Asterisk Opening

My friend Ben(and often riding buddy) had an art opening at Asterisk Coffee Bar in Cuyahoga Falls on Saturday. They were photos that he has taken while out exploring on his bike. Lots of great images of the abandoned and off-the-beaten-path parts of the Akron area. Ben has shown me a lot of these places and it seems we follow the same abandoned RR tracks and routes as the graffiti artists and homeless. Anyways - get down to Asterisk for a coffee drink or an adult beverage and check out the show - it is worth it.

Drive By Moms at Birchwood Supply Co.

On Saturday evening Jason at Birchwood held an open house at his shop above Bounce downtown Akron. Jason builds custom furniture and sells vintage wares. At 8PM our buddy Greg played with his new band Drive By Blessing of the Moms. Only having some string lights on to set the mood I grabbed a flashlight from Jason and wrapped it in a shop towel to get a bit of light on the band(mostly Greg) and with the ridiculous low light abilities of the Canon R5 was able to get some good photos. It was a fun night hanging out with friends in an awesome space.

The Queers at the Rumba Cafe

 

A couple friends hit me up saying they had tickets to see one of our favorite bands from when we were younger down in Columbus - they had an Air BNB, the ride and everything planned - I just had to hop in the car. The band rocked but it was even better to hang out with some friends I don't spend enough time with. It was a quick over-nighter but totally worth it. I only snapped a few photos in these tough lighting conditions but some still turned out pretty decent. 

Krampus Kross: The Ohio State Championships

On Sunday I rode out to Camp Manatoc in the Cuyahoga Valley to watch some cyclocross racing. I didn't make it for the earliest races but still saw a lot of great action on a very challenging course. The weekly Yeti Ride from Dirty River Bicycle Works also rolled out to the races so I got to hang with a lot of friends from there and a few of the Yeti's jumped into the last race. One of the bike shop's reps actually won the Ohio State Championship so that was cool too. Cyclocross is a lot of fun to watch live - I'm kind of bummed the local season is over.

Philadelphia

I hadn't seen my friend Eric since before the pandemic started so when he hit me up about catching Bob Dylan somewhere I was in. Our timing worked out for Philadelphia. Eric lives in Boston but was home in Youngstown for Thanksgiving so I picked him up on the way Monday. We got in town late afternoon and went out for food and drinks. The next day we did a little exploring and saw the show. On Wednesday I met up with a cycling buddy and we rode 45 miles around the city before meeting back up with Eric in the evening. I didn't take a ton of photos on the trip as it was mostly about catching up and riding but I of course still snapped a few. There will be a riding video on the YouTube channel on Monday. I really enjoyed Philly and definitely hope to go back, take more photos and see more of the sights. The people were so friendly and for such a giant, historic city it felt fairly chill.