My Uber-Adventurous Run

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I mentioned in my last post that we went to South Bend for a hockey tournament last weekend, and that we chartered a bus. Now, I am not one who likes to give up control most of the time. I’m fairly independent, and being a slave to someone else’s timetable and mode of transportation is a challenge for me. However, the benefits of a chartered bus outweigh my tendency to be a control freak, so I swallowed my type A personality traits and enjoyed the bus ride. 

However, things proved a little more challenging when we arrived at our hotel on Friday afternoon. I’ve mentioned before on my blog that one of my favorite things about running is the ability to use it as a way to see–and I mean really see–new places. Combining running with hockey tournaments has allowed me to see some great sights, including Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Kalamazoo, Michigan. (I also saw a town outside of Cleveland, but that one was less exciting. 😛 ) 

The problem with our trip to South Bend is that our hotel ended up being out in the middle of nothing. As we took the bus south from the Notre Dame campus toward the hotel after the first game, I very quickly saw that we were entering a less-than-desirable part of town. This meant that running back toward downtown South Bend and the campus, where I really wanted to go, was not advisable. Plus, we were quite far from the university, so my eight-mile run would’ve probably ended up being about 12 miles by the time I was done. Not even I am that enthusiastic about running. 😮 

I decided that I would try running in the opposite direction instead, but a quick view of the map and a discussion with the hotel staff confirmed that there wasn’t anything in the opposite direction except desolate farmland. Well, “desolate” is probably a little overstated, but it was definitely not very well-populated.  And to be honest, I run through farmland pretty much every day, so that doesn’t excite me.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to do, but I began to form the inklings of a plan. I was more than a little nervous about it, but I decided that maybe I could talk to my husband and get his opinion. My husband, God love him, is such a great man. Over the years we’ve been together (almost 25, to be exact) he has managed to find a balance between his manly protective instincts and my independent nature. He doesn’t stifle my adventuresome side, but he’ll speak up if he feels like I’m taking it a little too far. 

So, on the bus ride back to the hotel Friday night, we had a text conversation to begin like this:

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Ha, Ha, Ha! Even I had to admit that using an Uber for my run did sound a little contradictory. 😉 

First, though, let me back up: not everyone may know what an Uber is. If you know–good for you!  If you don’t, let me assure you, there is no shame in that. I work for an automotive company, and last year at a department meeting, the subject of Uber was brought up. Our vice president looked around the room and said, “You’ve all probably used Uber at some point, right?” A lot of people nodded their heads, while I quietly pulled out my phone to Google the word Uber. 😛

You are welcomed to Google it yourself, but in a nutshell, it’s a homegrown taxi cab, where real people use their personal vehicles to provide transportation for those who are without a vehicle. It’s common in large cities, where people may have traveled via plane or train, and then when they arrive, they need to get somewhere, but don’t have a car, and either don’t have access to or choose not to use public transportation. 

I had never used Uber before. I never had a need to, and honestly, the thought of it kind of freaked me out a little bit. I mean, as a lone female, that’s kind of a scary proposition. How do you know that your driver isn’t a rapist or murderer? 😮 

But desperate times call for desperate measures. I really, really wanted to see South Bend and especially the University of Notre Dame campus, but I knew that there was just no way I was going to be able to run there. I talked it over with my husband, figuring if he was against it, it was a bad idea and I should just nix it. To my surprise, he was not opposed to it. It turns out that his younger sister has used it quite often because she travels a lot to visit friends around the country. He had already done some research on it previously, and determined that it was as safe as using a taxi cab. Not to mention cheaper and probably more convenient!

So, with only a little bit of nervousness, and with my husband’s blessing, on Friday night, I downloaded the Uber app and created an account. I was hoping to schedule a pick up for around 8 AM the next morning, but I discovered that Uber is not a “scheduling” kind of service.  It’s basically instantaneous; when you want to ride, you pull out the app and look for one. Chances are good that you’ll have somebody at your doorstep within about 15 minutes. 

I checked my Garmin app and determined approximately where I would need to start my run in order to complete an 8 mile loop that included downtown South Bend and the University of Notre Dame, but making sure to steer clear of what I had seen was the less desirable area. Then I entered that location as my “drop off” point in Uber. It told me that at that moment, I could have a car within 15 minutes, and it would only cost me $7.82 to get to where I want to go. Even with doubling that (because of course, I had to get back to the hotel after the run) that seemed reasonable. 

So, the next morning, I got up, went down to the hotel lobby, signed into the app, and made my first Uber “call.” I was prepared to wait 15 or 20 minutes, or maybe longer since it was early on a Saturday morning, but I was stunned to find I would have somebody at the hotel door in four minutes!  The app told me that “Dan” would be arriving in a Hyundai shortly, and it even gave me his license plate number.

Sure enough, “Uber Dan,” as I came to call him, showed up right on time.  I opened up the door and slid into his front seat, which had a seat cover on it, I noticed. I wouldn’t say the car was impeccable, but it was not dirty, nor did it smell, and it definitely looked capable of getting me where I needed to go.

Dan introduced himself to me and then asked me what my plans were. I told him that I was a runner, and that I needed someone to take me closer to the university so that I could do an eight-mile run in a safe neighborhood that would allow me to see both downtown South Bend and the Notre Dame campus, and that the drop off spot I picked seemed to fit what I needed. He immediately looked at me and said, “Oh, ma’am. You don’t want me to drop you there. Let me take you a little bit farther, and I can get you to a nice running trail in a good part of town that will give you what you need.” And considering that the Uber app, once you accept the ride, cannot change the price, I thought that was pretty outstanding of him to offer to take me further for no extra charge!

Uber Dan ended up dropping me near a trail called the East race in South Bend. (I have no idea why it’s called that, it seems like a really odd name to me!) He had actually driven me to the original spot I had picked for drop off, and I could quickly see that he was exactly right. I won’t say it was like the ghettos of Detroit, but it was not a neighborhood a lone female should be running in, regardless of the time of day. His comment to me was, “You mentioned that you talked to your husband about doing this, and I just know that he’d want you to be safe, so I want to make sure that you are.”  Awww… 🙂 

He pulled into the parking lot of a farmer’s market.

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He even pulled out a map, saying, “You know, I can’t even remember why I picked up this map, but clearly I did it because I was meant to give it to you.”  That little piece of divine intervention made me smile. It was a map of both downtown South Bend and the university campus–exactly what I needed! And then, he even went so far as to reach into his backseat and grab a bottle of water, which he offered to me. How awesome is that?  🙂 I had remembered to bring my water bottle with me, but that was so nice of him to offer it.  

I tipped him two dollars as I got out, which he accepted with thanks. (Note: the Uber app does not allow you to add in a tip, so it was a really good thing that I had remembered to bring cash with me.) I started to walk away, but then I turned back around and asked him if I would be able to request him when I use the app to get back to the hotel. He admitted that there wasn’t a way to do that, but then he handed me a pen and offered to give me his phone number so that I could call him directly. Now, I don’t know that they’re supposed to do that. I suspect Uber probably frowns upon that, but you know what? I don’t care! I was so happy to have met someone who was so accommodating and friendly and understanding of what I needed, I wanted to give him more business. In my opinion, someone who provides customer service that’s good enough to elicit repeat business should be allowed to get it!

Once I wrote down his phone number on my little map, I was on my way. And what a great run it was! I ran along the trail for maybe a mile and a half or so, before turning to go up the road I recognized as taking me towards the campus (I’d seen it on the bus ride the afternoon before). The trail followed the St. Joseph River, and I’m sure on a day that wasn’t cloudy and kind of gloomy, it would’ve been beautiful. 😉 Still, even on a dreary day, it was really enjoyable.

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I then headed up the main street, using my new map to help me locate the campus. Once on campus, I basically just ran around and enjoyed the view, stopping fairly often to take pictures of the beautiful buildings.

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Guess I’ll just have to go the direct route. 😉

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I even got a picture of myself, looking longingly through the fence at the Notre Dame football stadium. I posted that to the team Facebook page for our coach. (See my last post for why that is significant.) 

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After that, I made a pitstop at the hockey arena, and then I headed back toward downtown. I took kind of a zigzag route, just because I could.

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It was really nice to know that I didn’t have to worry about trying to negotiate the 8-mile distance with a specific stopping point. All I had to do was finish and then call Dan to come get me. 🙂 And that’s exactly what I did!  Well, sort of. I ended up stopping at a chocolate shop in downtown South Bend…because fate was on my side like that.

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South Bend actually has a chocolate company named after it, so of course I went inside and got myself a piece of chocolate. I wasn’t ready to eat it just yet, so I tucked it in my pocket for later. Because I was downtown, without readily accessible parking, I decided to run a little farther down to the post office, so Dan would have an easier time finding me.

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When I got there, I called the number he had given me and he answered right away. When he found out it was me, he said, “Oh, I’m really glad you did call me back, because I got something for you.”

Hmmmm…am I the only one who thinks that sounded a little bit questionable? I mean, the guy just met me, so why did he then “get” me something? I waited about 10 minutes for him to get there, wondering what on earth he would’ve gotten me, but when he pulled up, all questions were answered: he’d had a drop off at a hotel, and while he was there, he went inside and was looking around for information on current events going on in South Bend (have to admire his desire to try to provide better customer service to his fares). While there, he found this:

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It’s an advertisement for a site that helps travellers find local running routes! He said he saw it and immediately thought of me, so he picked it up. I laughed at myself for thinking that he had some weird motive, when in reality, he found me something that was free but very useful!

On the way back to the hotel, he asked me about my run, and I told him the whole story. He was very happy that it all worked out for me, and I was very happy that I had found someone to help me make my “adventure” run possible.  When I got out, I thanked him profusely, and I even gave him a $15 tip.  Yes, between the first and the second tips, I paid him more than I paid for both car trips, but to me, it was absolutely worth it to be able to do the run that I had been looking forward to, but still be safe, and not have to run farther than I needed.  He was really shocked that I would give him so much, and questioned me on it, but I assured him that he had been a blessing to me on that day, and he deserved a good tip.  I told him I was going to go on Facebook and tell everyone about my great experience with “Uber Dan.” I did not tell him I have a blog, because I thought he might think I was weird. 😉 

I arrived back at the hotel just before the team was set to leave to go on their Notre Dame tour. It was a tough decision, but I chose to stay back. I knew I would not be able to get myself cleaned up and ready in time, so although I knew I was going to miss a ton of great photo opportunities, I did enjoy the afternoon to myself, just relaxing after my 8-mile run. 

Overall, I have to say that my experience with Uber was excellent. It was easy, inexpensive, and, most important for me, it helped me feel safe while still having a bit of an adventure. So there you go: if you’ve never heard of or used Uber before, now you have a little testimonial. Please note that I not only am not being compensated for this little review, the reality is that Uber doesn’t even know I exist. 😉

Thanks so much for reading!

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