[arlcxrider]

Thanks, Heidi. That’s very thorough.  😀

[arlcxrider]

Greetings, with 15 days to go, you all have been finding lots of #parks and navigating the occasionally arcane “rules” of Parks on the Air.  😀

Please make sure you have #parks in your rides on Strava, or it messes up the leaderboard. #parkfinder is obsolete relic of yesteryear, and your ride won’t be counted on the leaderboard if you use #parkfinder.

I will go by the leaderboard when awarding the fabulous prize to the top finisher. That’s mostly on the honor system, but the crack accounting firm of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe reserves the right to do spot audits. 😉

Ride on!

[arlcxrider]

Sligo Creek is M-NCPPC (as is Rock Creek Park outside the District), so it’s not on the list. Matthew Henson State Park is. Ride on the Matthew Henson trail and collect a point.  😀

[arlcxrider]

As long as there are no allusions to “bollards.” I think we’ve run out the string on that. 😀

[arlcxrider]

@sszibler Folger Park, Lincoln Park, Anacostia Park, Meridian Hill, etc., fall under the umbrella of National Capital Parks (US-0654).

Showing you with 16 parks on the leader board.

[arlcxrider]

78 days of Freezing  Saddles, 25% of that is … 18.5 rounded to 19 (in other words this Sunday)

And postponing the Happy Hour “hoping” for better weather is a bit of a crapshoot anyway. For last year’s kickoff HH it was about 40 degrees and absolutely bucketing down with rain.

[arlcxrider]

Answer is, it depends. On a lot of things. Quite a few runners on the CCT this morning…in shorts.

I’ll just say what I was wearing this morning. Officially 22 degrees at DCA at 6 am, but colder on my route.

As an aside, route selection helps. When it’s very cold I avoid routes with traffic and a lot of stop and go. If I can keep a steady pace, I find it helps. Keep the internal furnace going. Going up the CCT to Bethesda is like riding the trainer, a steady effort. When it’s too too nasty, I plan a ride closer to home with public transportation bail out points. No pointless prize or mileage competition is worth getting frostbite.

Head: not a full-on balaclava, but close. “Cut out” eyes and mouth. Buff on top of that. Helmet, of course, but it doesn’t do much for the cold!

Torso: merino wool base, another base layer (silk), heavy long-sleeve jersey, wind- and rain-proof jacket.

Legs: bib shorts, heavy thermal tights.

Feet: heavy socks, MTB shoes with heavy neoprene covers.

Hands: thin glove liners, HotHands in my palms, and Pearl Izumi lobster claws.

If it gets any worse I will run up the white flag of surrender and get the Bat Mitts.  😀 And put on the silk long johns underneath the tights.

 

[arlcxrider]

I think–technically–Great Falls on the Maryland side is a sub-unit of the C&O Canal NHP, but I could be mistaken. The opportunities for pedantry are limitless when it comes to Pointless Prizes.  😐

[arlcxrider]

@serdar Anywhere on the park property is fine. Some of these dots are very arbitrary.

[arlcxrider]

Must be unique to you.

[arlcxrider]

Scoring is all via Strava, and there’s no limit on daily points. If you hit multiple parks, stop and save your ride. Then include the hashtag #parks on each ride posted to Strava.

[arlcxrider]

Just do your best. The yellow dots on the POTA map can be a little non-specific, and some of them are non-bikeable (TR Memorial). President’s Park covers all of Lafayette Square and the Ellipse area.

[arlcxrider]

The map shows a big cluster of eligible parks around Lake Monroe, Ind.

[arlcxrider]

Three more:

1. Dress for the end of the ride, not the beginning. Chances are you will feel cold for the first few miles. It’ll (usually) get better.
2. Use the calendar and clock strategically. Bracket midnight with two rides and you get credit for two days in one effort. Just remember to stop and save your ride just before midnight and start the second ride just after. A good strategy if the weather is going to be not-so-good later in the day.
3. Have fun. I do this to ward off the winter blahs.

[arlcxrider]

If you ride out to Mason Neck, you can bag four right there. “Parks” include Wildlife Refuges and so forth. Similarly, a trip to Fort Washington there are three (Harmony Hall, Ft. Washington, and Piscataway.)

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