Ride Pleasant Streets - 3rd Saturday Long Edition

Join us on Saturday, Aug 17 @ 8:30 AM to experience three of Cincinnati's iconic parks by bike! Our journey will take us to Eden Park, Alms Park, and Ault Park. Along the way we will enjoy various hidden gems of streets, alleys, and fun connectors that take you off the beaten path. This is a fairly hilly route—expect a few invigorating climbs and joy-inducing descents. 😁 To help us with planning and quick check-ins, please PRE-REGISTER HERE 🙌 You can also register on-site if preferred. The ride is FREE! At Queen City Bike, creating a caring community is a core value. Your registration enables us to reach you and your important people if needed, and also provide you with $10K of supplemental medical insurance. We've got you covered so you can focus on the bike joy! ———— Route preview: RPS_066 - Sat Long - Park Icons - Eden, Alms, & Ault As an added bonus of Queen City Bike’s sponsorship of this event, you can navigate this route for free on the Ride with GPS app at any time—both during the event and after! ———— Departure Time: 8:30am - Please plan to arrive early so we can all leave in a punctual fashion - We will meet in front of Community Happens Here - Ride leaders will be there by 8:15am to answer any questions Distance: 25.5 miles Difficulty: - Advanced Beginner and above - All riders should be comfortable with basic bike-handling and traffic skills - We will regroup as needed throughout the ride Terrain: - Predominantly rolling with one long descent, one steep descent, and a couple longer climbs. Climbs (steeper than +4% grade): - Art Museum Drive (~0.6 mi; max 5% grade) - Eden Park Drive (~0.5 mi; max ~4.5-5% grade) - Tusculum Avenue into Alms Park (~1 mi; max ~8% grade) ***This is our hardest climb! There is a bypass option to just relax at the entrance to Alms Park while we ride the loop up into the park. This will reduce the climbing load and distance of this segment by about half. - Tusculum Avenue from Alms Park to Saint Ursula Villa (~0.4 mi; max ~6% grade) - Observatory Ave. (~0.7 mi; max 4-5% grade) as we head out of Ault Park - Lester Avenue (~1 mi; max 4-5% grade). On our way back to Pleasant Ridge. Descents (steeper than neg 4% grade): - Montgomery Ave (~0.5 mi; max neg 5% grade). As we roll west out of Pleasant Ridge. - Fulton Ave (~0.4 mi; max neg 5.5% grade). As we bomb down to Eden Park. Yeehah! - Art Museum Drive (~0.6 mi; max -5% grade). On the return portion of the loop around the arts complex. - E McMillan at Ingleside to the bottom of Collins Ave (~0.8 mi; max neg 10% grade). Our steepest descent. Everyone can take this at whatever speed they're comfortable. - Observatory Drive (max neg 6.5% grade) as we sweep out of Ault Park Traffic stress: - ~90% of this ride will be on low-traffic streets and multi-use paths Higher-stress areas: - The busiest area will be riding through the center of Pleasant Ridge (on Montgomery). The multiple traffic lights, the lower traffic volume on weekend afternoons, and our presence as a group will all help to reduce the stress in this section. - The second busiest area will be riding up the curvy part of Eden Park Drive toward Krohn Conservatory. If there aren't too many runners out, we'll bypass part of this by taking the multi-use path that parallels this section. Post-ride: - Let’s gather at Nine Giant after the ride! - We should be done with the ride by about 11:30am. ———— Safety Notes: - Helmets required - Bike must be in good working condition. Please contact me if you have any questions! Weather Notes: - In the event of adverse weather, I will post an update on the day of the ride—at or before 7:30am - Updates will be shared on the Facebook event page, and also via the Ride Pleasant Streets Google Group - No message means the ride is still on! Parking: - Community Happens Here asks that if at all possible, we do NOT use their parking lot during our events. - Abundant FREE parking is located at the Pleasant Ridge Community Parking Lot, behind the Walgreens at 6204 Montgomery Road. This is ONE block from Community Happens Here. ———— Queen City Bike is grateful to Pleasant Streets and Community Happens Here for helping to make this bike event possible.