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My ride would be better… if us FWC didn’t get bashed so much

:p I follow all the rules, signs, ring my ding-a-ling, etc. I’m just too scared of thunder-n-lightning to ride in bad weather!

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@Dirt 20833 wrote:

35,000 miles.

So… 6 months since you’ve seen him? hah

Great, thanks for the input, both of you. It really does seem like a no-brainer. $100 more just to prevent further pain or any injuries on top of what I have going on… I’d spend a lot more than $100 (medical bills last year were more than the miles you haven’t seen him in, Dirt! good thing I have great insurance…)

Great Liz, thanks for that! I have it scheduled for a Thursday evening. He did mention that he gets swamped on the weekends. Having absolutely no social life (other than my son), spending 3 hours in a candy store, er .. bike shop, will be amazingly fun compared to my usual evenings

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Good Hope road is something I am determined to conquer. I haven’t let it beat me yet, but it sure kicks my ass.

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Those are cool, I definitely need to get one. Especially for my (2) phones I use. One is my regular, a Samsung Galaxy Nexus thru Verizon that constantly loses all network (voice, text, internet) connection to VZW. So I carry an old Droid with me for tracking as a backup in case the Nexus drops out 1/2 thru my ride (it usually does). I was reading another thread about Garmins, and really need to get one.

I also need to get another bike. I never commuted on the bike any long distance before, it was always <5 miles. Now it's 21, and I'm easily seeing myself on some sort of commuter bike. I want to build this one, though. Even then, I do like the way the jerseys keep the sweat off me, have the extra pocket, and they're mostly visible (admittedly the zombie one is not). I couldn't imagine going any longish distance without shorts though.

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@PotomacCyclist 20627 wrote:

I always wear white shirts or other light colors, but it’s usually a tech running shirt. I find them to be more comfortable for daily wear than a tight-fitting bike jersey. I don’t care too much about minimizing aerodynamic drag except in races. For the rest of the year, I go with comfort and visibility.

I do have to say that the rear pockets on bike jerseys come in handy on long rides.

Note: I thought this thread was going to be about cycling in nudist colonies.

I’m not sure I could get by without the pockets! I stuff way too much in them

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I got a zombie jersey for my son, too. It’s this one:

http://www.hillkillerapparel.com/-ride-of-the-dead–zombie-cycling-jersey.html

(I hope it’s OK to post a link to the site… let me know if not)

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Awesome thread. I wish I had all of this info before I spent the foolish money I did on a bontrager node. The thing is practically useless, and doesn’t even connect with my sensors 1/2 the time. If it does, it usually ends up losing it 1/2 thru the ride. I tried to use Runkeeper on my Galaxy Nexus for a while, but the phone is such crap that’s unreliable too. I ended up taking a hint from someone on Runkeeper who uses and old Droid Incredible (super solid GPS, never loses signal). I use my old D-Inc which still tracks the GPS even though it’s “disabled” on my Verizon account, then I wi-fi up my results when I get home. This doesn’t give me any advanced features (cadence, directions if I’m lost, etc), so all the info here will be great when I finally decide that I need a Garmin.

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@KLizotte 20546 wrote:

Overactive immune systems runs in my family too (RA, allergies, lupus, etc). Recent research shows that people with overactive immune systems have a lower incidence of cancer but they don’t know why. At least there is a small silver lining.

Looking at my family history, I’d have to say I believe in this 100%. Of course, 1 family isn’t hardly a sampling…. All my grandparents lived well in to their 80s/90s, no cancers anywhere (knock on wood). I’m somewhat convinced that I’ll live long in to my 80s or 90s (knock on more wood), unfortunately it will be a painful existence

Thanks all for the etiquette knowledge, that definitely seemed like the right thing to do. Though, the guy I met on the bridge yielded on his uphill before I got the chance to yield my downhilling. He looked mildly winded, so he might have been thankful for the break LOL

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@creadinger 20548 wrote:

Welcome back to the bike! I hope you can ease into it ok. I work in Suitland too, so it will be nice to see another rider on the roads in Southeast. So are you Census, Navy, or NOAA? Heh. I’ve seen a couple of regulars near the Douglas Bridge, but no one up in the Suitland area. The few I have seen tend to ride on the wrong side of the road (ahem WABA – education is still in need over there). I live in Arlington and commute 24 miles round trip by cutting through DC. I thought 24 miles was rough.

What route did you take? I head a little out of the way to take advantage of the bike lanes on Mass Ave and Alabama. The big-ass hill going up Mass Ave has even shown dividends on my weekend rides as well.

http://runkeeper.com/user/certifried/activity/90369023
Census I took the capital crescent trail down to canal, to Independence to Maine, M, First, across the Frederick Douglass, up Anacostia to Good Hope, Alabama, then Suitland Rd. It’s not a bad ride other than climbing Good Hope Rd… I did the CycleXMd year out in Western MD, didn’t have a lot of problems with hills at all, but that seems to be my biggest challenge since starting to ride again I need to really work on that.

I do have one question about the Frederick Douglas (or any narrow passing), who should yield? The poor sucker climbing or the guy zipping down? That’s so narrow on that bridge.

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Bethesda.org just put out an email with a link to the Bethesda pit stop pix

https://www.facebook.com/BikeToWorkDayBethesda

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thanks all

by the way, I’m on Runkeeper if anyone’s interested in being a “street buddy”

http://runkeeper.com/user/certifried/
(I hope there’s no religious quarrels over runkeeper vs. mapmyride vs. endomondo here….)

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ahh… crap. Thanks for bursting my bubble. Anyone want to buy a very new Trek??…. Well, it does say “professional cyclists”, and that’s certainly not me! So, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that I do go to the gym and have a trainer who is very experienced in working with people who have back problems. I also see a spine specialist on a regular basis. I have an RFA (radio frequency nerve ablation) scheduled for the 4th of June. They destroy the peripheral sensory nerves in the facet joints with a heated needle. As excruciating as it sounds, but gives me a few months of pain relief.

Thanks for the tips about easing back in. I definitely have a “type A” personality and tend to push too hard. I’ve been doing some shorter rides, 10-15 miles, and give myself a break for a day or two if I feel any pain at all. I’ve discussed the cycling, and other exercises like the gym, with my both my spine and family docs so I’m making sure I don’t hurt myself. I drove my car in yesterday, Metroed home, cycled in, now will drive the car and bike home this afternoon. After I can do that “easily”, I’ll move up to cycling home since it’s a harder ride. Eventually working up to cycling in and back.

RA is also rampant through my family, KLizotte (Liz?). My paternal grandma had it, and my dad his it. My mom also has osteoarthritis, so I’m genetically screwed. My RA factor has been high for a lot of years, but I don’t have it, knock on wood. I had an abnormal ANA once and the rheumatologist told me that “you don’t have anything yet, but come back every 6 months because you’re likely developing RA, lupus, some other auto-immune disease, or cancer”. … .. wtf… really? cancer? see you in 6 months? I saw another doctor right away, and got a second opinion. So, now I watch it, get tested annually, but I’m not freaking out like I was for a couple of days

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ahh ok, I wasn’t sure if it was before (for planning meetups) or for just seeing all the different routes people took.

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http://www.umapper.com/maps/view/id/128896/

working on it… not the easiest utility to work with, I don’t even see an undo button!

If someone wants their route on there, the easiest way seems to be mapping the route in google maps (using the “beta” cycling option), saving it to a map, then save the KML file. Alternately, you can PM me your rough start/end points and I can map it, then import. The problem with making the map world editable is that it’s very easy to make a mistake and wipe it all out. If someone else wants to make a map who knows how to handle umapper, feel free!

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I wouldn’t say Google maps is limited.

For example, just click on the BTWD overlay, enter your start/end address, click on cycling (beta) directions, and you’re set

Here’s the link for the BTWD overlay:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=211993565931424263175.0004b9f66383c42e59ba8&ll=39.012782,-77.107544&spn=1.152412,1.480408&z=9&source=embed

From the map you get when you enter start/end points, the route can be clicked and “dragged” to the nearest pit stops. It’s pretty simple, accurate, and can be sent to a phone, GPS, or email, etc.

(oh, you can also download the KML file)

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