Ohio Blogging Association June Cleveland Blogger Meetup & Downtown Tour with BikeCLE

Another meeting of the Ohio Blogging Association is in the books! On Tuesday, June 12, we rented bikes from The Bike Rack in downtown Cleveland and headed out on a great tour of our city with BikeCLE AKA Great Lakes Tour Co.!

The blogroll for the evening included:

• Alicia from Poise in Parma - that’s me!!
• Amanda from Clue into Cleveland
• Holly from Rust Belt Runner - her recap is up!
• Julie from Am I There Yet
• Julie from ROJ Running - her recap is up!
• Julie from Wearing Mascara
• Kali from Finishing Firsts - her recap is up!
• Kasey at @KaseyCrabtree
• Nidhi from NIDHIZZLE
• Sarah from Cooker Girl and her husband Kevin

The happy OBA crew in the middle of Public Square.

But before we begin, A MEMO FROM THE CEO OF PIP: Summer 2012 is going to be the busiest on record as I’ve been working hard on several projects. I’m finding balance in this new career (better known as freelance independent contractor jill-of-all-trades), but it’s a learning process. I could have let the anxiety of a busy week get better of me in a few particular moments. Instead, I found myself downtown before the OBA BikeCLE tour enjoying my mobile office view:

While at Erie Island Coffee Company on East 4th Street, I found myself in a moment of calm while enjoying an iced coffee & basking in the warm temperatures. While I had been on the go all day long, that busy schedule gets me excited. It keeps me going.

There was a time - not so long ago - when my anxiety would have gotten the better of me. Yup, even the girl that organizes all these events gets nervous! But then I remembered how our Ohio Blogging Association meetups are always a highlight of my month.  Suddenly, the worries melted away and I was ready to get my bike ride on.

While refilled with energy, I felt a little scattered as I greeted the bloggers that evening. All the bloggers, all the parking options, all the bikes, all the helmets, all the downtown surroundings – it was an overload on my brain. Luckily, the crew from BikeCLE took great care of us.

The OBA bloggers took an abbreviated version of the Downtown Cleveland tour that I took last June with BikeCLE. Even though it was shortened, we still hit plenty of local attractions: Quicken Loans Arena, Progressive Field, Erie Street Cemetery, the Theater District, the Free Stamp:

…City Hall, the Medical Mart, Key Tower, Public Square including the Terminal Tower and the Soliders & Sailors’ Monument, finishing up with a ride back down East 4th Street:

After a ninety minute tour of downtown, BikeCLE treated the bloggers to a spread of healthy snacks, including their Love Kettle Corn. Every purchase of this popcorn goes back to their Blessing in a Backpack program which helps provide meals to children. A great Cleveland company giving back to Clevelanders? That’s the kind of company I’m happy to support.

LONG STORY SHORT: It was another successful evening out with the Ohio Blogging Association: check out all my photos from the tour over at the OBA Facebook photo album.  Several bloggers mentioned they were happy about the combination of learning more about Cleveland in an active way. We’ll have to consider doing another 5K walk/run this Fall – we always try to have something for everyone! Many thanks to BikeCLE and The Bike Rack for their hospitality, and to all the bloggers that attended!

Interested in attending an Ohio Blogging Association blogger meetup? Join us for our OBA July Cleveland Blogger Tour of PlayhouseSquare on Wednesday, July 11th. You can find more info over at our OBA Facebook event page. Space is limited, so RSVP today!