Yesterday was the first day the sun has shined in a long time here in Southeast Ohio. Anybody who loves to ride bikes will tell you that it’s been really hard this winter to do any sort of riding at all. With a break in the snow and the sun shining enough to dry up the roads, I was looking for a good excuse to ride. I found one.

Richland United Methodist, one of the local churches, is sponsoring a program called Great Food For All. Basically it allows you to buy a week’s worth of food for 30 bucks. This is the first time we’ve tried it, even though they have been doing the program for a few months. Today was the pickup day, so rather than drive the 5 minute, 1 mile direct route, I decided to get a bike ride and an adventure out of it.

I was dreaming of doing this last night, and we I told my wife about it this morning, she thought it was a good way to get a ride it. I attached my trailer, normally reserved for hauling the kids on the bike path, to my mountain bike. I had initially thought I would take my road bike, as it fits the trailer a bit better. As the video shows, I’m really glad I didn’t. The ride was fantastic, and even with the temperatures around 32 degrees, I stayed really warm. The slower speed of the mountain bike, and towing the trailer, helped me keep quite toasty. I even found myself sweating pretty bad on some of the hills. Except for taking a few wrong turns on the way there and back, it was a great ride. Next time I’ll know the correct route to take, but I got to where I needed to be and had a good time doing it.

On the way there I had initially planned to take Oxley Road all the way to Pleasant Hill and down 33 to the church, thereby avoiding the 4-lane highway. But since I took a wrong turn, I managed to find myself back on the highway I was trying to avoid. It actually worked out okay, but next time I’ll know where to turn. Here’s the ride map and elevation for the way there:

For the ride back, once again a missed a turn. I should have stayed to the right off of Basset Road, just past the Basset Cemetary. Instead, I came down Basset Road, which was a mess. I’m glad I had the mountain bike and the bigger tires, as the pavement was mostly cinders, gravel, and some mud. I’m curious to see what the rest of Oxley looks like since I managed to miss it both times. Here’s the map and elevation for the ride back:

It was a really good ride, and it felt fantastic to ride outdoors. Unfortunately, with more snow coming tomorrow night, it might be a while before I can get on the road again. I’m looking forward to spring.