MANSFIELD — Richland Public Health’s Sanitarian Supervisor Wes Engelbach loves to ride his bicycle.
So when the 59-year-old cycling enthusiast heard that Friday was National Bike-to-Work Day, he started making plans to ride his titanium frame road bike 64 miles from his home in Columbus to his office at Richland Public Health.
“Yeah, I rode the route last night,” he said casually. “Yesterday was easy because I had a tailwind, so it took me about three hours and 45 minutes. I’m expecting tomorrow’s ride to be an hour longer because I won’t have tailwinds.”
He aims to arrive at s Richland Public Health park and ride stop at 700 Marion Avenue at 8:45 a.m., giving enough time to get to work by 9 a.m. But getting there at that time means starting the trek at 4 a.m.
Richland Public Health will have four park and ride locations set up at 6:30 a.m. According to RPH Health Educator Ashton Grigley, the idea is to allow commuters to park their cars at one of the locations throughout town so they don’t have as long of a ride as Engelbach.
Park and Ride locations
Catholic Charities 523 Park Ave East
Mansfield Y 750 Scholl Road
Mansfield Art Center 700 Marion Avenue
OhioHealth Shelby Hospital 199 West Main Street
Apparently, Engelbach is not the only person who plans on riding their bicycle to work tomorrow. The graphic below shows how many people around the world have already participated.
Engelbach has been riding consistently since 1980, when his college roommate got him interested in cycling races. He always enjoyed riding as a child, but racing was a way to get him in the saddle more often.
“I was nothing but a B-teamer, really. I was always at the end of the pack. I just did it to push myself,” he said.
But since 2001, Engelbach hasn’t participated in any races — only casual strolls through Richland County’s hills with other cyclists from the area. The reason, he said, is because of heart disease. And he just had a heart valve replacement a couple years ago.
“I’m getting my speed back slowly but surely,” he said.
For those interested in riding their bikes to work, Engelbach offered some tips.
“Start within your comfort zone and work up to longer miles — don’t overdo it,” he said. “And be predictable on the roads so you don’t get hit, stay visible, look ahead. There are people out there that will do stupid things in front of you so anticipate that.”
