50 States Ride on September 22nd

This topic has 102 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 7 months ago by bluerider.

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August 28, 2012 at 6:33 pm #949800

aflapr
Participant

I signed up – I plan to do the “13 colonies” ride, but will be riding in and back from Falls Church.

August 28, 2012 at 6:47 pm #949805

Rootchopper
Participant

I signed up. Also doing Backroads metric century the next day. As for bike styles, I’ve ridden the 50 States 4 times: on a recumbent, a Bike Friday and a touring bike. All worked just fine. (I’m undecided on my choice of steed for this year.)

We don’t need no stinking Garmins! The cue sheet is part of the challenge. Of course, you can always do what I did at the start last year and follow Eric Guilliland (sp?) who seemed to know the route cold and was very good with hand signals.

It’s quite a fun ride. You will visit every part of the city and come to appreciate it in an entirely new way. And you’re climbing skills will be superb after the finish.

Speaking of finish, go to the after party. Pizza. Bbeer. Bragging rights.

August 28, 2012 at 7:11 pm #949812

Justin Antos
Participant

I’m in too. Rode it for the first time last year, and it was pretty much the most fun thing ever. A grand adventure in your own backyard!

August 29, 2012 at 2:10 pm #949883

culimerc
Participant

I rode a bunch of years ago and was shocked at exactly how hilly DC really is.

August 29, 2012 at 2:45 pm #949893

chris_s
Participant

Ack – still paralyzed by indecision on whether I should attempt the 50 States or settle for the 13 Colonies.

August 29, 2012 at 3:38 pm #949897

KelOnWheels
Participant

I think I’m going to do the 13 Colonies

August 29, 2012 at 5:11 pm #949906

bikesnick
Participant

@Rootchopper 29555 wrote:

The cue sheet is part of the challenge.

ha, yes indeed. a few years ago the group we were in missed a turn somewhere and we stopped to determine how to get back on the cue sheet. i brought out the folded dc bike map and my friend brought out his new iphone. we had a race to see who could find the missed turn first. i almost beat him, if not for the all the folds in the map.

August 31, 2012 at 7:55 pm #950190

OutsideTheLaw
Participant

I’m also signed up and looking forward to it with some trepidation. Also have not decided whether to ride my commuting bike (Trek 7.5FX) or road bike (Madone). Would very much like to joint with a group of folks of average commuting speed (12-15 mph overall), not the race types.

September 6, 2012 at 3:00 pm #950351

chris_s
Participant

Oh sweet, you don’t have to pick at time of registration so I can continue to vacillate until the day of the ride.

September 6, 2012 at 3:35 pm #950354

consularrider
Participant

You can also volunteer to be a bike marshal and ride for free.

September 19, 2012 at 2:59 pm #951579

TwoWheelsDC
Participant

ICYMI, WABA provided the cue sheets online via email (went to my gmail spam folder, so if you didn’t see it, that may be why), but they used MapMyRide which absolutely does not work for me…not on my laptop, not on my desktop, not on my work computer, not with Chrome, not with Firefox, not with IE. Thankfully, I was able to export the GPX file, even if the MMR viewer wouldn’t show the route, and got it imported into RideWithGPS. phew!

September 19, 2012 at 6:09 pm #951602

Certifried
Participant

So, who all is signed up for this now? (it’s sold out if you’re not).

I’m planning on doing the 50 States ride, and am hoping to find some riding partners. At least for part of the ride, I might bail if I get too tired later on. It will be my biggest ride since I started back up riding (plenty of century rides in the past… 10 years ago lol). It’s also quite challenging as has been noted, so I’ll be looking for a 12-13 MPH average I guess, even that might be optimistic.

September 19, 2012 at 6:11 pm #951603

ShawnoftheDread
Participant

I didn’t sign up yet, so I guess I’m too late. Sad panda.

September 19, 2012 at 6:32 pm #951605

aflapr
Participant

I am signed up. However, due to obligations later in the day, I’m limiting myself to the 13 Colonies ride. I will be riding in and back from the Falls Church area. I ride a green Kona commuter and have red/green “Nav light” pedals.

(I think someone made a COLREGS reference a few days ago…I don’t have the lighting down, but this is a close second.)

September 19, 2012 at 7:26 pm #951612

eminva
Participant

Certifried, you will have no trouble finding riding companions. I also found that the course marshals tried to space themselves so that each little group had support. The last 10-15 miles last year I was by myself, which was my own doing — I stopped at a friend’s house along the way. After our visit, I probably could have waited for another group to join, but I was okay to finish on my own.

In terms of pace, I suppose if you set your Garmin to auto-pause, you would sustain that sort of average. But bear in mind there will be a lot of stop-and-start, and if you include your stopped time, your average would be a lot less than what you are used to in your leisure cycling (and this applies to everyone, not you specifically). I found it best not to even focus on that and just have fun in whatever time as it took.

Liz
Author

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