Urban S24O

My friend Charles invited me to a festival at a downtown metro park. The Scioto Fest was located in downtown Columbus, so we met at Antrim Park on Saturday afternoon and rode the bike path down. Initially, I was going to bring both boys with me. Henry backed out when he realized he would be too tired from his afternoon soccer game, and Sam backed out when prioritized sleeping in on Sunday morning. That was disappointing. Oddly, Kate now wants to come camping, but only if it doesn't involve biking any distance. This has me cruising Craigslist for tandems now. But I digress.

Because I had planned to carry the boys' camping gear, I had the trailer ready to go. I used it anyway, since it lets me pack sloppily, and isn't really noticeable until I turn uphill.

This was my first S24O with my Dahon, and I was entirely happy with it (except for the rubbing front brake I found later, which might explain why some of those hills felt steeper than they looked). Nonetheless, Charles and I quickly cruised a dozen miles south to set up camp at Scioto Audubon metro park:

Trailers allow overpacking: we each had our own tent, and Charles was even lounging in a three man tent. I found my Eureka Spitfire 2 person plenty roomy for myself. After signing in, pitching our tents, and locking our bikes, we headed out to explore the festival:

I discovered a tasty dinner of food truck tacos and beer:

The crowd in this festival was noticeably younger and fitter than is typical, I think because the big draw of this park is the climbing area:

I don't climb, but Charles does, so I learned a little about belaying. It's harder than it looks! But I didn't drop Charles completely, so I'm calling my first time a success.

After climbing, we had another beer, took in some music, and tried slacklining, which is another thing that is harder than it looks. One step was the best I could do, and I can't really blame the beer.

I'm an early riser, while Charles, like Sam, likes to sleep in. I rolled out of bed about six, packed up in the dark, and headed north (Charles slept in to enjoy the REI breakfast and some more climbing).

It was a lovely, cool morning, and I enjoyed taking in the sight of downtown Columbus in the pre-dawn darkness:

The Dahon feels right at home in an urban setting:

By the time I got to campus, my lights and sweatshirt were both off:

I was surprised to find this bridge over the Olentangy completely blocked by a downed tree:

I sent a warning text to Charles, then backtracked south to detour through campus and up High street. Luckily traffic was light on this early Sunday morning, and I motored on back to Antrim park. With the detour, I was back at my car about 8:00, and home with Krispy Kreme donuts a half hour later. That made the kids into happy campers, even if they slept at home.