I took a ride on my bike during my lunch break today to head down to Armleder Park for the opening ceremonies of the bike trail that connects to the Lunken Trail. With the connection complete there are now over eight miles of continuous paved trails packed into the urban setting around Lunken Airport. I found out about the ceremonies from queencitybike.com and though I couldn’t leave in time to start the ride with them, I did catch up to them on the Lunken Trail.

Ohio River Trail Marker

Before riding on the Lunken Trail, I rode on a very small section of the Ohio River Trail, which is still under construction. As it is now, the section of trail is not very scenic and most of it runs along the side of Kellogg Avenue. Though once the trail detours away from Kellogg (at Carrel Street) it gets a little better. One cool relic left from the railroad days is the Carrel Street Station, a remodeled freight transfer terminal, which now serves as a resting place.

Carrel Street Station

Shortly after Carrel Street Station, the Ohio River Trail ends at Wilmer Avenue where connections can be made to the Lunken Trail. This was actually my first time riding the Lunken Trail, which despite running around a small airport, has a secluded feel. After a mile and a half on the trail I caught up with the previously mentioned group and we all rode toward the new connector trail to Armleder Park. Once there we had to ride the mile trail to the ceremony that was taking place over at Armleder.

Councilman Wendell Young

Members of the Hamilton County Park District, along with the Cincinnati Park Board and the Cincinnati Recreation Commission all gave short speeches from the temporary podium. Councilman Wendell Young was there to congratulate everyone on a job well done and to emphasize how great things can happen with cooperation from these organizations. From there a ribbon cutting ceremony was held before I again rode back along the connector and toward home.

Ready

Cut

Hamilton County Park District, Cincinnati Park Board, and Cincinnati Recreation Commission

150′ Long Steel Truss Bridge

My full bike route can be viewed below. I really enjoyed the ride and hope to get back on the saddle a little more often this summer.

Great American Ball Park

I finally made it to my first Reds game of the season, which is actually more than a month before my first game last year. Friends of ours were married on Saturday evening and they bought a block of tickets for the Friday night game for added celebration.

Corinne And Ted

It also was a big celebration for us as it was Trey’s first Reds game. The employee who collected our tickets asked if it was his first game and directed us toward guest services where they printed out this certificate free of charge. I think you can also get certificates on your birthday or for an anniversary as well. Trey really loved the game, especially all the music, clapping, and cheering.

Trey's First Game

He also took any opportunity he could to steal his own seat, while grabbing peanuts from the guys behind us and snacking on cracker jack all night.

Stealing Seats

As far as the game goes it was a fun one and a victory of the Reds, including a three run home run by Joey Votto and a 10th inning squeeze bunt by pinch-hitter Wilson Valdez to drive in Miguel Cairo for the 6-5 win!

Saturday evening I participated in the Tap ‘N’ Run, a 4K run with 4 beer chugging stations along the route. Kim and I signed up to be a part of our friend Sean’s surprise 40th birthday team, “4-0, The New 2-0.” We even had matching shirts made.

4-0, The New 2-0

The race start itself was a little chaotic since most participants could not hear the announcers. There were at least ten different waves, but I think most people accidentally ended up in the wrong wave. Fortunately our team made it to the very front of one of the waves, and it just happened to be the third wave that we were pre-assigned.

We Got Tapped

Early on I decided that I would run the race at a relatively normal pace even though I figured the beer chugging would slow everyone down. There was definitely a large number of people who walked the entire course, but I was also surprised to see a lot of others running it too.

With the Birthday Boy

All finishers were given a souvenir medal (that also serves as a bottle opener) along with a full beer of their choice. My time was 20:42, or approximately 8:20 pace. Definitely a little slower than I would normally run in a race setting, but this was good enough for a 94th overall finish out of 3,153 participants. Not too shabby. Our team finished 9th out of 87 teams in the growler division (8 or more members).

Finishers Medal

The Little Miami Trail is the longest paved trail in the US at 78 miles long. I’ve spent years on the sections of the trail around my childhood home of Loveland and have often wondered about any historical significance of the old railway that the trail now covers. I’ve also recently spent some time around the current endpoint of the trail in Newtown, which is the closest point to my current house.

Earlier today my dad forwarded a link to the Little Miami Scenic Trail Guide. I’ve read through most of it and have found the historical entries to be pretty fascinating. I pass by the Peters Cartridge Company on days when I head into the office and it was great to read all about the history of the company and the abandonment of the old factory. Other cool stories involve Morgan’s Raid and Camp Dennison.

It would be a good idea to take this guide on any future rides on the trail to get a better picture of the history surrounding it.

Mascot Race

This past weekend was the Flying Pig Marathon. Months ago Kim signed Trey up for the Flying Piglet Kid’s Fun Run which took place on Saturday. Since there was no real age category defined for his age, we bumped him up to run with the 2 and 3 year olds on the 25 yard course. The event was scheduled to start sometime around 1:15. Unfortunately Trey did not get a nap in before the start of his race. When it was time to run he quickly became overwhelmed and started to cry. The starting area was pretty chaotic for the kids event, so I just picked him and carried him to the finish where he was given a finishers medal.

Nick, Trey, and Camden

Prior to Trey’s race, Kim’s brother Nick also had a big event he was participating in, the Kids’ Marathon. Participants from schools around the area run 25 miles leading up to a big 1 mile run with all participants. So many kids take place in this event that they actually have to use a wave start system. From what I could gather it was a well put together and fun run for all the participants. Nick had a personal best by running the course in “two minutes.”

Race Finishers

Sunday was the full marathon as well as the half and relay. My dad ran the full marathon for the 14th time! Kim, Trey, and I met up with my mom early in the morning to watch him run through Hyde Park (just a block from our house!). We also saw some other runners that we knew as they sprinted through the square. From there we moved down to Linwood to see many of the same runners, including my dad. We were hoping to see my brother’s girlfriend finish her leg of the relay, but it turns out that their group was running slower than expected due to a missed turn prior in the relay.

Dad running through Lindwood

We ended up missing everyone at the finish line since we were in Linwood for so long. Fortunately we knew where to find my dad in the same spot that he has recently gone after finishing the race, where he meets up with his running group. At least one in the group re-qualified for Boston, which is always neat to hear. It is always so inspiring to watch so many people I know (and many I don’t) successfully finish a marathon. Maybe one day I’ll give one of the Sunday events a try.

Yesterday was a big day in Cincinnati, Opening Day! Though I didn’t make the game or the parade, I did head downtown after work to soak in the great vibe of the city. After a few hours hanging out with friends I realized that I definitely want to take the entire day off next year, take Trey down the parade, and then head in for the game. I’m sure I can convince my buddy Kenny to come along.

Mr. Redlegs

Over the weekend I took my first ever trip to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. Kim, Trey, and I left early Saturday morning to meet up with some friends who had already camped the night before. Since this was Trey’s first time camping we decided that we should only do one night and see how it went. Trey did great and I really think he loved the hiking and camping. In addition Kim and I both really enjoyed our first trip to the gorge. I’m sure it won’t be the last.

So far so good with my march madness picks. Five games have been played and I correctly picked the winners of each one. As I normally do, I’ve picked Cincinnati pretty far into the tournament. It would feel wrong if I didn’t do so. I was getting nervous that Syracuse was going to lose their first round game, but it looks like they are starting to pull away with just a few minutes left to play. I think many are predicting them to have an early exit, but I don’t think many picked them to lose the first round.

For those of you who would like to stream all the games from your computer, you can do so here. This used to be a free service, but now they are trying to charge $3.99 for access. However I found a way to get it for free again this year. Just text “0BEARCATS” to 2653 and you will receive a code that you can enter for free access. The first character is the number zero, not the letter. Enjoy!

Despite the frigid temperature and the falling snow Sunday morning, I braved the elements to run the three-mile Sprint for Special Olympics.  Kim and her family are big supporters of Hamilton County Special Olympics, so this is just one of many events throughout the year that I get to enjoy. Plus it provided me the opportunity to try out my new running tights and half zip top that I recently purchased. The race went really well for me, as I finished in fifth place overall with a time of just over 24 minutes. I’ve run this distance in under 24 minutes a few times, but never when it was this cold.

I attended my third Cyclones game of the season this past Friday night. My uncle works for Chatfield College, which provided us with $3 tickets to the game. It is really hard to pass up a Cyclones game, and at this price we would be completely foolish. Plus we ended up with tickets just a row off of the ice. While I typically prefer to sit up higher to watch the full play develop, it was neat to be so close to the action.

Up Close And Personal

It was also King of Pop Night, featuring tons of Michael Jackson music, specialty jerseys worn by the team, and even bobbleheads. The Cyclones mascot, Twister, is pictured on the bobblehead in Jackson style clothes and appears to be doing the “Thriller” dance. I just put ours in Trey’s room, and I hope it doesn’t scare him too much.

King Of Pop Bobblehead

We had a great time at the game with so many family and friends and the Cyclones squeezed out a 2-1 victory over the Florida Everblades.