This weekend I opted out of doing a long day trip (5am-10pm) to the Red in KY and stuck around ohio to catch up on some rest and be ready to go for the next week of school. Some-times the day trip can really throw you off since its such a long day with 6-7 hours of driving, and a lot of climbing. Instead of focusing on climbing all weekend I switched it up a little bit with some other forms of fun training. Sat morning I did a 5miler with a couple of friends, and in the afternoon I planned on playing ultimate frisbee, but unfortunately we didnt have enough people to put together a real game so we just tossed the frisbee around. On Sunday I headed to a friends house and we biked to Scioto Audobon climbing wall and spent the day there in the sunshine n 84 degree weather. It was so nice to finally have nice weather in Ohio, the last couple weeks I have only experienced nice weather traveling outside of OH, but it was perfect - windy enough to make it not feel like 84 but still sunny and beautiful.
Scioto Audobon's Climbing wall also called "Whittier" by most of the locals, islocated a little off of front street in downtown columbus. They have imitation rock and some climbing holds on as well, so climbers have the option of climbing "natural features" or using the holds. There are two or three lead routes that require only 6 draws (i believe), and the rest are top rope. In order to set up the top ropes you have to "bolder up" an 8-10 foot section in the back, and while wearing your harness, clip in a set of slings to the cable that runs throughout the top of the wall and run your rope through whatever climb you want. There are also some spots here that are just bouldering sections that are pretty fun.
Here's a photo of one of those boulder only sections. This is usually what I end up doing here when I go because I am not patient enough to wait for and open spot on the top rope climbs. This wall has gotten very popular among the climbing crowd in columbus, especially since it is FREE to climb there, you just need your own gear. I climbed here more last spring when it hadn't gotten as popular yet. I love the idea of being outside in the sun climbing only 15 minutes away from my apartment, but the "imitation rock" and holds have all gotten pretty slimey and you have to be careful with the holds because they tend to spin pretty easily. I've heard rumors that this is due to the lack of volunteers willing to tighten the hold and help clean em off, apparently the climbing wall itself is all volunteer run, except for the rangers that drive by and make sure no one is climbing after it closes. I might be spoiled with super frictiony and sticky rock with only climbing in the spring and fall because of my summer guide job at La Vida, but its too slimey for my tastes, and like I said before it does get very crowded on nice days. Most of the time I can spend a whole day here and just end up socializing more that I do actually working out. So if I'm looking for a day of fun climbing in the sun with friends I'll go here, but if I really want to focus on training and getting a really good workout I'll head to trusty old VA, where I always seems to leave sore, especially on the slow days where there are not as many people to distract me from my work out.
The bike ride was my first long ride, it was about 10 miles each way and we biked with all our climbing gear for the day there. I was thankful to have to fight the head wind on the way there, so that on the way back, when we were tired of climbing all day, we had a tail wind to help us out a little bit. But the overall pace of cycling I must say is really refreshing and I can see how it can be addicting. Its nice to be able to cover 10 miles no problem, in a short amount of time. Its such a big difference than running/walking/hiking, and so much less strain on your body it seems. I finally understand why it has gotten so popular with the younger crowd recently. I have been wanting to try it our for quite some time, but havent had the chance to. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could totally see myself getting into, I just need to quit buying climbing gear for a while so i can save up enough money to get a decent bike. The bike that I rode on yesterday was worth 1200$ new, 200$ less than what I paid for my truck. Its really expensive, but if you use that as your way to get around the city, it is essentially your car, especially if you live in a city where you don't get that much snow or bad winter weather.
If you haven't tried it yet, find someone you know with an extra or older bike and try it out. Its an awesome way to get some exercise, get outside, and go exploring your city or anywhere you feel like that day. Careful though, you might start having to survive on a diet of ramen noodles to afford a good bike.
