I can easily put my finger on the exact date I fell in love with Cleveland. It was my first bike ride in the city. Jeff and I weren’t even officially dating, and I had only been living here a little under two months at the time. He asked me to join him and some friends on a bike ride. I didn’t want to go. I actually got mad at him because he wouldn’t stop asking me to go. I just thought that since they were in so much better shape than me that I’d have a hard time keeping up. Plus I didn’t even have a bike!

I ended up borrowing a friend’s spare bike and having the time of my life. We did just under twenty miles that night. We rode the west side, the east side, and everything in between. I was still very unfamiliar with the city at that point so it was all new and interesting to me. It still holds a place as one of my favorite rides. That was the night I decided Cleveland and I would get along juuuust fine.  (Jeff also told me he loved me for the first time that night after the ride. Awww!) First thing the next morning I was texting Jeff and another friend asking what kind of bike I should buy. Before I could even get a solid answer I had chose one. The rest is history.

Last year we kind of took the year off of riding. It wasn’t necessarily on purpose. It just happened. No one really wanted to ride and I have a hard time motivating myself to go very far alone. I slowly but surely started getting back into it this year. I’m still helping out at the flower shop downtown. From my old apartment I would just take the train but I’m not located as close to a station anymore so my options are walk downtown, drive there, or bike. Easy answer, right?

The rides to and from are short but were enough to get me pumped up about riding all over again. So I made a goal for the month of June to ride 50 miles. I’m stoked to say I absolutely murdered that goal. I actually rode three times that amount. This last week in particular I’ve ridden 77 miles. It feels amazing. I’ve said it before, and I will definitely say it again – I never feel stronger or sexier than on my bike. Can’t tell you how many times I said “Jeff, feel my thighs!” this week. Hehe!

Since we’ve been getting out so much I have an abundance of bike photos I want to share. It’s been such a wonderful week, it needs documented.

Since I started riding back in 2014, I’ve been meaning to take a fifty mile ride. I feel like it could actually happen this summer, especially now that we’ve made some new bike lovin’ buds. The last few days where we’ve done 20+ miles have felt so easy. Well, not that last one. I wanted to crawl home but I blame that on having a cold that straight knocked me down on the couch the next day.

Being on my bike just makes me feel good. I feel excited about life, and I feel excited about where I live! I love my bike.
xoxo