After a long holiday weekend, I was happy to be back on my bike Tuesday. I had another physical therapy session in Dublin, so biked up there first thing to get poked and prodded and then headed downtown. My normal commute is 16-20 miles round trip, so doing an extra 10-15 miles for errands, appointments, etc. on a nice day is no problem. Actually, I enjoy it.
I got to my downtown office about 10 am and asked my assistant, Lisa, "So, what's on the schedule today?" I detected a bit of a smirk as she announced, "You have lunch in Worthington at 11:45."
Yikes-- 30+ miles in a day is fine, but 50-60 is another thing. Fortunately, I was able to get a few things done before I saddled back up and headed north. I left my office at State and Third at 11:15 and headed straight up High Street for an 11:45 lunch at the Worthington Inn. Fortunately there was a nice tailwind which allowed me to get there at 11:47. I don't think I would have gotten there too much faster in a car.
By the end of the day, I was pretty whipped. I called Beth to see if she wanted to meet me for dinner at Dirty Frank's (which would have enabled me to throw my bike in her Volvo and bum a ride home). Unfortunately, she had made other plans, so I hopped on the bike and rode the 8 miles home. It was a beautiful evening and a very enjoyable ride.
I don't really expect many folks to use a bike like this on a daily basis, but it demonstrates that you actually CAN get around CBus and its surrounding suburbs on two wheels if you don't mind the exercise. Using a car would save some time, but not as much as you think.
And it makes me wonder why some folks think it's so odd that I would use a bike to ride 16 miles to and from work, or even 50+ miles on a day like Tuesday--when it would never occur to them to question the wisdom of running 26+ mile marathons, biking 100+ mile "centuries" or swimming, running and biking 200+ mile triathalons with no purpose beyond the event itself (and sometimes raising money for charity).
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