I didn't commute via bicycle until the 20th, that I logged just 30 miles in the first week, and 36 in the 2nd week. It's also kinda crazy that I sneaked in 65 miles in one day on the 16th, just about doubling my monthly mileage:

Still, the challenges extended beyond weather. With our child deciding to participate in track this Spring, our schedules were all much busier every afternoon. The family didn't really desire to participate in rides in part due to the weather but also due to hectic scheduling. That hurdle was a little tough for me to overcome, because I always enjoy getting others involved, and especially my family. On one random occasion, I did run into my Heritage friends on my way for coffee:

This was another welcome sign that things were going better to close out the month, and as I sit here having just barely gotten to 300 miles for the month, I can say that yes, April did finish on a good note. I'm hopeful that four consecutive bicycle commutes in the final week is a harbinger for late Spring:

I'm sure the family rides will come once the school year ends and Summer vacation is in full swing, and the miles don't really matter except for me competing with my own self. Now the real challenge is to keep it going beyond 30 Days of Biking. I hope you've been inspired to ride this month, and hopefully to ride more this Summer!

30 Days of Biking Day 29: FOUR!

I finished the last full work week of 30 Days of Biking with FOUR consecutive bicycle commutes! This may sound like a small victory, and it is, but considering how many weird circumstances prevented me from commuting via bike earlier in the month, I will take any victory I can get. To celebrate, I decided to ride a mile out of my way on the afternoon commute to enjoy a couple brews with a co-worker at Columbus Brewing:

The month sort of came full circle, because my first ride of this month was around this parking lot. The ride home was as gorgeous as the weather looks in the picture above.

All of the commuting this week has me near 80 miles for this week and within striking distance of 300 for the month. After an extremely slow start, I'm feeling much better about the final two weeks of April. Let's see what day 30 has in store.

30 Days of Biking Day 28: The Long way is the Right Way

Day 28 of 30 Days of Biking began somewhat auspiciously. I was running behind getting kut of the house, but I arrived at the bus stop before or right at the time it was scheduled to be there. I checked the Transit app and didn't see any busses on their map, but it said it was still 2 minutes away. 2 minutes went by, no bus. I checked again, and it said the next bus was due in 27 minutes. So, I was annoyed, but at this point I had to decide whether to ride or to go home and drive. I decided to ride:

What's really weird is that the bus passed me on my way no more than 5 minutes after I left the stop. Whatever. I suppose I needed the extra exercise.

There was an additional reward at the end of the day, a beautiful commute home:

Almost no wind, perfect temperatures, sunshine...I'm glad I decided to stick it out. A few extra miles rarely hurt anyone.

Two more days left in this challenge, and as always, I can't believe how quickly it went by...

30 Days of Biking Day 27: Work Smarter, Not Harder

This morning marked a milestone of sorts. For the first time since I can remember, I commuted via bicycle TWO days in a row:

And unlike yesterday morning, I actually made it to the bus stop on time! Having accomplished this commute with and without the bus multiple times, I've found that the morning commute is much better with the bus, for several reasons.

The ride into Columbus requires me to ride a short distance in a lane of traffic that eventually turns into an on-ramp for I-270 (known around here as the Outerbelt). There's no shoulder on this stretch, so there's no choice but to ride in the lane. No matter what I do, there's always someone who refuses to pass me even if I pull as far to the right as possible. Usually when I run out of space and have to signal that I'm cutting left, they then honk at me and give me the finger. Taking the bus helps me avoid this stretch. Not to mention, it shaves about 2.5 miles off my actual riding distance (the timing works out about equal though). I'm usually all about riding as many miles as possible, but conserving energy is important too. Work smarter, not harder, right?

Additionally, the morning bus schedule is far more predictable, because it hasn't had to compete with downtown traffic to get to my stop. The afternoon bus is almost never on time. As such, I've recently started riding the whole ride home, about 7 miles or so. The on-ramp issue I mentioned above isn't a problem on the way back, and the roads I travel have either a very wide berm or a multi-use path for most of my route. That, or they're just very sparsely traveled:

This may seem counterintuitive, but I find that I actually have more energy throughout my day when I commute via bicycle, and now that I've done it two days in a row, I'm reminded of why I enjoy it so much even on the toughest of days. Here's hoping I can make it three in a row tomorrow, and four on Friday. Only three more days left in 30 Days of Biking!

30 Days of Biking Day 26: Commute Times Two

Despite having a day off from work yesterday, I didn't exactly rest on that day off. As such, I did awake feeling mildly fatigued this morning, and I even slept until 6, which is about an hour later than usual for me on a work day. Nonetheless, I'd checked the forecast and knew that the weather was going to be pretty mild by comparison to some of the craziness we've experienced earlier this month. That motivated me to dig deep and commute via bicycle this morning:

On a side note, this was a longer than expected ride because I missed the bus this morning. Whoops! Thankfully the forecast came true and I didn't mind the extra miles at all. It was pleasant enough that I also rode the whole way home. I suppose I was enjoying myself so much that I forgot to stop and take any pictures. Heh...

I'm hoping the remainder of this week's forecast also holds up, because these should be some pretty perfect riding days if it does:

Some time yesterday, I went over 200 miles for the month, and there's still an outside chance I'll make it to 300 by the end of Saturday. I'm motivated for sure, but we'll have to see if Mother Nature gives me a helping hand.

30 Days of Biking Day 25: Maryland Monday

The family and I were on our way back to Ohio yesterday afternoon, but an ailing child stopped us in our tracks. She hadn't been feeling well in the morning, so Rae and I agreed that if it got worse throughout the day that we would stop and find a hotel room on the way. The worst case scenario happened, and so we found ourselves shacked up in Hagerstown, MD for the night.

As of this writing, the child is fully recovered and should be fine to go back to school tomorrow. In hindsight, we probably didn't need to spend the night, but better safe than sorry. I'm sure you've all been in a car while feeling ill and it's definitely no picnic.

From every crisis, there arises an opportunity. While the family slept in this morning, I took an early morning ride around the area. This shouldn't surprise you in the least:

I checked the map yesterday evening and noticed the multi-use trail you see above, which was just a quarter mile from our hotel. It loosely connects the mall area where our hotel was located with downtown Hagerstown about 3 miles away. I didn't go quite all the way to downtown, but I did turn around at a pretty neat little place:

The Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum is one of those places I would totally visit if I found myself randomly spending the day in this town. I'm a pretty big history buff, so I love seeing stuff like this:

The trolley is apparently the last trolley to ever operate in their county, a reminder of much simpler times. I'm not sure if we'll ever find ourselves here again, but I'd love to actually go to the museum if we do have a return visit.

From there, I headed back toward our hotel. I spotted this pretty cool mural advertisement for a local bar on the way:

And finally, a Moped shoppe:

I've never seen a store that specialized in Mopeds before. There was a scooter store in Philly, but that's not as cool so...

After that, I picked up the mixed use path again. The scenery was mostly warehouses and distribution centers that aren't very photogenic. Actually, it reminded me a lot of some parts of Grove City. Nonetheless, it was a solid 7-mile round trip ride and a great way to start the morning before hopping back in the car to complete our journey back to Ohio. I didn't expect to ride a bike in three different states this weekend, but after a very slow start to this month, it appears that the adventures are finally starting to find me again.

30 Days of Biking Day 24: Serene Sunday

Sadly, our trip to Pennsylvania was only of the weekend variety, and we would head back to Columbus on Sunday afternoon. However, I had some time to work in a ride in the morning before everyone was fully up and moving. It was another gorgeous day in Northeast PA:

I took a few extra laps around the neighborhood to make the most of it. It was bittersweet to ride back to my Mom's house and throw the bike immediately on the car afterward. Also, I noticed in the process that I should probably think about some new tires for My Therapist soon:

We did sneak in some more outdoor time briefly when we headed over to my Dad's for lunch, this time on the D&L Trail near Slatington:

If you've been to this blogspace before, you know I've written plenty about this trail. No need for more details here, as there wasn't much else to tell. After lunch with Dad, we packed up the car and headed back to Ohio.

30 Days of Biking Day 23: The Mountains Win Again

The family and I awoke on Saturday morning in the great state of Pennsylvania, in my home town of Palmerton specifically. I didn't intend on having a ton of time to ride a bike while we were there, but I did make sure to have My Therapist in tow so I could take a short ride or two around the town if nothing else:

It may not look like it in the above photo, but it was an absolutely picture perfect Spring morning, the kind I've been waiting for all season. Even if only for three miles, I was extremely grateful to be able to enjoy it.

I spent the majority of the late morning and early and afternoon with the family enjoying the outdoors somewhat in another way, in the quaint mountain town of Jim Thorpe:

It's been called "The Switzerland of PA" by some. I used to love coming up here for the day to hike, bike, or buy some local food and drink (including last year during 30 Days of Biking). We didn't do much hiking, but we did shop and walk most of the downtown area. I think my girlfriend may be in love with it. Of course I'm biased, but there's just nothing that compares to the atmosphere of mountain towns. I'll always love 'em.

Finally, in the late afternoon, the primary reason we made this whole trip to begin with: my nephew's birthday party! He turned 5 on Friday. After I moved to Ohio, I promised him that I wouldn't miss his birthday. Other than the COVID year, I've held true to that promise so far:

This may the first year that I/we didn't get him any bike-related gifts, but in all fairness, he has everything he needs for now. I did appreciate that some of his gifts were reproductions of classics from my childhood:

No matter what new technology comes out, sometimes you just can't beat the classics. You really can't. I'm looking forward to playing this against him when we come back in about a month.

At any rate, it was a pretty good way to spend a Saturday, and I'm glad we made the trip. Here's to many more!

30 Days of Biking Day 22: Caffeine Cruise

Good afternoon and happy Earth Day! Of course, there's no better way to celebrate than riding a bike, and thankfully Mother Nature greeted us with a gorgeous Spring morning to do so. I took the day off to prepare for a weekend trip, but I still woke up around my usual time and decided to head to downtown Grove City for coffee. I ran into some friends from Heritage Cycles on the way:

Sorry not sorry for my half-awake cheeseball smile. The Heritage crew was embarking on their weekly coffee ride. They also do one on Saturday mornings, and I might join one of these weekends when I don't have travel plans. I'm also hoping to get back into their Wednesday night group rides once track & field season is over (all of our kid's meets are on Wednesdays so...). If you live in the area, I highly encourage YOU to join as well.

Speaking of coffee, I did eventually make it to Transcend Coffee for a pick-me-up before heading home to pack:

Today is also my nephew's 5th birthday, and the reason why we'll be traveling to PA this weekend. Mayhaps I can finally get some youths involved in this edition of 30 Days of Biking...

30 Days of Biking Day 21: Tagging In

About a year ago, I posted an entry about the "Bike Tag" in which our local cycling Facebook group participates. I rejoined the game this evening:

The above location is The Hair Shoppe in downtown Grove City. I rode on and picked a new location for the next tag:

Obviously, I won't reveal the exact location. ;) I can't tell you the last time I participated in this game. I'd guess it was back in late 2021 some time. It's good to be back. Also, after a gloomy early morning, this evening turned out to be a beautiful time to be on a bike:

I logged 10 miles without really noticing it. Dare I say, it finally feels like Spring? I guess we'll see. 8 days left in 30 Days of Biking. I'm hoping to continue this strong start to the second half of the month and get to 300 miles. I've got some work to do...

30 Days of Biking Day 20: FINALLY!

I know without having to look at previous years that this year is by far the latest I've gone into 30 Days of Biking without commuting via bicycle at least once. I'll own my laziness as being partially responsible for it, but there certainly have been other factors beyond my control that have made bicycle commuting a less than ideal choice so far this month. In any case, I finally put that streak to rest on Wednesday morning:

There's rarely such a thing as a perfect ride, and this one wasn't without a challenge. The early morning temperature hovered just below 30ºF, so I layered up. At least the wind was at my back! Even in the cold, I can't tell you how good it feels to be active early in the morning. It's a great way to start the day and probably contributed to me being in a pretty good mood at work. I also got to experience the recently redone bike lanes in Valleyview near our shop:

This is actually on a small section of the Ohio to Erie Trail that connects the Scioto Trail to the Camp Chase Trail. It previously had been very bumpy with little to no extra space on the right side of the lane. I'm sure there will still be some idiots driving in the bike lane thru here like always, but at the very least, it looks and feels safer. Hopefully I'll be riding these more often over the final 10 days of this month, and beyond...

30 Days of Biking Day 19: Neither Rain, Nor Snow...

Nor both? As a reminder of a theme I just can't seem to shake this month, the weather once again made riding challenging today. There was a wind advisory in place for this afternoon, but that wasn't even the craziest part of today's forecast. Snow - yes, that's right - was possible in some parts of the greater Columbus area, and I encountered a small cell during my work day to validate said forecast. Of course, it's actually been warm enough over the last month or so to prevent any of it from sticking, so at least the oddities didn't stick around for long.

As for that wind advisory, I waited out the worst of it before heading out for a nice 11-mile ride after dinner:

The view does look nice. Riding head first into the wind at times wasn't all that pleasant, but once again, it's better than not riding at all. Towards the end of my ride, I was treated to a beautiful sunset. It feels like these have been unbelievably rare this month:

Tomorrow is the 2/3 mark of 30 Days of Biking, and I have yet to commute via bicycle this month. That's a record for sure, and one I'd like to end if at all possible. Stay tuned...

30 Days of Biking Day 18: Windows of Opportunity

The strange Central Ohio weather has reared its head once again to start this week. With rain and colder temperatures (and possibly some snow, if you can believe it) in the forecast, I woke up this morning knowing that riding might be a challenge today. As luck would have it, I arrived home from work shortly after the worst of the morning storms had died down and fleet footed my way over to the grocery store:

There's about a week's worth of family groceries hiding in the black back on the front rack and in my panniers. In the only "clear" window of half decent weather today, I was able to knock out two tasks in one fell swoop. I always appreciate an extra dose of endorphins that I get from productivity on a bicycle ;)

30 Days of Biking Day 17: Sunday Funday

It's all about priorities, right?

I prioritized riding on Saturday and took it a *little* easier on Sunday (which also happened to be Easter). I had some yard chores to take care of, and with some nice weather finally sticking around for a couple days, it was the ideal time to do it. After "work" in the morning, I took a casual 15 mile ride around town in the afternoon:

Of course, I could have decided to just ride all day again, but I'm actually glad that I got some other work done too. All play and no work makes Jack something something...

30 Days of Biking Day 16: Century Marks

As frustrating as the early part of this month has been thus far, I'm determined to make the most of what remains. I had a great opportunity on Saturday when my schedule was finally clear and the weather looked like it was going to cooperate. I made the most of it.

I did get a bit of a delayed start due to some showers lingering from the overnight storm, but a little cloud cover is no reason not to ride. That said, the skies still looked a little ominous around lunch time:

It was also a little chilly early on. It turned out to be the perfect day to debut my first ever long-sleeved cycling jersey:

Cats included for size, of course. This came into my hands courtesy of Rachel's mother as a birthday present a few months back. I haven't had a chance to break it in until now. It's a welcome addition to my cycling wardrobe for sure.

The first two photos above were from the downtown Columbus area on the Scioto and Olentangy trails, about 14 miles into my ride. As I continued on, the skies did finally clear by the time I reached Antrim Park on the north side of the city:

That was on or around mile 25, not quite halfway through my intended distance of 65 miles for the day. I headed east from there and eventually south on the Alum Creek Trail:

This being my first distance ride since December, I was initially a little concerned I wouldn't make it, but I felt fine until about mile 40 when the wind started to pick up again. I paused very briefly on the trail behind Ohio Dominican University for a water and snack break:

I also had enough juice to make it to my only intended stop on the way, Lineage Brewing in Clintonville:

Sadly, they are closing their doors by next Sunday for familial reasons. This was one of the first breweries I visited in 2017 on my first visit to Columbus, and they are also one of the most bike friendly. The beer and food are also quite tasty. It's a gross understatement to say they'll be missed.

From there, I headed south towards home. I caught one more look at the skyline as we neared sunset before heading out of downtown:

Overall, I'd say it was a pretty perfect day for a ride all things considered. Unfortunately I screwed up and forgot to stretch when I got home, and my legs definitely let me know on Sunday morning! I can't tell you how much I needed a nice, long, solo ride though...as fun as group rides are, I need a long ass ride by myself every now and then to help keep my head clear. It also reminds me how in or out of shape I am - ha!

It was also a milestone ride, of sorts. I completed a 100km ride for the first time this year, and finally went over 100 miles on the month. I'd say my second half of 30 Days of Biking has already been much better than the first.