Why Would July to Me?

Well, I wouldn't. I took it kinda easy on the bike this July, but I still had my share of fun. I didn't log a TON of miles, but I did bike in three different states, starting in Virginia near my girlfriend's family cabin:

I've never seen a regular rural road with signs that allow golf cart traffic, but there we are. I guess it kinda makes sense. It's a pretty quiet and low-traffic road:

On my way back to the house, I spotted this little guy and helped him across the road:

I opted for the bike you see above, but I had another option that might look familiar if you're a longtime and eagle-eyed reader of this blog:

It's the same model bicycle that Rachel's sister let me borrow on a few occasions when we visited her house for some long weekends. Small world, right?

Back home in Ohio, I mostly kept to short rides around the neighborhood for errands and such as usual. Some were more visually appealing than others:

The next weekend, we found ourselves in Put-In-Bay, Ohio, which barely feels like Ohio at all. It's an island town on Lake Erie with a rich history and some great views. I'm glad our B&B had free bike rental:

Back home again, I broke a shifter cable on My Therapist, so it seemed like a good enough time to get a tuneup from my friends at Heritage Cycles:

She was well overdue. Speaking of Heritage, I was finally able to join at least one group ride on a Wednesday night:

And last, but certainly not least, I crossed over the 10,000 mile mark (unofficially, of course) on The Bike With No Name whilst riding in and around Pittsburgh on the final weekend in July:

I rewarded myself with some Phillies baseball on Saturday evening, complete with a gorgeous fireworks display to cap off the night:

I fit in once more solid ride on Sunday morning before heading back to Ohio:

I've been quite busy on non-cycling related business this Summer, but I've still been able to get some good moments in on the bike. I can't believe it's August already. Where does the time go?

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.

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 ;)

Seventh Heaven

Hello and happy 2021, everyone. It may seem odd to be reading a happy new year wish on January 27th, but believe it or not, this is my first check-in on this blog since November of last year. Consider this an attempt to "catch up," if you will.

So, what have I been up to? In a nutshell, the holiday season was quite busy, and it began shortly after my most recent post. The family and I went on a memorial cruise over the Thanksgiving holiday. The travel and lack of available outdoor cycling options for parts of the trip resulted in my decision to end my consecutive days of biking streak on day 608:

And so just as the streak began unceremoniously, so it ended in the same fashion. No big celebration, just a normal ride around the neighborhood. Forgive the pun, but it was quite a ride. I do not desire to pore over the thousands of photos I took during those 20 months, so here's an abridged list of some of the random places I've visited on 2 wheels since March of 2020, in no particular order (and associated blog posts):

• New York
• Cleveland
• Philadelphia
• Toledo
• Chicago
• Detroit
• Harrisburg
• Pittsburgh

Of course, there were many more in between (including Columbus, of course). When I first posted on Instagram about the streak potentially ending, I received quite a few messages telling me to keep it going, but I gotta be totally honest with you, I was ready for it to be over. I was actually thinking those thoughts once I passed 500 days, and yet I somehow kept going for another 108. Simply put: by the end of it, a daily ride had started to feel more like a chore than an achievement, and that ruined the spirit of why I started the streak in the first place.

That said, I still had an appreciation for willing myself to get outside every single day, even if only for a couple minutes. I also accomplished the only real goal I had at the start of the streak: riding a bike every single day for 365 consecutive days. I'd wanted to do that for years, and I totally smashed it. I did a much more in-depth write-up of the first 365 days back in March of last year, if you are interested in reading more about the experience.

I began another streak as soon as we returned from Thanksgiving. I mean, would you expect anything else? If you're new to this space, I have a tradition of riding my bike every day in December to celebrate my birthday, and I kept it going this year. Some photos for your enjoyment:

You may have spied a 63-mile route in those photos. I noticed that I was close enough to hitting 2,500 miles for the year entering December that I decided to push the envelope in hopes of reaching it. I'm happy to report that I did indeed get to 2,500 miles, which was 500 miles more than I'd set to achieve on January 1st, 2021. Go me!

As we headed into early 2022, I took an extended holiday break to recoup, relax, and spend some more time with family back in Pennsylvania before returning to my full-time life back in Ohio. Oh, and I've continued riding. In full disclosure, I have taken a day off here and there, but I've been on a bike more days than I haven't. You all know by now that single digit temperatures don't frighten me:

I probably won't ever attempt another 600-plus day biking streak again (at least not on purpose), but you can believe I will keep riding. One thing I would like to be better about in 2022 is writing about my adventures on my two-wheelers. Consider this my pledge. I fully expect you to hold my feet to the fire on it. As I type that, I'm realizing that we are about to go on a long-anticipated Disney vacation on Saturday, so I will be absent from this space once again for a brief time, but after that...I'd like to return to the spirit of why I began this blog way back in 2015 - seven years ago today, if you can believe it.

So, happy new year once again. I hope your holidays and your January have been stellar, and here's to a healthier and happier 2022!