Green. Gnomes. Pi.

Editor’s note: We learned soon after last week’s post that our cycling buddy, Grace, was notified by the City of Temple Terrace as a winner in the History Tour drawing for a gift certificate. Congratulations, Grace!

Here we are, halfway through April. I can vaguely recall this time a year ago, but I can remember last month. Although I had no intentions of going out for St. Patrick’s Day to drink green beer at a bar, I did get out on a bicycle ride to showcase to my northern friends just how green Oldsmar can be during March.

At some point in March, the City of Oldsmar, where I reside, announced their own way around the pandemic to offer the community healthy ways to enjoy the outdoors; it’s called “Gnoming Around Oldsmar”.

The City of Oldsmar created a brochure with rhyming hints to where 12 Gnomes are located around the city with a challenge to find the Gnome, take a selfie, and post to social media using a hashtag. I don’t care much for all the social media posts, but I found five Gnomes during a daily 2-mile morning walk and tried to play along.

Not long after reviewing the rhyming hints, I realized all of the Gnomes were at City landmarks or parks and easily accessible by bicycle.

My favorite turned out to be only a few blocks from my apartment. Just outside of Council Chambers and across the street from City Hall, Oldsmar placed its newest public art display, the “Taking Flight” wings.

The Gnome at this location is actually posed as if taking a picture of the wings. I decided to challenge myself by taking a selfie as if the Gnome was taking my photo. This is not as easy as it looks when by yourself with just your arm and your iPhone.

I have had so much fun Gnoming Around Oldsmar that I have offered guided tours to Friends of the Oldsmar Trail and Bike/Walk Tampa Bay Women’s Bicycling Community (both are Facebook groups).

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one other fun mid-March event, Bike on Pi Day! The idea is to bike 3.14 miles on March 14. I over-achieved and biked 38 miles, but then again, I wanted to justify having pie after biking on Pi Day.

So here we are, halfway through April. There are still more stories to tell from my 2021 Florida Bicycle Month and National Bike Month is right around the corner. I think I’ll go for a ride.

Only an April Fool would think the riding is over now that Florida Bicycle Month has ended, right? Sign up for the Women’s Refuge of Vero Beach Spring Bike Challenge and keep rolling towards National Bike Month in May!

What’s your cycling story? Is it in the Messenger? Our quarterly Messenger newsletter is available online for your internet reading pleasure, just visit the FBA website Home page .  Want a hard copy of our Messenger? FBA members have the Messenger delivered to their door every quarter.  Join Florida Bicycle Association or visit one of our bicycle shop members to pick up a copy and use the membership form inside to join!