* Freezing Saddles 2014 *

[rcannon100]

Registration is now open.

Freezing Saddles is a commuter challenge organized by the volunteer efforts of the Bike Arlington / WABA forum. It is a hat style tournament where cyclists are randomly assigned to teams of ~8 based on handicaps, creating teams that will have roughly the same handicap value. The challenge runs from Jan. 1 to the end of winter. Cyclists earn 1 point for each mile ridden and 10 points for each day ridden (and yes, riding means outdoors – it is Freezing Saddles not Living Room Saddles). Participants must be part of the forum and be members of Strava. More than that and what awards will be awarded, well that’s up to the volunteers.

Registration closes Dec. 24th. There will be no late registrations this year. Teams will be announced on the forum by the end of the month.

Freezing Saddles is a self organized effort of the participants. Freezing Saddles is not sponsored by anyone (it is not sponsored by Bike Arlington or by WABA). There is no organization. It is just a bunch of people coming together to be silly and ride bikes when it is really really cold. Your participation in Freezing Saddles is voluntary and at your own risk and you have not paid anyone anything to participate. Please volunteer to help make this self organized effort succeed.

Topic

[dkel]

@TwoWheelsDC 71022 wrote:

Worst case, you don’t get a pointless prize and your teammates mock you mercilessly.

Alright. You’ve convinced me (in a weird, warped way…). I’m in. In lieu of flowers, the family requests you make a donation to WABA.

[guga31bb]

Signed up!

[Amalitza]

@dkel 71015 wrote:

but having never ridden through an entire winter,

Me neither.

Until last year.

Now all my coworkers and the gate guards at work think I’m certifiably insane. This is a known and verified side effect of the competition. You are warned.

[cyclingfool]

Just signed up, too, after sitting on the fence for quite a while. As is usually the case year round, I am sure my riding will be limited almost exclusively to my daily commute (i.e., probably won’t be able to go for any of the special challenges), but I do my commute year round five days a week as long as I’m working, so hopefully I’ll be an asset to my team…

[americancyclo]

@TwoWheelsDC 71022 wrote:

(although we had the highest average speed, because ELITE)

Word. also, best post award ceremony peleton. Aiming for that award again, because racecar.

@dkel 71048 wrote:

Alright. You’ve convinced me (in a weird, warped way…). I’m in. In lieu of flowers, the family requests you make a donation to WABA.

don’t worry, i’m sure you’ll be making Quick trips this winter, so you probably won’t get cold….

[Terpfan]

I didn’t do it last year although I had fun tracking everyone. Screw it, I may as well do it to give myself even more motivation. Only tricky part for me is some work travel in late January/early February (not the kind where I get to bike at either like I did in San Fran last fall during a work trip), but I estimated those into my guess-worked number of rides/milage.

[Greenbelt]

@cyclingfool 71071 wrote:

Just signed up, too, after sitting on the fence for quite a while. As is usually the case year round, I am sure my riding will be limited almost exclusively to my daily commute (i.e., probably won’t be able to go for any of the special challenges), but I do my commute year round five days a week as long as I’m working, so hopefully I’ll be an asset to my team…

Last year, I tried to sandbag my way into the “average joe” award — for riding the same bland miles every week exactly on handicap — but was beaten at the finish by Mark Blacknell. Drat!

This year, I put in an honest estimate of just my commute miles plus a smidge for utility (170 per week). That way I can ride some on weekends, but still take the occasional commute off with subjecting myself to teammate ridicule. This year, the no-Metro-ever-again streak is definitely going to end. Maybe.

(Problem is, I can’t remember what angered me so much about Metro that I swore never to take it again. Senility.)

[cyclingfool]

@Greenbelt 71104 wrote:

(Problem is, I can’t remember what angered me so much about Metro that I swore never to take it again. Senility.)

Ride it a couple days and you’ll quickly remember!

Only thing I like about riding metro is it allows me to catch up on the podcasts I’ve fallen behind on, since I don’t listen to anything other than the sounds around me while riding my bike.

[vvill]

I estimated 60 miles/week as I won’t be riding much through the first half of the competition.

And as fun as it was last year, does anyone actually need more than one of these in their life? Having two would just be silly.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4223[/ATTACH]

[ShawnoftheDread]

I like how vvill just assumes he’d be on the winning team again this year. Team Five Guys will not be re-formed!

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Greenbelt 71104 wrote:

(Problem is, I can’t remember what angered me so much about Metro that I swore never to take it again. Senility.)

@unsuckdcmetro

[consularrider]

@cyclingfool 71108 wrote:

Ride it a couple days and you’ll quickly remember!

Only thing I like about riding metro is it allows me to catch up on the podcasts I’ve fallen behind on, since I don’t listen to anything other than the sounds around me while riding my bike.

Just think how much worse it is having to drive during the commute hours. I prefer my bicycle, but would still elect Metro over driving to Rosslyn everyday, and that doesn’t include having to cross the Potomac!

[cyclingfool]

@consularrider 71154 wrote:

Just think how much worse it is having to drive during the commute hours. I prefer my bicycle, but would still elect Metro over driving to Rosslyn everyday, and that doesn’t include having to cross the Potomac!

Oh, it’s still better than driving for the most part, I agree, especially if you’re coming into DC metro’s urban core – Crystal City, Rosslyn, DC. Plus it lets me do things I couldn’t safely do while driving, like sleep, do crosswords, read a paper.

But it still sucks compared to riding a bike and it has its own complete set of completely maddening problems, and the $7 round trip fare from Alexandria to downtown at peak of the peak plus a bus ride if I don’t feel like walking home. That’s a lot of moolah.

[dasgeh]

Are we doing the multiplier for people on the bike? Because we might be starting the year with a Kidical Mass Arlington ride…

[Steve O]

@dasgeh 71186 wrote:

Are we doing the multiplier for people on the bike? Because we might be starting the year with a Kidical Mass Arlington ride…

THAT is a great question!! I think there ought to be a bonus for a “freezing trailer” or “freezing childseat” What say, Commissioner Cannon?

BTW – I say that without any possible personal benefit; my kids are 14 and 20 (. . .and not interested in riding in a trailer).

Also BTW – I’m in.

[Author]

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