Well, they did it again.
They came. They saw. They caught a break in the weather and had a very successful Road Apple Roubaix on Saturday (March 4, 2023) in Garrettsville…and surrounding locales, as they took to the roads, out-and-about, returned to Slim & Jumbo’s and generally made a day of it. Numerous bike-friendly businesses–Eddie’s Bike Shop, Mountain Road Cycles, Double Wing Brewing (Real Beer, Real Local, Real Ohio. the dispenser guy had a hat that said “WingMan”–he was popular.) were there in force. Local businesses were friendly too–the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary offered a flier noting welcoming spots around the village (Cal’s, Barber of G’Ville, Middlefield Banking Company, Fitzgerald’s Handmade Limited, SkyLane Bowling, Groomer of G’Ville, Garrettsville Nutrition, McCumbers-Brady, Two Travelers) as well as coming attractions like SummerFest and the Headwaters Trail and hiking in Nelson Ledges State Park) as well as a mention of the new downtown bike racks and an invitation to return to see and enjoy more of Garrettsville and the Garrettsville community. Some of the Main Street business even offered the use of their restrooms (Well, it is a pretty long ride, even at twenty-five miles.) Rotary and the Garrettsville police station also offered a bike rinse stop for anyone wishing to take care of their not-inexpensive wheeled whirlaways before they loaded them up to go home. Well, it was a little muddy out there on the open road, after the downpour(s) all day Friday and Friday night.
Inside Slim & Jumbo’s, it was a pretty festive scene where the riders–muddy or not–got to take chances on winning some loot in the Chinese auction–water bottles, a bike pump, brews of various sorts, a St. Paddy’s Day combo, various garments, including shirts, gloves, socks, stuff from the Hub Club, Eddies’s Bike Shop, somebody called Gear Up, hefty-size glasses for drinking the abovementioned brews probably. The chili servers were doing a land-office business, dispensing both your standard, secret, family recipe chili and a vegetarian variant that seemed o be pretty popular too. Returned riders could also check out other merch, like previously-available T-shirts OR the latest one which had the motto “One Love, One Ride”. I don’t know who does their designs or their mottos each year but they’re always original and interesting. Don’t know who won the men’s or ladies’ arm wrestling competition, but it was on the slate for later in the afternoon with the other activities for tired and relaxed returned road riders…the available beverages will do that. Everyone seemed to be in an excellent mood–even one dude who said that he had been reprimanded by police after some interaction with a funeral procession. I chatted with a fellow who was on a recumbent bike, which looked sort of perilous to me, but he was checking it out to add to his collection of wheels and seemed to think that was O.K. I’m thinking about a tricycle, myself, but I don’t know if I’d take to the road in the RoadApple Roubaix just to try it out. Recumbent is a little too close to the ground for me, seeing as how the ground is where I’m afraid to wind up anyway.
The riders came from all over; these folks take their biking seriously–the Summit Freewheelers had a van on site, there were Pittsburghers (That sounds cool, better than the Pittsburgh Hot Dogs.), one guy from the Toledo area. The riders got genuine laminated numbers (so as to not dissolve in the rain, I guess), and were apparently clocked in electronically as they passed the finish line in the van on Main Street.
Over all, it was a great day–for riders and their support crews, for the organizers and their support crews, for some of the downtown businesses, which got a looking-over by out-of-towners who just might come back. Anybody interested in mountain biking might have picked up a flier might have picked up one for NOMBS–Northern Ohio Mountain Bike Series–looking for participants. Not sure what they’re calling mountains around here, but we strive to please; Hiram is the best we can do for now. (Well, it is the second-highest point in Ohio, at least that’s what my 7th grade geography teacher, Mr. Greene, taught us and he would never lie.) We can do some major grade work (Not Mr. Greene’s) on Hiram Hill and Derthicks’s Hill. Knock yourself out.
