May Daze

While April is the month of 30 Days of Biking, May is designated as National Bike Month. I don't usually get as "into" the latter as much as the former, but I did want to do my due diligence as a cyclist who tends to blog and offer up a brief summary of my last month on a bike.

I'll start by mentioning that the weather was much more pleasant and predictable than it was in April. As a result, I was able to commute via bicycle on most days. I was treated to some beautiful morning views too:

It was so pleasant that at least one co-worker decided to join me too:

I also spotted some things I hadn't noticed before, including this historical marker on the National Road in western Columbus:

Next time I have an extra few moments on this route, I'll make sure to take a picture of the front side of the sign, too. 😉

At any rate, I did like this old mile marker, and I did get a good pic of it:

These morning rides really are a great way to start the day. Even though I'm using more energy, I always find that I have more energy throughout the day when I'm able to start the morning on a bike.

The Grove City Farmer's Market opened for the season as well this month. Not much produce to see at this time of year, but I did ride my bike to pick up a couple vegan pastries and some local coffee as per usual on one Saturday morning:

The next day, the Columbus Ale Trail officially kicked off for the year 2022, and I celebrated by riding to the first stop to pick up books for my girlfriend and I at Wolf's Ridge Brewing in downtown Columbus:

I rode a little more and then met up with my girlfriend at a new (to the Ale Trail) brewery in Ohio Brewing:

A pretty neat space, right? I'm looking forward to returning some day. There's a decent food menu that I didn't even get to so...

The next weekend, I did something similar, this time starting at Land Grant Brewing:

I had hoped to do a little more riding and a few more stops, but it started pouring in the mid-afternoon by the time I reached Seventh Son:

So, I popped the bike on the back of the car and we drove home from there. Still not a bad way to spend a couple weekends!

And of course, I worked a few errands into my regular biking routines. I'll likely never return to the ridiculous loads of laundry I used to tote on the back of a bike trailer in years past, but every now and then I will load up my bike with 80 pounds of groceries:

That was about it for me as far as cycling went this month. I took off most of the last week due to scheduling conflicts, but ended the month on a very fun note by taking the family to one of my favourite childhood experiences in HersheyPark:

There were no bikes, but plenty of great memories. And chocolate. Hah!

School ends this week, so I'm hoping to start working more family bike rides back into our weekly habits. May went by quite fast, but it was a pretty good month. Here's hoping June is even better.