Bike The C-Bus 2015

 

Now in its eighth year, the Bike The C-Bus citywide bike tour, organized by local bicycling advocacy group Yay Bikes!, offers people of all levels and abilities an organized group ride that takes them through much of the Columbus metro area. While our amount of bicycling this year has not been up to our liking due to numerous factors, my spouse and I couldn't resist taking the two-wheeled tour of the area on this Labor Day weekend.

As it turned out, the roughly 560 riders who attended this year's well-organized event (along with the regular roughly 30-mile ride around the metro, 60 participants rode in the event's first ever metric century ride) were in high spirits on what was a very warm and humid, but otherwise perfect, day for a jaunt around the metro.

Some of the pre-ride sights in front of the Lincoln Theater in the 
King-Lincoln neighborhood; this area on Long Street
would host both the pre- and post-ride festivities

The first of several waves of riders pedals off to ride through the metro.

Early on, we got a taste of what most weekday downtown commuters do not
get to experience: low traffic volume on the outbound North 4th Street.

The Bike The C-Bus took riders close to numerous area
landmarks, including this sports-based trio of
Huntington Park, the Shoe, and Mapfre Stadium.

The first ride rest stop took place at the Clintonville Community Market,
who offered cold, refreshing fruit-infused waters for riders

Land Grant Brewing in Franklinton played host to another rest stop; water
was available, but some decided to grab a cold one instead.

As it turned out, we found ourselves riding with different riders
throughout the day due to the various rest stops, traffic light
timing, and the varying but mainly leisurely paces.

Other rest stops were found in Dennison Place/The Circles and
the Olde Towne East neighborhoods. These stops were hosted
by Endocrinology Associates and the
Olde Towne East Neighborhood Association, respectively.

The familiar Columbus skyline and the State Capitol were easily
seen during the jaunt, along with a statue of a dude who probably
preferred two beers over two wheels (King Gambrinus).

After a journey through the Franklin Park and Near East Columbus
neighborhoods, riders finished the tour to find a selection of
food trucks (including Paddy Wagon, Tatoheads, Los Potosinos
and Betty Bev's Food Angels) and beer from Elevator Brewing. 

Overall, we had a great time cruising through the city on this first ever Bike the C-Bus tour for us. The folks at Yay Bikes! and the event volunteers did a wonderful job of making this ride run smoothly, and there was a generally friendly vibe among both the riders and neighborhood residents, who often gave us a friendly wave or greeting as we rode by. To that end, I personally would also like to give a big thank you shout out to those who checked on my spouse, who determined last minute that she was not going to be able to make a red light on an uphill section of road and ended up taking a tumble trying to stop her bike. We are both happy to report that she came out of this fall with only a couple of minor bruises.

Bike the C-Bus Bicycle Tour of Columbus
Held annually in September via Yay Bikes!
82 E. 16th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 470-4220
info@yaybikes.com
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