Hey, Nineteen!

[Boomer Cycles]

I am not on your team but just posted to see if anyone would notice. I grew up on Steely Dan. Love, Boomer

[BetGrrl]

Ha ha, of course we notice, Boomer, when you’re around…or not around.

Yup, listened to Steely Dan all morning thanks to Shawn. Oops, I mean Ken.

[Joan]

I’m Joan. I live at the top of a hill in the Del Ray area of Alexandria.

I bike for transportation as often as possible.

I am currently riding Green Hornet, my Bridgestone hybrid with mustache handlebars, slick tires, and a sticker that says “Zero gallons per mile”.

My husband is rebuilding Serotta_ti_grrrl’s wheels because her rear rim cracked. In 1995, she was custom built for someone else who biked 200 miles before being injured. Poor Serotta_ti_grrrl sat in the basement waiting for me until March 2003. Now she has in been in my basement waiting for new wheels since mid-December. I hope to get her back on the road in a week or so.

As a member of Babes on Bikes (BoB), I ride to socialize with friends during the day on weekdays including a hill ride most weeks. I manage BoB email list and sign up new members for “the babes”. At least eight members of BoB are participating in Freezing Saddles, but I’m the only one on this team. At least I think I am.

I have been biking with BoB since 1999 when I rode my first century on the Green Hornet. Last fall my life got hijacked and I missed a whole season of biking. It’s much harder to BEGIN biking in the winter so I only rode a handful of days last winter. When my neighbor, Trey, told me about Freezing Saddles last spring, I knew it would be the perfect way to keep me biking this winter. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. I started using Strava this summer to prepare for Freezing Saddles. Then I joined the National Bike Challenge mid-summer, which encouraged me to ride (almost) every day.

I am very competitive, so this challenge REALLY motivates me to get out the door. Once I’m outside, I am so glad to be there. I intend to bike every day. I’m trying to figure out how to bike when I’m on a week-long cross country ski trip in Craftsbury, Vermont, at the end of February. I mentioned this to Teresa last night and she encouraged me to look into renting a bike up there.

I’m really looking forward to FS. Looks like we have a great team!

It was a pleasure to meet some of you at HH last night. Sorry for such a long-winded introduction.

[lordofthemark]

@BetGrrl 131464 wrote:

Ha ha, of course we notice, Boomer, when you’re around…or not around.

Yup, listened to Steely Dan all morning thanks to Shawn. Oops, I mean Ken.

Thats okay, I tend to call Shawn, Steve. The other Shawn that is. I have also been known to call Helen, Jan, which is even more embarrassing.

[BetGrrl]

You venerated senior members…who’s the other Shawn? :confused: Thank you for your understanding, Ken. I’m new to this list and a bit overwhelmed by how many of you already know each other personally. Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Yikes, Joan…I will admit that before I read your post, I was looking at your position on the leaderboard and plotting my weekend plans so that I might get you on the mileage. :rolleyes:

BTW, I will be far from any bike or road for 16 days in February – sorry about that. It’s dawning on me now that I’ll need to make up for those lost weeks.

[Joan]

@BetGrrl 131483 wrote:

Yikes, Joan…I will admit that before I read your post, I was looking at your position on the leaderboard and plotting my weekend plans so that I might get you on the mileage. :rolleyes:

I usually don’t ride as much on weekends, but I will bike at least a couple miles every day I can during this challenge.

I had planned a 65 mile transportation ride for tomorrow but now I have to drive there on Sunday instead. Bummer, but probably not terrible for my legs to get a little rest. I’ve been riding more than usual since FS started.

[msalemme]

Hi everyone!

Sorry I missed the happy hour. This is my third time participating in Freezing Saddles. I ride mostly on the weekends but try to ride at least a mile every day. My goal this year is to not be the Queen of Sleaze.

Mary

[americancyclo]

@BetGrrl 131483 wrote:

You venerated senior members…who’s the other Shawn? :confused: Thank you for your understanding, Ken. I’m new to this list and a bit overwhelmed by how many of you already know each other personally. Looking forward to getting to know you all.

Yikes, Joan…I will admit that before I read your post, I was looking at your position on the leaderboard and plotting my weekend plans so that I might get you on the mileage. :rolleyes:

BTW, I will be far from any bike or road for 16 days in February – sorry about that. It’s dawning on me now that I’ll need to make up for those lost weeks.

The other Shawn is Shawn Dread. I’m this Shawn.
My commute is falls church to DC about four times per week.
I usually try to do the Friday coffee club caravan from Vienna to DC with a stop at Java shack. Sometimes I made hump day coffee club at best buns on Wednesdays. I’ve got two small kids so commutes are the bulk of my mileage and I’m usually in to work too early to have much socializing fun. Weekend rides without a four year old in tow will be rare but I might get one or two team rides in. I’ll also be off the bike for two weeks at the end of January.

Oh and Pete / Dirt is on our team, he works at Bikenetic bike shop in falls church and is more amazing than rainbow farting unicorns. The most fun I have ever had on a bike ride was usually right after Pete told me we were all gonna die.

Hope to see you all out on the trails somewhere!

[ShawnoftheDread]

No no no, you’re the other Shawn.

[ginacico]

Finally, I’m out of the starting gate, rode down to the New District Brewing Company. The place was packed, and there was very little bike parking. I saw two bikes locked to the one sign out front, but there was nowhere else to leave Vaya. I figured I had little chance of finding anyone I knew, so I went on to Best Buns. Sure enough, cruising through Shirlington I bumped into KayakCyndi (with Dave) and consularrider.

Had something really weird happen when I loaded the ride into Strava. I use a Polar M400 GPS watch to track my workout, which then syncs here:
https://flow.polar.com/training/analysis/353436414

But when I exported a file (.tcx) and imported it into Strava, it reported only 5.0 miles, even though the route was the same. Wha?? Cheated!! I deleted the ride, exported a .gpx file, and that seemed to import correctly and got picked up by the Freezing Saddles app.
http://www.strava.com/activities/466771878

[lordofthemark]

I was at New District at 5ish, it was still packed.

[Kitty]

Hello everyone! Sorry for being late to the introductions party.

I’m Kitty/Grace (and with the former being a long-time nickname, I will answer to either in a real-world setting). I’ve been commuting/erranding by bike since I came out here for grad school in 2009, and for the past number of years gotten gradually more into cycling as a hobby. Each year I’ve had a new goal/challenges: 3 yeara ago – join National Bike Challenge and attempt the WABA 13 Colonies Ride; 2 years ago – attempt WABA’s 50 States Ride; Last year – (get a new bike with more than 7-speeds) attempt a century. (Last year I also joined the forum, joined Phoenix Bikes – “All the Cycle Ladies” group, and rode further than ever in the NBC… I’m now linked into the community and addicted! :cool:) Having done all these these, I suppose this year is starting out with my first time doing BAFS and first time using Strava!

This winter I’ll do my best. Previously I took the Metro more than I’d like to admit in the winter, but this year I’m going to try to do the commute by bike as much as I can. (Sadly its only a bit over 5 miles round-trip!) In the past I also didn’t do long weekend rides this time of year, but I’ll try to make up mileage on Saturdays, especially if we get any team rides going! With that, I hope I can ride with you guys this season.

[Tim Kelley]

@ginacico 131602 wrote:

Finally, I’m out of the starting gate, rode down to the New District Brewing Company. The place was packed, and there was very little bike parking. I saw two bikes locked to the one sign out front, but there was nowhere else to leave Vaya.

You can take your bike inside. (seriously!)

[Joan]

It looks to me like we are still missing someone. 13 members are listed in the Team assignments and only 12 joined the Strava club.

[ginacico]

@Tim Kelley 131791 wrote:

You can take your bike inside. (seriously!)

Whaaa?!? That’s quite hospitable of them… and now I want a re-do.

Glad New District had such a successful launch, and I’m still trying to figure out what their hours (open to the public) will be. It could make a great FS#19 team outing.

[Author]

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