50 States Ride on September 22nd

Some feedback from a senior first timer.

1) Walter Pierce Park is not id’d on Google Maps or on my 1998 Thomas DC map book. Googling it didn’t yield much either. There was no address or range to use to find directions. Nor did I see a sign identifying the park at the Adams Mill Rd. entrance, though there was a reference to the “Walter Pierce Slope something Project” near the Calvert Bridge. Obviouslly this place is well-known to those who live nearby and to those who have participated before, but what about the rest of us?

2) The 13 Colonies ride left out Connecticut. Hard to believe that Nathan Hale, Roger Sherman, Elihu Yale, and Noah Webster can be rendered placeless, but the geographical ignorance of WABA’s dominant demographic is well-known. I am copying the entire Connecticut congressional delegation, the governor and the National Geographic Society for suggestions about how to remedy this. Please revise the T-shirts appropriately.

3) What are WABA marshals supposed to do? The ones I saw were haning out together at the park, then took off at the head of the pack and were seen no more. My expectations of what marshals do are based on Vietnam era demonstrations and the Obama inauguration, but this clearly exceeds anything in WABA’s manual.

4) I noticed a lot of people who, like me, were alone, knew none of the other participants, were riding unfashionable bikes and had non-spandex clothing without bike-product names written on them. The social director of a fifth-rate cruise ship would have known what to do in this situation. Our events coordinator, pretty and sweet though she is, hadn’t a clue.

Notwithstanding all this, I had a good time. The route, though historically inadequate, was well-chosen for comfort and safety, the weather was perfect and — now that I know where Walter Pierce Park is — I’ll do it again!

@jawms 31928 wrote:

Some feedback from a senior first timer.

I know how my responses will sound, but believe me that I don’t mean them how they sound. I’m replying in a good natured manner (and in a little defense of WABA, who I thought did a great job today)
@jawms 31928 wrote:

1) Walter Pierce Park is not id’d on Google Maps or on my 1998 Thomas DC map book. Googling it didn’t yield much either. There was no address or range to use to find directions. Nor did I see a sign identifying the park at the Adams Mill Rd. entrance, though there was a reference to the “Walter Pierce Slope something Project” near the Calvert Bridge. Obviouslly this place is well-known to those who live nearby and to those who have participated before, but what about the rest of us?

The maps link in the WABA message got me right there. Might want to ditch the iPhone 5 and get google maps back.
@jawms 31928 wrote:

2) The 13 Colonies ride left out Connecticut. Hard to believe that Nathan Hale, Roger Sherman, Elihu Yale, and Noah Webster can be rendered placeless, but the geographical ignorance of WABA’s dominant demographic is well-known. I am copying the entire Connecticut congressional delegation, the governor and the National Geographic Society for suggestions about how to remedy this. Please revise the T-shirts appropriately.

You crossed Connecticut near the end, around mile 15, so either you didn’t follow the route, or didn’t realize that by crossing Connecticut, you actually rode on it.
@jawms 31928 wrote:

3) What are WABA marshals supposed to do? The ones I saw were haning out together at the park, then took off at the head of the pack and were seen no more. My expectations of what marshals do are based on Vietnam era demonstrations and the Obama inauguration, but this clearly exceeds anything in WABA’s manual.

I saw a LOT of marshals all over the course, and really appreciated their guidance. There were some frustrating times for them as some riders didn’t want to obey any laws but the marshals can’t do much about it. (thanks volunteers!)
@jawms 31928 wrote:

4) I noticed a lot of people who, like me, were alone, knew none of the other participants, were riding unfashionable bikes and had non-spandex clothing without bike-product names written on them. The social director of a fifth-rate cruise ship would have known what to do in this situation. Our events coordinator, pretty and sweet though she is, hadn’t a clue.

I made plenty of acquaintances out there, you can’t blame not being social on them.
@jawms 31928 wrote:

Notwithstanding all this, I had a good time. The route, though historically inadequate, was well-chosen for comfort and safety, the weather was perfect and — now that I know where Walter Pierce Park is — I’ll do it again!

I got a few sprinkles as I was arriving back home

It probably wasn’t me. I’m only saying that because there were a few moments I wasn’t proud of. I tried to ride responsibly, but there were some times I fell in with the group mentality and showed no regard for the traffic laws of the 50 United States. Sorry.

I rode more responsibly and with greater compliance to the law than I ever have before. I was proud of that until I read the guy following me is racked with guilt over our reckless disregard for lawful conduct. I thought I was being boy scout. I even did a good deed. Not saying I never crossed the double yellow, but until recently I thought that was legal when passing slow moving vehicles. :p

@jopamora 31959 wrote:

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Made it on WABA’s Facebook page. I am famous!

Cool shot. I recognize many of these riders from today. You must have been very close to us all day.

I didn’t take many pictures. The ones I took didn’t come out. We weren’t really hammering but the focus of the day seemed to be on dropping people, not taking pictures. Haha.

@jopamora 31949 wrote:

I want to find the person who made the route and ask if they break into maniacal laughter every time they think of Garfield and University Terrace.

Nooooo! It’s been a year and I thought I was over my PTSD!!

Liz

Nice!

Sean “Bega” Blumenfeld, (Team Bega) in one of your pics.