50 States Ride on September 22nd

I officially got my butt kicked yesterday. Way too much flat land riding for me! Looks like the Dirt school of route selection (any direction as long as it is uphill) is in my future:)

I thought the marshals were doing a superb, but difficult job in the fact that they were there as coaches not as enforcers.

It would appear that others are visiting our forum, particularly the WMATA MetroBus driver (driving bus with plate B 43116 at about noon) on MLK who, rather than passing felt that it was necessary to hang back and honk the horn. Must have been on the forum and watched the Colorado video.

Here is the photo I grabbed of the bus at the corner of MLK and Melon, SE just as we were turning left.

and a Rod Smith in front of me

Thanks for this. I was in front of this jackass for about a block. I stopped to let him get to a bus stop. I passed him amd took the lane to take a left on Malcolm X. He pulled out and coninued to honk his horm.

This was my fifth 50 States Ride. I thought WABA and the volunteers did a fantastic job. I thought the start was going to be a disaster, filing all those bikes down a narrow path but it worked out fine.

For the first 10 miles or so I fell in with a very chatty and funny woman who was doing a great job keeping us on our toes through downtown. It turns out she was a course marshall named (if I recfall correctly) Dolores.

I watched one rider in a black t-shirt cruise through red lights and stop signs without looking. He was oblivious. I can’t believe he didn’t get in an accident.

Once we cleared the Capitol Hill, Idaho stops were the rule. The city has way too many dumb traffic lights with long cycles. 40 seconds is a long time when there are no cars in sight. Worse yet, were the steep speed humps and rumble strips that have been installed all over town. Texas Street had several. This street doesn’t go anywhere! Why would they need a speed bump every 100 yards!

My one suggestion is to move the after party back to Grill from Ipanema. Mellow Mushroom seemed overwhelmed by the crowd.

@Brendan von Buckingham 31995 wrote:

Was there really a Nazi rally and counter-protesters near Eastern Market?

I was wondering what was going on. I felt like hanging around longer, but then saw the police in riot armor.

@Brendan von Buckingham 31995 wrote:

Best moment? The marshal who thought I was 20 and didn’t believe I was 40. Thanks kid.

My wife’s been asked twice in the past week which high school she goes to, which means I have a pretty high risk of being arrested, or at least detained.

@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 …

Actually, that’s a good question. This was my first time as a marshal for this event, although I have been a marshal for other WABA events. For most events the marshals are to report on any problems they observe, try to assist riders with problems, but are not traffic cops. I have certainly assisted with fixing innumerable flat tires in my various stints, but luckily did not have to on Saturday. I saw our basic function as monitors and ambassadors leading by example (yeah, right ). We were together at the start of the ride for a preride briefing and were told to spread out over the course of the ride. I know WABA would have liked to have had at least twice as many marshals, and there may have been only two or three on the 13 Colonies route. I lined up for the start about 50 yards behind the starting banner. For the most part, I did not see another marshal until I hit the Takoma rest stop. I rode with various groups in the 65 miles, and this year it seemed like I spent the most time helping with course directions.

I think this year’s ride was a little more challenging than some of the previous rides. We got all that DC could throw at us, construction cranes blocking streets, poor street conditions, new pavement, a rally, hills, but you can’t complain about the weather! I was wearing my Bike Arlington jersey, but it got covered by my marshal’s vest. I know I saw Zanna and dbb at the start of the ride and bluerider at the Mellow Mushroom.