Hitch Your Bike to It

I'm sure you've heard the phrase "The adventure is its own reward" many times by now. Let me tell you, getting a trailer hitch on a car is quite the adventure these days. For our purposes, we're not using it for a trailer, but rather a hitch mounted bike rack. As you can see below, we did get it installed and loaded successfully:

The pic is a bit of an optical illusion. The bikes aren't that much wider than the car. Anyway, the adventure I was speaking of was the one that took us about a month to complete in getting the hitch actually installed on the car. I'm throwing this out there as an informational statement for any of you who are planning big vacations later this Summer and might be considering such an upgrade to your car.

It began in mid-May, a few weeks after Rae had traded in her Chevy Trax for the Equinox you can see above, hiding behind four bikes (side note: the used vehicle market is decidedly in the buyers' favour right now, so take a look around - you'd be surprised what kind of great deals you can find). The intent was to increase the in-car capacity and also add a trailer hitch to maximize that extra space. Soon after exchanging cars, I booked an appointment with U-Haul to get a hitch installed.

On a Wednesday afternoon, the day before the installation, we got a call that the part was not in stock and was on order, hopefully to be shipped within a day or two from a store not too far from ours. They said they would call us when the part was in to reschedule our installation. No big deal, right? We still had almost a month until we left for the beach.

Well...the weekend passed and so did Monday without an update, so I called. There wasn't much new information available; the part was still on order, and supposed to be in soon. On top of that, their chief hitch installation technician was on vacation for that week. I was starting to get a little concerned. I waited a few more days, called again, and was told the same thing. After a third try, we decided that we had to go into the store to speak with a manager directly.

Before you get the wrong idea, we didn't go full Karen on the guy. We explained that we simply wanted an update on the situation and what we could expect, because we were now just a little over two weeks away from the trip. As is common in this day and age, manufacturers can't keep up with demand, so almost every hitch that they sell is on backorder, with requests filled ASAP. The staff at U-Haul actually recommended that we look into plan B if we had one.

Thankfully, we did. We found a hitch on etrailer.com that matched our car and decided to do a self-install. I had considered doing this anyway when U-Haul said their technician was away, figuring I could grab the hitch and save some money. If you have the tools, the capability, and the time to do the work, I highly recommend going this route. Our hitch was delivered in less than a week and we were ready to install as soon as it arrived:

I do recommend having an extra set of hands to help in the process (thanks to my neighbor for being that extra set of hands). The process really wasn't all that difficult. All the parts were included, and the etrailer website has installation videos for just about everything they sell. And so, after about a month of back-and-forth, we had our upgrade:

It is also worth noting that if you're looking to buy a bike rack, they're also in short supply these days. We bought this one used at an estate sale towards the end of last Summer. In hindsight, I'm really glad we didn't install it on the old car.

I wanted to get it installed a few weeks early so we could test it out around home before making a long trip. Though I didn't get to do as much testing as I would have liked, it did all work out in the end, and the bikes survived all the way to Delaware:

This is a good chance for me to mention my friends at First State Brewing, who just opened late last year. If you are passing thru Middletown, DE, I highly recommend stopping in. The food (and beer) are fantastic, and it's extremely family-friendly.

Anywho, I'm writing this whole thing from Bethany Beach, DE, on the final day of our vacation. It's gray and rainy outside this morning after almost a full week of beautiful sunny days. In an interesting twist, it's been so hot and sunny that we've wanted to spend most of our time at the beach (go figure), so the bikes have been mostly sitting idle at the bike racks for the majority of the trip. I'm not complaining at all. I just find it amusing.

That's not to say there hasn't been some bike activity. Of course, I have been making sure to ride every day around the neighborhood at the very least:

I took one ride to the beach for the day when the kiddo and Rae were feeling like staying out of the sun:

Rae and I took a quick ride to pick up breakfast for the family one morning:

I was able to sneak in one longer-ish ride down the Coastal Highway to Ocean City, MD to visit friends a couple days ago:

And finally, Rae and I took a 5AM ride yesterday to see the sunrise over the ocean on what will probably be the last nice weather day of this trip:

And of course, now that we have the carrying capacity, this is just the first of what will hopefully be many more adventures with our new toys. The majority of Summer lies ahead, and I am excited to see what we'll see...

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.

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.