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Show up all five days and get a chance to win an e-bike? Sheesh – a raffle entry is quite a step down from a jersey

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I lost a SteveO valve cap when I got a flat about 135 miles into my GAP Trail ride in 2020. If I ever pass that way again I’ll have to be on the lookout for it!

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@Boomer2U 218705 wrote:

I have a bike trailer if something needs to be hauled, FYI

Y’know, I think I’ll just drive there Thanks for the offer, though!

I had thought that a convoy hauling the PA gear would be kind of cool, but trying to get everything back home with people leaving at different times in different directions is too complicated – plus would be subject to weather conditions.

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Which of these convoys is going to help me carry the PA system?

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@lordofthemark 216184 wrote:

Oy vey. Somehow Citizens bridge got it’s name. Long ago and grandfathered in?

It is named in honor of the local citizens whose grassroots efforts resulted in the building of the bridge, which seems to meet the current requirement of “substantial contributions to the regional park system.” Also, as you point out, the rules might have been different 30 years ago.

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FTFY – this Ballston eatery just needed a little typo correction.

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I’m not even playing in Freezing Saddles this year, but I couldn’t pass up the irony of this eponymous business. [From Jan 30’s ride]

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@consularrider 212784 wrote:

I’ve got whole island in the East River, at least one street (where the Stonewall Inn is located), and a few churches among other things to chose from. Is there a hashtag to use in the ride title, or just post here?

I think you could argue that 1049 Park Avenue would be a valid entry for you.

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@danlesh 212119 wrote:

But I can’t promise people won’t want to wear costumes

Costumes? I believe there are people on this forum who would be open to the idea of costumes

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I haven’t tried heated shoes, but I’ve been using Volt heated gloves for several years. I really like them. I have a lot of trouble keeping my hands warm and the heated gloves really help.

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This year’s ride got postponed due to a hurricane threat. My registration carried over so I guess I’m already registered for 2022. I do not know yet whether I’ll be available to go to NY for the ride on that date.

@consularrider 211876 wrote:

with the exception of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the FDR, I can ride almost all of it at my leisure.

You routinely ride your bike on the BQE? That’s brave!

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The road crossings of the nearby W&OD frustrate me. In many places bikes have stop signs while the cars do not, which means we should stop for them. Still, many drivers will stop for trail traffic – but since one can never be sure what drivers will do, if I see cars approaching a crossing I will stop at even if they appear to be stopping, which leads to this “After you”, “No, after you”, “No, after you” kind of standoff. Sometimes a car in one direction or one lane will stop for me but I still won’t go because I’m not sure what other vehicles hurtling towards me from the other direction, or in the adjacent lane, or both, will do. Then, just when I see the second car giving enough indication of stopping that I feel confident entering the intersection, the first one will give up on waiting for me and will start to roll.

I almost like it better in the western section of the trail, where I find that cars don’t stop for trail users unless they have stop signs – at least there’s no ambiguity.

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@Starduster 211577 wrote:

A couple of weeks ago, I rode with #accordioneur on an Arlington 55 + Ride, from Belle Haven to Mt. Vernon. I will testify that stretch has become worse since I last ran it 2 years ago. *Many* root heaves and pavement fall-outs disguised by fallen leaves. No one crashed, I didn’t go down, but still. The need is…obvious. Let me make sure I can commit this weekend… merci!

Yeah, we got pretty bounced around. Someone else at planning central had come up with that ride; given the trail’s condition, the southern MVT wouldn’t have been my choice of a ride for the 55+ bike group. Still, it was a nice outing. Fortunately, neither bikes nor riders sustained any serious injuries.

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I am posting just the opening paragraphs, not the whole article because I respect the NYT’s copyright – but the opinion expressed should be understandable to those of us who attend coffee clubs (the author is a little friendlier to electric blowers than I’d like):

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/opinion/leaf-blowers-california-emissions.html

The First Thing We Do, Let’s Kill All the Leaf Blowers
By Margaret Renkl

“NASHVILLE — Into these perfect October afternoons, when light gleams on the red dogwood berries and the blue arrowwood berries and the purple beautyberries; on the last of the many-colored zinnias and the last of the yellow marigolds and the last of the white snakeroot flowers; on the shining hair of babies in strollers and the shining ponytails of young mothers and the tender, shining heads of old men walking dogs — into the midst of all this beauty, the kind of beauty that makes despair seem like only a figment of the midnight imagination, the monsters arrive.

They come in a deafening, surging swarm, blasting from lawn to lawn and filling the air with the stench of gasoline and death. I would call them mechanical locusts, descending upon every patch of gold in the neighborhood the way the grasshoppers of old would arrive, in numbers so great they darkened the sky, to lay bare a cornfield in minutes. But that comparison is unfair to locusts. Grasshoppers belong here. Gasoline-powered leaf blowers are invaders, the most maddening of all the maddening, environment-destroying tools of the American lawn-care industry.”

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I annotated a group picture with our corresponding characters
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