Columbus Ohio, Any riders out here?

[spwelton]

Yep, you're pretty close! I've never been to handy bikes. I've been going to Paradise Garage, in the short north, recently. I really like it there. A lot of products and great people working there. I've heard a bit about baer wheels down by campus, which i want to check out sometime. I haven't done any group rides or anything, I've been all kinds of busy lately since I've had the bike and I work 1am-5am, so my evenings are shot. A bunch of kids get together down on OSU campus at the Wexner Center on monday nights at 10pm and ride around for a couple of hours. I really want to get in on that, but I work at 1am so I can't really.

A night ride, hrmm? That sounds pretty cool actually

[scoatw]

Looking for some advice.

I'm camping with my family at Alum Creek State Park next weekend. Two things--I'd like to figure out a 1 to 2 hour bike ride with the family, with slow bikes. Dirt or paved paths. Also, I'd like to plan an early Sunday ride of ~2 hours with just me.

It would be nice to go to the campus of OSU, if it's not too far. Also, a restaurant or a nice picnic stopping point would be great to hear about.
Thanks.

Unfortunately the roads that take you to the campground at Alum Creek aren't safe for kids to be riding on. Particularly Old State Rd, which takes you to the campground. You can go to any bike shop in the Columbus area and get a free Bike Users map. That's a start. Altho it doesn't cover much of Deleware County. As for your Sunday morning ride. Head north. The roads are safer. Head up to Horseshoe Rd outside of Deleware. Or to Sunbury. You can get breakfast there. Over on the east side of the resevoir, off of Lewis Center Rd you have the Alum Creek Mountain bike Trails. You can try those out if you feel like doing some off-road ridin'. The ACMTBT is a top notch trail system that is highly regarded in the mountain bike circles. Not too kid friendly, but they do have a two mile beginner trail that's not to hard-core for kids, (if you take them slow.) Lot's of fun technical stuff. The review is here,
http://www.spokejunkies.com/reviews/...page=alumcreek

[jasony0423]

I just got out tonight for a short 20 mile ride around UA.

[scoatw]

Seeing a lot of commuters this year. Any Ridenet.net riders out there ?

[rich2912]

Yeah, I'm on RideNet here: http://echeloncycling.ridenet.net/rider/504

[Jive Turkey]

Went on a 30 mile ride yesterday at around 3:15 and two water bottles was NOT enough.

93 degrees with an 11 mph wind when the high was 49 degrees only 2 weeks ago is insane!

[ballistic]

Yeah. Saturday was really nice. Now it's just ridiculous.

[scoatw]

[Greyryder]

Phase One is open!? Man, John Brian is still drying out.

I've gotta move someplace that's actually close to some frikkin' trails.

[haningp]

Just a note to let anyone who might be interested, the Westerville Bike Club annual Dry Run ride will be held in September (see the link below). You can register from the link or from active.com. The ride has 4 distances ranging from 30+ miles to a century. It's full service with lunch/snack stops along each route and SAG support all at a very low cost.

http://westervillebicycleclub.org/dryrun

[clarkschwin]

Hey, Columbus Rider here. My friend and I have been riding a lot lately and would love for someone else to join us. We mainly ride along the Olentangy trail and throughout Columbus. We hold about about a 18-20 mph average. Come join us!

[rae]

You ride that fast on the Olentangy MUP? Isn't that speeding?

[clarkschwin]

I ride early in the morning, not many people are out.

[scoatw]

[DEF1]

Got caught out in the snow yesterday. Had a crash on the wooden bridge in Valleyview. Still got in 28 miles.

[Timbike2]

I moved to the Lewis Center area last year from SE Michigan. I work near the Port Columbus Airport. I haven't found a safe route to commute yet, any suggestions? May be moving to Gahanna in the future. I used to commute 3-4 days a week, 14 miles each way, when I lived in Ortonville, Michigan and worked at the airport in Waterford, Michigan. Sure miss riding on a regular basis. Need to get back to it this year. I ride a brown and black Specialized TriCross Sport.

[onehappypanda]

Jumpin' in since someone already bumped up the thread. I'm in the OSU/Clintonville area, have been using bike to get around since last spring. Need to find a decent used bike that is in better shape than mine, so send any shop rec's my way. I don't have a ton of money, which is why I'm assuming used is the way to go.

So far I've hit up:
Handy Bikes (on High)- fairly impressed. Nothing I was super interested in buying, not in pristine condition either, but solid bikes at fair prices.
Once Ridden- I've been here a couple times and I really like it. The guys there are nice, they don't make me feel uncomfortable even though I'm fairly newb. Sadly most of the bikes in stock today were a size too big. I'll probably head back here, prices looked fair.
Bike Source- had some decent 2010 models on sale, said there was a spring sale coming up.
Craigslist- meh. I really don't know what to do with Craigslist. It's my go-to for used gear but it's hard to find bikes that aren't crap, and the ones that are nice go for a pretty high price.

Any other suggestions for C-bus area bike shops? Preferably with a good used stock or hella good sales.

[rae]

Jumpin' in since someone already bumped up the thread. I'm in the OSU/Clintonville area, have been using bike to get around since last spring. Need to find a decent used bike that is in better shape than mine, so send any shop rec's my way. I don't have a ton of money, which is why I'm assuming used is the way to go.

So far I've hit up:
Handy Bikes (on High)- fairly impressed. Nothing I was super interested in buying, not in pristine condition either, but solid bikes at fair prices.
Once Ridden- I've been here a couple times and I really like it. The guys there are nice, they don't make me feel uncomfortable even though I'm fairly newb. Sadly most of the bikes in stock today were a size too big. I'll probably head back here, prices looked fair.
Bike Source- had some decent 2010 models on sale, said there was a spring sale coming up.
Craigslist- meh. I really don't know what to do with Craigslist. It's my go-to for used gear but it's hard to find bikes that aren't crap, and the ones that are nice go for a pretty high price.

Any other suggestions for C-bus area bike shops? Preferably with a good used stock or hella good sales.

Performance Bike has been having a sale also, you might try there.

[fuish]

Wow I haven't been on here in ages... I didn't realize that anyone from Columbus was still using my thread lol It's nice to know there are so many riders in Columbus! <3

[Hendricks97]

One of my personal favorite shops here is Paradise Garage (just a few miles south of you on High St.). Great deals and great people work there

[waynesworld]

Jumpin' in since someone already bumped up the thread. I'm in the OSU/Clintonville area, have been using bike to get around since last spring. Need to find a decent used bike that is in better shape than mine, so send any shop rec's my way. I don't have a ton of money, which is why I'm assuming used is the way to go.

So far I've hit up:
Handy Bikes (on High)- fairly impressed. Nothing I was super interested in buying, not in pristine condition either, but solid bikes at fair prices.
Once Ridden- I've been here a couple times and I really like it. The guys there are nice, they don't make me feel uncomfortable even though I'm fairly newb. Sadly most of the bikes in stock today were a size too big. I'll probably head back here, prices looked fair.
Bike Source- had some decent 2010 models on sale, said there was a spring sale coming up.
Craigslist- meh. I really don't know what to do with Craigslist. It's my go-to for used gear but it's hard to find bikes that aren't crap, and the ones that are nice go for a pretty high price.

Any other suggestions for C-bus area bike shops? Preferably with a good used stock or hella good sales.

I really like B-1 on Long Street. No idea what they may or may not have used, though. I've never bought a bike there, just accessories and had work done.

There is a bike co-op on 5th Ave, maybe half a mile east of High Street (linky). They may be a good choice for something used.

[waynesworld]

Nice pic. What bridge is that?

Also, who took that pic? You mean to tell me that someone else was riding with you at 19 degrees?

[evan938]

I'm in Columbus, near Easton. got my first miles of the year in feb when I took a trip to FL. did about 150 miles in 4 days. 3rd ride of the year up here (wednesday, 3/14) I got in a fight with a car and lost. concussion, bumps/bruises. didn't keep me down though. got a new wheelset, derailleur hanger fixed (temporarily until i can order a new one), everything else looked fine, amazingly. was just about as mad i was in an accident that i was on my BRAND NEW bike, bought it beginning of february.

But I got out today, 4 days after the crash, got a 32 mile route in, feels good to be out.

As for LBS suggestions, Bicycle One in Gahanna is awesome. no used bikes, AFAIK, but talk to a younger guy named Scott there. He went above and beyond to help me out the last 2 times I was in there, the last time, finding out a guy from the other store in Pickerington had the same wheelset I was about to order, he had bought for a bike he was building, and went a different route, and they were ready to go there at the shop. Savings got passed down to me and I didn't have to wait for a wheelset to come in.

Also, Baer wheels was very helpful last night when I realized I needed a couple things. called at 6:50 thinking they closed at 8, and he said he had actually closed at 6 but if i could make it down quickly, I could get what I needed. Can only say good things about a shop that will still help you out an hour after their posted closing time.

[Gege-Bubu]

Not exactly Columbus, but Granville ride last week

March 2012 by Genna B, on Flickr

[Gege-Bubu]

I got in a fight with a car and lost.

I hope you are ok, did you or the car learned the lesson? What went wrong?