So Mo has been training for the Cancer Fundraising bike ride she is participating in thru OSU called the Pelotonia. She has a goal of raising $1200 and every cent goes right to the cancer research foundation there at OSU. If anyone is interested in donating to Mo's ride,
click here to get to her ride profile page.
This weekend she wanted to go to the farmers market in town at the county fairgrounds which according to google maps is 10miles from our house. So there was a chance of rain schedule for Sat during the day so I told her since the market opens at 9, how about we ride our bikes there and she kills 2 birds with one stone and it will be some nice time spent together. So we left this morning around 8ish and we ride and ride, and I've come to notice you really don't pay attention to how many hills are on your road till your riding on a bike!! We didn't want to get on the main road (67) due to the traffic. So we took the back way up to Rt 53 and then into town. While on 53 we started to come up to this awesome looking garden with a small green house behind it, 2 guys were out in the garden and I yelled out "You have an awesome garden" and they had sunflowers all along the front so Mo commented on how she loved those as well. Then we see the sign "
Pahl's Farmers Market Open Mon-Sat 9-6" Really?!?! There is a daily farmers market about 5 miles from our house and we had no idea!!?!! We only know about the one sponsored at the fair grounds which isn't all that super duper... but its nice the county puts it on.
So we keep riding and we almost are in town and I yell out to Mo "Do you know where we are yet?" to see if she figured out her surroundings... She thought I was giving her directions on where to turn - she was in front. She went to slow down / stop and hit a patch of fine gravel and BAM.... down she went. THANK GOD she had her good bikers gloves on that have the gel padding in them or her hands would have been torn to shreds as she landed on her palms.... her one knee got scraped up pretty badly as well. A nice guy was mowing and he stopped the mower and came over to see if she needed anything, she had a 'wet-one' towellete in her bag she she cleaned up her knee and thought she would be ok. We kind of stood around for a bit making sure Mo and the bike was ok. There was a storage facility next to the house where the guy was mowing... the older man from the storage place comes rolling down in his golf cart also making sure we are ok, he said he bikes from Marion to Upper so he must be in good shape - he looked to be 65-70 yrs old.
So we started to keep on traveling, we had to go all the way thru town to get to the fair grounds. Mo said her bike didn't seem right... So we stopped at
Buds Bike shop - which we have passed many times going home from MJ Mugsys....and always said we have to check it out sometime... so today was the day. Bud was very nice and knowledgeable. He looked at the gears and said that nothing was out of whack. Him & Mo started talking bike talk, she was telling him about her road bike she has (she was riding her hybrid)... I don't know the "lingo" - all I know is my bike has 2 wheels, some gears, a chain and some brakes. =)
We head out of the bike shop and down to the fairgrounds. Mo bought some honey from a local bee keeper who we had bought from before - we talked to the husband last time we bought it - this time it was the wife and I realized I knew her, it was the mom of one of the girls that Jake (my ex's son) used to hang out with in 4H. So I talked to them for a while and we got some info from the OSU Extension office table about preserving/canning food. We talked to one of the women who had the largest supply of produce there - they were from the Pahl farm we passed.
We headed home and this time we stopped at the Pahl's Farmers Market. The husband (about my age I think) showed us around the place. Ends up the farm there is his dads or father in laws (I forget) and they are now running it, but that they live just down the road from us! He said "didn't you buy Martin Thiel's house?" I was shocked... he must have recognized me from being out in the yard working when he drove past. When he said they have the Belgian draft horses I knew exactly which house it was! We were chit chatting and we said about having the goats but they aren't the lawn mowers we thought they would be and that I had actually thought about contacting them to bring down a horse. He said he might have a cow that would work... So not sure if he was serious but who knows maybe one day we will have a cow out there as well on loan.
Entire way back we were trying to figure out what was making the noise on Mo's bike - we think we figured it out - chain rubbing on something in the front gear area. After Mo got home she called up the bike store to see if she could take it out there. She is so mad at herself for trying to stop where the gravel was and dumping the bike. Worst part is she just had an entire tuneup done on it last week at a bike store in C-bus where she originally bought it. Her bike race is a week from today so she needs it to be good to go.
We had a great time biking together and I think Mo is really enjoying biking again. I asked her if this is something she wants to keep doing after the race is over and she said definitely yes. I was glad to hear that - it will be something very healthy we can do together. I know I can certainly use some more exercise. Just wish it was something we could do all year long. Oh and I think I made more work for myself today, just seemed like I had to give a lot more to keep going.... came home and checked my tire pressure. Supposed to be 40-65psi. Mine was 20. So next ride shouldn't be as hard... duh!
So that was our Saturday morning.... 25.45miles of it!
