Newbie Thread–Come say hi!

[Bikewoman]

I have no idea what I’m getting myself into. I enjoy riding my bike and I ride everyday (except in moderate to heavy rain, snow, and ice) to work. On weekends it’s a little bit harder to ride unless the weather is nice or there is a group of like minded crazies who want to go on a ride. I like to have balance in my life, however. So, I tend to want one weekend day with no obligations. I don’t want my fun to turn into work.

[Marlon]

Hey folks – Marlon here, looking fwd to the FS event, interested bc this would represent my first time for cold wx riding (since a kid) and get me off the rollers a little…

[Arlingtonrider]

Welcome to all of you! Below are some thoughts that summarize collective wisdom from posts of other FS alumni as well as some thoughts of my own.

STUPID FUN vs WORK: It’s up to *YOU* to keep Freezing Saddles fun. **IF YOU’RE NOT HAVING FUN, YOU’RE NOT DOING IT RIGHT!** The competitive spirit that Freezing Saddles generates makes winter riding a lot more fun. However, the game goes on for a long time (until March 19), so you don’t want to burn out. You can help your team do well by riding as regularly as you can manage. In general, the more team riders who participate regularly, the better it is for the team. Daily participation by more riders almost always earns more points for a team than longer rides by fewer riders. Your team will hope that you will ride at least one mile as many days as you can, in addition to any longer rides you do. While long rides bring more points per ride, short daily ones by multiple riders can add points faster. Errands around the corner are a great way to rack up team points. Getting out of the house can be the hardest part. Once you’re out, adding a trip around the block to make your first mile (the bonus point mile) is easy. Commuting makes getting daily mileage for most days of the week pretty easy. Getting out there and riding lots of miles on longer rides is fun too and your team will greatly appreciate it. That being said, don’t let Freezing Saddles make you miserable. If you really don’t want to ride on a particular day, just don’t. Tune the noise out. Do what you want to do and what keeps it fun for you. Also, many of us have to go out of town occasionally and might not have access to a bike for a few days. It happens. Don’t sweat it. (You can sometimes befriend a hotel worker who will rent or lend you a bike, though. :cool:)

LEADERBOARDS AND MOTIVATION: There are two leaderboards, a team one and an individual one, and you can use both for motivation. Sometimes you might want to jump just one step ahead on the individual leaderboard. That helps your team too. It’s fun to watch your individual points and miles add up. For some people, that might be more motivating than the team leaderboard. Go with what works for you. The health and fitness benefits you will see from riding more can also be awesome motivators, especially with a little extra focus on better eating/fueling, hydration, getting enough sleep, etc. Also, as you get to know more people through FS, you will see more people you know out on the roads and trails. It’s more fun to ride when you come across friends here and there.

TEAMS: Teams are initially designated by numbers – Team 1, Team 2, etc. One of the first tasks of teams is to come up with a team name. You might want to start thinking about that now. Consider volunteering to organize team get-togethers or rides. In past years, teams have often extended an invitation to other FS members to join them on these. FS is not so competitive that we can’t all be friends and have fun together. It’s a great group of people and, as Mikey says, we are all winners. Speaking of competition, some riders on your team, or maybe you, may decide that their idea of fun is to do one or more stupid silly long rides. That does not mean that others on the team are expected to do the same. If you are inspired to ride more as a result, ride more! If you just want to be in awe that you are so lucky as to have them on your team, enjoy their awesomeness and being on their team, and give whatever support you can.

BAD CONDITIONS: Please don’t ride if you don’t have the experience or equipment to handle conditions safely. There are lots of ways around that if you do want to ride, though. Be creative. (Think options for different places/times, bikeshare, etc.) Often, where there’s a will, there’s a way, but some days you might just want to sit by the fire. Keep in mind that you might be missing out on some fun, though. A short ride in falling snowflakes can be awesome. A ride against a strong headwind can burn a lot of calories and justify a trip to District Taco or Baked ‘n Wired. Riding when others don’t helps your team get ahead, but always put your safety first. You don’t help your team if you get injured.

FIRST MILE BONUS: Riding at least a mile every day, or almost every day, can help your team a lot. Your first mile each day earns 10 points instead of one. It’s awesome if you can ride every day or almost every day, but it isn’t a built-in expectation. We all have lives outside of biking and those are important too. Last year, out of roughly 100 participants, 14 rode every day. The first year, out of 50 participants, I think about 7 rode every day. So about 85% of us didn’t ride every day. Those who manage to ride every day of the competition get respect and recognition at the final happy hour.

MISERY: If you’re cold or uncomfortable, reach out to others for advice. I’m a proud wimp. I like to be comfortable and warm, regardless of the weather. There’s a lot of winter riding experience in this group. Remember too that staying comfortable may require different approaches depending on ride length. What works for a 3-8 mile ride may be a lot different from what works for a 40-60 mile ride.

SLEAZE RIDES: That term is used a lot in FS and it doesn’t mean anything other than a short ride intended primarily to get the daily 10 point bonus. For FS purposes, there is nothing at all derogatory about sleaze rides and everyone does them at various times. There is usually even a pointless prize for the person who has the most sleaze ride days. (For purposes of the prize, I think it means days with a total of 1 to 2 miles.) (This is a correction from what I had here before.)

STRAVA: It’s a lot of fun to follow teammates and some other FS participants on Strava. People ask about the etiquette of that. I can only speak for myself, but I feel very comfortable about following my teammates and others who I know (or having them follow me) without asking. If it’s someone I don’t know (e.g. people who often ride in areas of interest to me), I usually ask them if they would mind, through a PM on the forum or a Strava comment. Also, if you just want to glance to see what rides someone is doing or you’re just interested in a particular ride, its pretty easy to see someone’s rides without technically “following” them. If someone is concerned about having others see where they live or work, they can create a Strava privacy zone that makes info about the immediate area around their house or workplace invisible to other users. Also, I don’t think other Strava users can see the times that you ride.

RIDE TITLES ON STRAVA: There is usually a pointless prize for the best ride titles. SteveO reads some of the best and most amusing ones at the final happy hour.

HAPPY HOURS THAT I ORGANIZE: Please let me know if you plan to come. I organize happy hours at Capitol City Brewing Co. (only), but my deal with Cap City is that I provide them a headcount. The headcount is also important because of limited room capacity. You can tell me if you plan to come by a post on the happy hour thread or by private message (PM) on the forum. (If you find out later that you can’t make it, please let me know that too.)

OTHER HAPPY HOURS, RIDES, EVENTS AND PRIZES: Feel free to organize anything. You don’t need permission from anyone. If you have a suggestion, please volunteer to take charge of it. For example, don’t just suggest a pointless prize for something. If you suggest it, agree to determine the winner and provide the prize. Prizes are of nominal monetary value. If you want a happy hour or ride, organize it. If you just want to take a ride and invite any other FS participants who may want to join you, just do it!

FINAL THOUGHTS: Above all, have fun! This is just a game for our winter entertainment. And thank RCannon100 and Hozn for getting this all started and agreeing to get FS through another year! They are the very bestest!

[ewilliams0305]

Another newbie silver springer here…. I bike everyday but am new the winter cycling. This is my first winter I intend to bike everyday, I’m hoping freezing saddles will provided the motivation I need to keep it going all winter. I look forward to not being A newbie here for long and participating here in anyway I can.
-Eric Williams

[Zernhelt]

Hi guys. I’m excited to potentially motivate myself to bike through the winter.

[cyclingfool]

@Zernhelt 102950 wrote:

Hi guys. I’m excited to potentially motivate myself to bike through the winter.

Welcome! Happy cycling! Beware the split infinitive.

[ShawnoftheDread]

If you really don’t want to ride on a particular day, just don’t. Tune the noise out.

Heresy.

[Terpfan]

More like a sophomore, but can’t make happy hour–New Orleans for work (although if I can figure out how to ride on my spare time off that Saturday afternoon around the various wards then I plan to). Do plan to offer some sort of prize for overall winners I think (unless I find time to come up with a cool local contest).

[TrishN]

Hi all – I’m Trish and pretty much a newbie when it comes to the forums, but this will be my 3rd Freezing Saddles. I’m a telecommuter and have found FS to be a great way to pry myself out of a warm and cozy house when otherwise I’d stay happily burrowed indoors. Hopefully this year my participation will not be cut short by broken bones (black ice is no picnic). I’m in Mount Rainier and happy to see that there are a good number of participants from this neck of the woods. Ready to get my sleaze on!

[chris_s]

@cyclingfool 102957 wrote:

Welcome! Happy cycling! Beware the split infinitive.

[ian_co]

I’m Ian and I look forward to freezing with new friends this year. I’ll watch my grammar chris_s.

[Rod Smith]

@ewilliams0305 102930 wrote:

Another newbie silver springer here…. I bike everyday but am new the winter cycling. This is my first winter I intend to bike everyday, I’m hoping freezing saddles will provided the motivation I need to keep it going all winter. I look forward to not being A newbie here for long and participating here in anyway I can.
-Eric Williams

A ringer. I only invited two, the other is Chris Watson.

[rcannon100]

They identified themselves as ringers when they signed up, right?

[hodgesse]

Hello!

I’m a newbie to FS and a relative newbie to this area (6 months).

I don’t commute to work, but love to ride. My plan is to run lots of errands during the week and do my big rides on weekends.

Do we meet on Jan 1, please? How do we find out about our teams, please?

Thanks!

Happy Cycling!

[elwbikes]

Hi hodgesse, the kickoff happy hour and team announcements are Jan 8 at cap city brewing in shirlington. More info on that thread.

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