Bike Adventure

Today was the first day in a LONG time that riding outside was possible.  A dear friend of mine, Mary Sunshine, planned an afternoon ride from Miami Whitewater Forest with a few cycling buddies, and I really wanted to tag along!  But I also had to go downtown to the Flying Pig Expo to pick up my race packet for Sunday's half marathon.  If I drove to the park, rode for a couple hours, then drove downtown, parked, went through the expo, and drove home in rush hour traffic, I figured that I would have wasted 2 hours in the car and nearly 3 gallons of gas.  So instead, I plotted a route and rode my bike downtown to the expo.  It was quite an adventure!

I headed south and west to Glendale first, so I could return some laces to Bob Roncker's Running Spot, something I've been meaning to do for months.  From there, I rode down to my old stomping grounds in Hartwell and picked up on the Monday Night Recovery Ride route, which I've ridden several times with the Cincinnati Cycle Club.  I knew the roads were less congested, and I really enjoyed the portion of my ride on Este and Spring Grove.  Getting into downtown was easy, too, and I loved that I could just hop up on the sidewalk if I needed to go the opposite direction on a one-way road. :-)

As soon as I got into the convention center, a lady at the first packet pick-up table offered to watch my bike if I wanted to leave it there by her table.  Perfect!  I walked through the expo, picked up my bib number and timing chip, got a few free goodies and some info on other races, then headed across town to meet Derek.  It worked out perfectly that the bag they gave out this year was a backpack: it was a piece of cake to ride over to Derek's office building.  It was fun to visit with him for a few minutes, and nice that I didn't have to carry my bag of goodies all the way home.

To get home, I decided to just head straight up Reading Rd./Rt. 42.  It was a straight shot, but it took me through a few not-no-nice neighborhoods, and there were a lot more cars on that road and at that time (2:30-3:30ish).  Oh well, I won't be intimidated.  I made it home safely, and really enjoyed my little adventure.  I also calculated that I saved about $15 today by not driving all over town, plus it was a great workout.  Win-win-win!