Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - columbus kids....

so it looks like i'll be heading there before long...i wanna know about stuff to do, places to go, the opportunities for messenger jobs (this is all i really want to do), etc.

I'm not hiring any full timers, don't know anyone that is cept possibly rainbow express, and you don't wanna work for them anyway

Columbus is alright, but it doesn't have as much to offer as the two other big C cities in Ohio. The bars and shows aren't bad, and there are a lot of good places to eat too. Watch out for those crazy drivers and college kids on High Street.

Columbus is alright, but it doesn't have as much to offer as the two other big C cities in Ohio. The bars and shows aren't bad, and there are a lot of good places to eat too. Watch out for those crazy drivers and college kids on High Street.

Yeah, I've lived in all three and I have to say Cols is my least favorite by far. Most of the city is dominated by new horrible developments and OSU - which is terrible when it comes to things like gameday traffic and general crappiness. There are some neat neighborhoods but nothing as overwhelmingly interesting as most other major cities I've lived in.

I'm not hiring any full timers, don't know anyone that is cept possibly rainbow express, and you don't wanna work for them anyway

rainbow express? what's the deal with that place?

low rates, lousy cut, lousy management, and they bounce checks on their bikers from time to time

they have about 7 judgements against them in county court for taxes too

theyve gone from having 6-8 bikers to having 2.5, and lost lots of customers, Ive got about a dozen of their old clients myself

huh. sounds like the company i'm working for now. going downhill faaast...now i think of it, leaving is probably a good idea on that front, too.

get on Archive courier's waiting list to be hired, best bet at the moment

i love columbus, alot of sweet bars and it seems like i find a new one every week.. theres always something to do.. probably better bet looking to find another job besides messenger though.

naturally a better bet...if i have to, i'll work something else in the meantime, but messenger work is the only job i've ever had and given two ****s about. i love being able to take pride in my work.

I had a good time in Columbus last time I was out there visiting my dad. ummmm.... Magnolia Thunder***** has a ridiculous name and a decent record selection if you're into that.

It's like a thunderkitty; but different. hahaha.

ha ha, i got it.

get on Archive courier's waiting list to be hired, best bet at the moment

10-4.

http://www.shortnorth.com/BodegaCafe.html is a nice bar
http://www.cringe.com/bs/distillery.htm is a total dive but has shows sometimes and friday night $1 rum & cokes
http://columbus.citysearch.com/profile/7853044/editorial/ is a good restaurant, $2 pbr tallboys!
http://wexarts.org/ shows a lot of good art films, has good shows and performances too

man don't even get me started on the food and drink deals in columbus.. i ran across a article in columbus monthly in the summer that highlighted almost every food and drink deal in town.. its great when you wanna go out during the week and only pay 5 bucks for dinner and drinks.

oh yeah .. theres this football team here to.. they're kind of a big deal.. we'll forget the night of Jan 8th though.

Columbus can be a great place to live. But, its not very good for cyclists. You have to many drunk college kids, and horrible drivers. Remarkably, it has been inproving, but bike persecution is really bad. Also, columbus is very spread out. It makes it very hard/impossible to make a bike your only means of transportation. But, the bars are good, and there are alot of cool people around. there is strength in numbers. Hit me up, I will take you out for coffee or something. (that goes for anyone coming to Columbus anytime!)
seagull_bags@yahoo.com
Dan

Move to Madison.

You're worth it.

C-bus is alright by me. The presense of OSU makes it rather hectic on campus especially during football season but nothing a street-smart biker can't handle. Just pay attention. Urban Sprawl is also a problem so as the 'gull said it's a long ride to some places. I can't commute to work on my bike for example because I work in Dublin (a suburb) and it'd be a 30 mile trek across several freeways.

That said, it's a city I love and there's a growing cycling scene, particularly in the area of fixed gear. A friend and I have embarked on setting up several alleycat-esque races and rides for the coming warmer months. We actually just had one in November that had stops all around OSU campus right after the biggest game of the year got out. It was chaotic and rather daunting but thoroughly enjoyed by all, hit me up with a PM when you actually get here. We're having a back alley sprint-type race (and party afterwards) at the end of February/beginning of March if you're interested.

I spent part of my childhood in Dublin, OH. Sorry you have to go there to work, that place sucks.

There's a Vietnamese restaurant at North Market that has a great tofu sandwich for <$3.00. Yum.

i think that columbus is easily the best of the 3-Cs. of course everyone has their loyalties, but you can get a lot out of this city if you give it a shot.

i've ridden in several cities and although columbus isn't the most bicycle friendly city in the world (in terms of infrastructure), riding within the city area (downtown, short north, campus) isn't any worse than most places. traffic tends to be less dense and at higher speeds in the core of downtown than in, say, nyc or chicago. this has the probability of making accidents worse when they do happen, but the traffic flow is generally predictable and drivers are pretty on par. also, as with any campus area, there is the drunken ******* factor, but that's how it goes. if you're smart, you'll be fine.

as for rainbow, it's best avoided as others have said. i put in a few months there and am more than happy to talk to you about it if you want to drop me a line. working there can be fun if your financial obligations are very minimal. in my case, my student loans kicked in. rainbow paychecks couldn't swing it. an average week's pay for me was about $250 (no tax out, of course) toward the end. i had a few $300+ weeks, but you could get as low as $180 when things were slow. the management is really dicey and some of the other kids ended up with bouncing checks. the key is to deposit or cash your check immediately upon receipt. i never had a problem doing it that way.

you might be able to swing some sort of food delivery (jimmy johns or some such) on bike, if you tried. i know someone around here did it for a bit. the campus area is fairly compact, so you could negotiate it pretty well.

when are you going to be moving? if you need help finding housing or anything else (logistical crap, etc), hit me up and i can give you my number. if not, hit me up anyway and we'll get drunk. i don't do coffee.

That's something else I didn't think about. Columbus is a cheap place to live. I don't know about Cincinatti or Cleveland, but I've always been amazed by the number of nice, well-placed apartments I've seen for around $400 a month. I have trouble finding a place like that in the suburbs.

i used to deliver on bike for pita pit and banked it there in columbus

Portland not frigid enough for you?

Move to Pittsburgh... you're worth it.

That's something else I didn't think about. Columbus is a cheap place to live. I don't know about Cincinatti or Cleveland, but I've always been amazed by the number of nice, well-placed apartments I've seen for around $400 a month. I have trouble finding a place like that in the suburbs.

it's definitely cheap to live here. i live in a two bedroom townhome in the northeast campus area (decently away from most of the college bull****) that's $485/month. and, of course, i only pay half of that. it's so cheap to live here. i love it.

I haven't been back to Columbus for a while, but I remember a bar/grill joint called The Blue Danube. Everybody just called it 'The Dube', and they made some pretty decent grub. Is that place still around?

yep, it's still there.

Yeah, the Dube is still around, mice, rats, and all. There's really a lot to do here in c-bus and it's so f-n flat that you can't help but ride a bicycle. I moved here a couple years ago from Chicago because I needed a change of pace. Before moving here I had been here for work and to visit some friends. My friend Erin told me the most true thing "Columbus isn't really a great place to visit but it's a great place to live." She's totally right. I mean, there's plenty of interesting things to do, plenty of free things to take advantage of, and our economy rocks the house so you can find a job easy if you're not too picky.

The only things I'm particularly down on are: ****ty airport (not a major hub), no trains, worthless local news, and no natural wonders (like mountains or lakes, just flat farmland). Oh, OSU football fans can suck it too but you're not going to change that so you just grin and bear it.

Just move to pittsburgh. It's just a bit further and whips columbus's ass with a belt

rent is great .. i get away paying about $400 a month for everything (gas/electric/rent/cable) i live with two other dudes though..

About these nov and feb races/rides.. are they posted on here and me and my buds are missing them?

I'd love to get in on them.

I think overall humancongreal is making a great choice.

Columbus is the best city in Ohio. Cleveland is a sh!thole, Cinci, for the most part, is boring and fairly ****ty (no offense to any natives of Clevo or Cinci). There is usually always something to do C-bus. The gallery hop on every first Saturday of each month is always fun. Rag-o-Rama ****ing rules (used/new clothing store), or at least it used tobe , it's still pretty awesome, but some stuff is overly priced, you can still find awesome deals on good designer clothing though.

There's community fest every year, which is always fun. Jazz and Ribs. I think there is a special day for black people where they basicly parade around downtown in their drug dealer cars, and that's always amusing. A lot of art related stuff (CCAD is right there, I went there, but not long--good art school though). A lot of cool gay people (a lot). Columbus was name one of the best palces for black and I think gays to live in the USA.

I would first look at the Victorian Village area for apartments, it's the best area for the price. You're pretty much near everything without being in the mess of everything. You're near the Short North too, which is a nice area.

I love Columbus and I want to go back. If it wasn't for the Sh!tty weather...I would probably go back, but ever since I moved south I think I'm going to try to live where it stays warm and is sunny most of the time.

Oh and as far as biker hangouts, I only know of a place called "Skambo" I think it was called, which is a newer coffee shop. A lot of messengers hungout there. It might not be there anymore, I guess it wasn't managed very well.

skambo is still there, it used to be called insomnia

corner of gay street and pearl alley

Yeah, the Dube is still around, mice, rats, and all. There's really a lot to do here in c-bus and it's so f-n flat that you can't help but ride a bicycle. I moved here a couple years ago from Chicago because I needed a change of pace. Before moving here I had been here for work and to visit some friends. My friend Erin told me the most true thing "Columbus isn't really a great place to visit but it's a great place to live." She's totally right. I mean, there's plenty of interesting things to do, plenty of free things to take advantage of, and our economy rocks the house so you can find a job easy if you're not too picky.

The only things I'm particularly down on are: ****ty airport (not a major hub), no trains, worthless local news, and no natural wonders (like mountains or lakes, just flat farmland). Oh, OSU football fans can suck it too but you're not going to change that so you just grin and bear it.

Bus system sucks, too.

Your friend Erin, is her last name Sheehan and does she go to CCAD?

skambo is still there, it used to be called insomnia

corner of gay street and pearl alley

Cool. I moved in August last year so I haven't been away for that long, but I'm still home sick. It doesn't help that I hate where I am. Warmer weather, but boring city, the "Queen City" to be exact.

new LBS is about to open, or already has, downtown too

Casey just opened his shop I do believe, 124 east long street

i moved here last year to go to school, at ohio state, and love it. there is always a ton of stuff to do and plenty of bars to go to. i actually only know a few kids down here that are into fixed, and i only know them because i ride bmx with them. i'd definitely like to find the good shops around here (i've heard bad things about baer wheels). i ride a bright orange bianchi pista, so if you see me holler, i'd love to meet people.

I've heard that ROLL is very cool, but it's up by Polaris.

If you're into distance cycling, Ohio Ranndonneurs runs evens around the Columbus area (not nearly as flat as Columbus itself) - I did a 200k one last year and had a lot of fun, although I got smoked by some senior citizens. http://ohiorand.org/.

casey opened a bike shop? i hope its not the casey i know

messenger casey, used to ride for archive, now he's in house for thompson hine and flory

I wish him all the luck, we'll see what happens, seems like he's tryin to live the dream just like the rest of us ya know?

We could use a bike shop downtown for certain.

okay, so the girl unit is freaking out because she knows who seagull dan and shants are wants to know who morbot is, among others perhaps?

anyway...i'm sure i'll meet a lot of you...pm me, we'll get to talking, get to know one another a bit better....though i suppose that'll be happening in the next week or two anyway, right?

shants, i'd love to get your number and talk to you, it sounds like you know your town and all pretty damn well.

skambo is still there, it used to be called insomnia

corner of gay street and pearl alley

I loved being on the corner of Gay and High St because I'm immature.

HoundDog's Pizza will be missed greatly. As well as the ****ty grease dripping pizza of Kings and Gumby. Ooohhhh ****, those were my meals in College.

I've heard that ROLL is very cool, but it's up by Polaris.

I hate it. It's very expensive and a bit stuck-up.

I hate it. It's very expensive and a bit stuck-up.

You make it sound like Baer Wheels. That's unfortunate.

baer isnt stuck up, just a regular old *******. he doesn't think hes better than you, he just hates you.

haha

Westerville Bike Shop, that's the place (imo). The owner is the nicest guy in the world. Roll is near Polaris for a reason - it's uber trendy which fits in with the rich mall kids up that way. Baer, well, if the owner had a remotely pleasant personality I would frequent them often. Just the sight of that guy bums me out though. Bikesource and Trek are what you'd expect from corporate type bike shops so I avoid them as well. Again, Westerville is the place for me even though it's a pain to get to.

Oh, and no, I was talking about a different Erin...

Ive never had any issues with Baer, he's done everything Ive ever asked him to do very quickly and cheaply and most importantly, he's competent. He's also sponsored a few alleycats. He's business man in a fairly tough and competitive low money market. It isnt easy running a small LBS, long hours, low pay, and guys who dont know squat will diss you for it IMO.

If your looking for conversation and a good time, no, Baer isnt the place to go, but that isnt his job either.