Coffee & Normalcy

After all of these years riding and blogging about my adventures, it's rare that I experience a "first" these days. That said, there are still plenty of firsts to be had, and I had one today: my first ever coffee ride. For those of you unfamiliar with this type of ride, it's essentially what it sounds like: it's a group ride to get coffee.

If you know me well, you know that I'm no stranger to group rides. I join as many as I can fit into my schedule. So why haven't I participated in a coffee ride before today? It's not that I didn't want to, but it's just not my preferred riding style. My ideal weekend day involves having breakfast and coffee at home, and then heading out for a ride. So in that regard, it was kind of outside my comfort zone to join in one this morning.

I found out that the good folks at roll: were resuming their coffee rides thru a personal invite from my good friend Jason, who used to work for them. Timing is everything, because I have been really itching to get back to some semblance of normalcy in a post-COVID world. This seemed like as good a time as any:

A modest turnout for an early Sunday morning ride, but a good one nonetheless. Also a gorgeous morning to be on a bike:

Our destination was Roosevelt Coffeehouse in downtown Columbus, about 4 miles away from the starting point in Bexley. Not a bad way to spend a morning at all:

In addition to coffee, they had some delicious handmade vegan "pop tarts" that were a perfect mid-ride snack:

I don't know if I've showed off my new sasquatch bike riding sticker here yet, but just in case, here it is:

Most everyone dispersed from there, but as the weather was still relatively pleasant, I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to get in some more miles. I headed off briefly with Jason and my new friend Joseph to peep this neat mural nearby the coffeehouse:

They branched off from there and I kept riding around central Columbus. It's always nice to see a change of scenery from the same boring suburban roads I frequent every day. ;) After a nice couple of hours in the saddle, I ended up at a beer garden of course:

Gemüt Biergarten, to be exact. We passed by it on the coffee ride, and I decided I'd head back here for lunch and an adult beverage towards the end of my ride. In addition to being a neat-looking old building, there's the added benefit of ample bike parking:

And of course, a picture perfect kolsch on tap for a balmy late Spring day:

I headed home from there to finish some adulting I'd started yesterday. Overall, a pretty solid Sunday if I say so myself. Mayhaps I need to re-evaluate my weekend riding routine. I'd absolutely do another coffee ride the next time it rolls around (pun intended). 

Tag Team

Since the pandemic began, most group biking activities have been few and far between, but that doesn't mean people aren't willing to partake in some sort of riding together. For example, there's a cycling group on Facebook for Grove City residents that has an ongoing event known as Bike Tag. If I could simplify it to one sentence, you use your bike to play tag with others in the community. Sort of.

It's pretty simple, and easy if you have the time to do it. The pic I posted above is from the Grove City Skate Park. This location was "tagged" by someone else, who posted their pic to the Facebook group:

You have to look closely for their bike, but trust me, it's there. Once the pic of the next location is posted, the goal is to find the location and take a picture of your bike at said location. You post that picture to let everyone know the location has been discovered:

Then, in the same ride, you take a pic of your bike in a different location and post THAT to the group:

That location becomes the new tag, and on and on it goes:

Neat, right? I've had a hectic schedule the last couple months due to usual Spring workload, but as luck would have it, a couple of the recent locations were close by my house and I was able to join in the game twice in less than a week. I certainly don't need any additional incentives to get out and ride, but this is certainly a good one. I'd like to think it encourages others to do the same.

Maybe you can try this where you live. Tag. You're it.

Bike Glass in Case of Emergency

Let me start by saying there was no actual emergency that required a bicycle this past weekend. However, there was some much-needed therapy on a couple fronts, and a bike was partially involved.

I ventured up north to the Toledo, OH area on Saturday afternoon to visit one of my best friends for the first time in what feels like forever, but was actually "only" 6 months. When you have talked to a dear friend over Facetime and phone for awhile, you realize how much is lacking in those interactions after you have the chance to see them in person. It's just different. No way around it. Add a very young child into the experience and there's just no way to describe the good juju you get from being in the physical presence of their energy. The way things have gone the last year or so, it's almost therapeutic just to see familiar faces, and hear their voices, and so on...

Anyway, I could probably write a whole post about how great it is to see friends again (especially after I was also lucky enough to experience it last weekend), but this is a bike blog, right? By now, you probably know that I won't miss an opportunity to bike in a new place, and before this weekend, I'd never biked in Toledo, despite having visited more times than I can actually count. One way or the other, that was bound to change, and that day was yesterday:

I began and ended at Middlegrounds Metropark. It's pretty close to the downtown Toledo area, which includes a modest bike share system called ToleGO:

I share this info not because I utilized this bike share this weekend, but because it's run off of the same SoBi bikeshare system that I used in New Orleans more than two years ago, and it's my favourite bike share design (so far). The reasons why are pretty simple. It features a solar-powered security system on each bike that connects to a u-lock that can be locked anywhere, so you can lock a bike at locations other than a bikeshare hub:

Again, I didn't use the ToleGO this weekend, but I would definitely give it a shot when I return some day :D

What I DID do was ride northeast on the Maumee River, attempting to follow the Toledo bike route up through downtown:

My intended destination was the Craig Bridge that you can see in the background here:

These areas are actually part of a wildlife preservation effort to increase greenery and overall insect life along the riverfront area, which is pretty cool to see in an industrialized urban setting.

I did make it to the bridge after a short 2.5 miles, only to find out that the bike route ends there and the only way across is on a single-wide sidewalk. That didn't sound at all appetizing. Thanks, GoogleMaps. I'll definitely need to propose an update.

However, there was a trail that I had looked into that headed in the opposite direction further into Toledo, and I'd planned to head there after crossing the bridge and returning anyway, so I just headed there a bit ahead of schedule. It's your pretty typical trail, with a little bit more natural scenery as opposed to buildings and cars:

At the western end of the trail, the bike route begins utilizing roadways again, including what may be the shortest two-way protected bike lane I've ever encountered:

That's literally the whole thing. It's one small block in length. It does its job, though, so that's all that matters. Also of note, if you look closely, there's an interesting sign with a cane on it.

I finished up by heading back through downtown, pausing briefly at the Toledo Mudhens' stadium for a photo op:

Man, I miss baseball. I need to get back to a game later this year.

Anyway, after a nice 9 miles on a beautiful Sunday morning, it was time to head back to Columbus. Toledo is not a huge city by any means, but I definitely could return and explore a little more. Their bike routes are pretty well marked and there seemed to be plenty of them. Some mild exploration in the Glass City was a great way to start Bike Month.

Speaking of that, May is National Bike Month, and though I won't go nearly as in-depth with the blog posts or social media as I did during 30 Days of Biking, I did sign up for the Bike Month Challenge. It's more of an ambiguous challenge, with the goal being to raise awareness of cycling during the post-COVID era. Seems right up my alley, right? Feel free to read more and join me if you are feeling bikey.