National Bike Challenge 2015-Washington Area All-Stars

[Kitty]

@PotomacCyclist 122765 wrote:

Is your office near a bikeshare station? If so, you could use CaBi on days where you will only be riding one-way. It’s early enough that the in-demand stations in downtown DC (if that’s where you work) would still have available docks. They tend to fill up after 8:30 on weekday mornings.

But there are also two CaBi bike corrals, one near Foggy Bottom and the other near 13th & New York Ave. NW. They have unlimited docking on weekday mornings.

It’s also good to check bike and dock availability on the CaBi website and the free Spotcycle smartphone app (iOS and Android only, no Windows Phone or Blackberry).

You know, I hadn’t considered that. I’ve always had my own bike so the CaBi system is largely unknown to me. I mean yeah, those 3 speeds and frame-that-weighs-more-than-I-do would be an adjustment, but it would probably still beat the Metro!

[PotomacCyclist]

I have two bikes but I still ride CaBi a lot. Actually, this year I’ve probably used CaBi for 90 percent of my rides. (Yes, I haven’t done any long-distance rides this year. But I have done some multi-hour rides on CaBi, if you count the frequent stops. I dock the bike and check it out again every 30 minutes to avoid per-ride usage fees, most of the time.)

The biggest issue with CaBi is the demand for downtown stations on weekday mornings, and the demand for bikes at those same stations in the evenings.

[Steve O]

@Kitty 122764 wrote:

because my office is going to the Nats game tonight (and no one else rides so no bike valet for me )

I’m not clear on why you couldn’t ride your bike to the game? Is it the ride home after dark?
Even if so, you could ride to the game, then ride your bike afterward to Capitol South (or another station not named Navy Yard) and take Metro from there.
Granted, I’m male, but I always ride to the games; I’ve probably been to 50 or more, half or more at night, and I ride home (usually) alone afterward without concern.

The worst incident I had related to going to the ballpark was during the daytime and caused by the Maine Ave. construction. It is described here (also photo; viewer discretion advised).

[Raymo853]

I noticed how close the All Stars were to first this morning, so I had my wife join getting us up to 330 riders and her 1,939 points were enough to move us into first, for the moment.

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[cvcalhoun]

@Raymo853 122961 wrote:

I noticed how close the All Stars were to first this morning, so I had my wife join getting us up to 330 riders and her 1,939 points were enough to move us into first, for the moment.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9447[/ATTACH]

Alas, only for the current month. Gainesville is still ahead for the challenge as a whole.

[dbb]

Graphics below. While we took the lead in late July, Gainesville appears to have recruited a bunch (a bigger bunch than WAAS) of riders.

Note the surge by Gainesville.

This graphic shows the number of team members. Given we are within 20K points of Gainesville, recruiting folks who have been riding all summer might effectively close the gap. The other approach is to increase the “yield” from the existing members of the team. If you know somebody that hasn’t logged their miles in a while, encourage them to do so.

While we have fewer points, the team members for the WAAS are riding more consistently. I’d attribute that to the fact that many of the team are commuters or utility cyclists.

[Raymo853]

Well this is why everyone on the team should join the Sunday century starting from Leesburg. I am but am riding from home in Arlington and back. Plan to start off from the Custis/WO&D corner at 0500 if you want to ride out together.

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?9201-Sunday-Century-Series-12

[Kitty]

@Steve O 122779 wrote:

I’m not clear on why you couldn’t ride your bike to the game? Is it the ride home after dark?
Even if so, you could ride to the game, then ride your bike afterward to Capitol South (or another station not named Navy Yard) and take Metro from there.

Believe me, it wasn’t comfort with the route after dark. Frankly I’ve come to enjoy night riding and probably have an unhealthy sense of safety of being out after dark on two wheels opposed to two feet. It was a matter of having to lead a group of staff/interns to the stadium via metro before, and then giving my non-cycling husband some company for the metro-ride home. Ha ha.

@dbb 123011 wrote:

Graphics below. While we took the lead in late July, Gainesville appears to have recruited a bunch (a bigger bunch than WAAS) of riders.

Note the surge by Gainesville.

While we have fewer points, the team members for the WAAS are riding more consistently. I’d attribute that to the fact that many of the team are commuters or utility cyclists.

I was pretty bummed to see this. You can really see the effect of the gap in riders. It makes me wonder what’s going on down there. Really awesome bike-friendly infrastructure? Or simply a larger population?

In any case, heading into this last month, it looks like I’m going to hit my distance and points goals for this year’s NBC. The 2000 miles I think will happen on its own, but to hit Diamond, I’m going to need to make it an effort to not skip a day.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Kitty 123260 wrote:

I was pretty bummed to see this. You can really see the effect of the gap in riders. It makes me wonder what’s going on down there. Really awesome bike-friendly infrastructure? Or simply a larger population?

I always assumed the team is mostly retired Freds with nothing to do but ride.

[Tim Kelley]

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https://nationalbikechallenge.org/rider-updates/thread/22779

[UnknownCyclist]

I’m really confused. The three terms in question, “cracker,” “retired Fred,” and “whiney whitey,” accurately describe the vast majority of the Washington Area All Stars as well.:rolleyes:

Well, OK, maybe not the retired part of retired Fred.
A quick review of Wikipedia suggests much uncertainty whether “cracker” should be considered pejorative or “jocular self-description.” Personally, I would not be offended if I were called it.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Tim Kelley 123319 wrote:

https://nationalbikechallenge.org/rider-updates/thread/22779

As a fellow European American, I can attest that it really is tough dealing with the crushing racism and lack of opportunity that comes with being a white man in America.

[dasgeh]

Clearly, that guy needs to spend more time complaining on the internet.

We need to go for a bike ride.

[dbb]

While some might take issue with the concerns our friends in Gainesville have articulated, what we can do is not increase the tension.

For a community of 125K to get 400+ riders on a cycling team for the NBC is pretty impressive. We should figure out what they are doing in that regard.

I agree with dasgeh that we should focus our efforts on riding our bikes and working to make the Washington area (and Gainesville, among others) better places for others to ride their bikes. The more communities that have an active cycling community the better it will be for everybody.

[lordofthemark]

@dbb 123324 wrote:

While some might take issue with the concerns our friends in Gainesville have articulated, what we can do is not increase the tension.

For a community of 125K to get 400+ riders on a cycling team for the NBC is pretty impressive. We should figure out what they are doing in that regard.

I agree with dasgeh that we should focus our efforts on riding our bikes and working to make the Washington area (and Gainesville, among others) better places for others to ride their bikes. The more communities that have an active cycling community the better it will be for everybody.

One may also note that this thread itself has now been mentioned.

I enjoy the freewheeling (so to speak) joshing tone of this forum. It is an exceptionally supportive and positive place (not to mention informative) but I suppose to someone not used to it, it may seem otherwise.

If anyone is reading this thread as their intro to the forum, do take some time to look around, see what we discuss, what the biking issues here in greater Washington are, and the spirit in which we discuss them.

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