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@MFC 118477 wrote:

There is the Civil War Century, which has shorter variations. I’ve never done it, but it sounds cool, especially if you enjoy history.http://www.civilwarcentury.com/

I bet we hit reply at the same time, but it took me 9 minutes to compose my thoughts.

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Don’t forget the Civil War Century! http://www.civilwarcentury.com/

It visits a few battlefields including the big ones – Antietam, and Gettysburg. If you’ve never ridden through Gettysburg battlefield it’s a must do in my mind. It’s a couple of the most memorable miles of road you’ll ever see. Even though I’ve done it like a dozen times by now, I still try to take it all in.

The biggest drawback is that it has 10,500 feet of climbing including 4 mountains. They actually recommend that this not be your first century, but rules are made to be broken right?! I actually haven’t done this ride, but I have done the DC Randonneurs Civil War Tour 200K, which uses a similar route. It’s slightly less climbey though, thankfully.

This one is like the exact opposite of the Seagull Century. My biggest concern with Seagull is that for the first 15 miles or so, there’s so many people there’s hardly any room maneuver. And you should have some decent bike handling skills, and be comfortable riding in a pack, because you’re going to be in one whether you want to or not.

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@Kolohe 118198 wrote:

this was the state of things a few years ago. But the things laid out there are still in the press release near the top of the NVRPA W&OD home page.

I think I’ll ignore the detailed page and just go with this from the webpage:

W&OD Trail Hours: The park is open all year.

That’s pretty unambiguous to me.

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So, I guess the final takeaway is that I should give it a go and not expect any interference from the police. If I do get questioned by police, what can they do? I can say I’m commuting or riding home or something. I mean I will be riding home…. via Marshall, VA, but will definitely end up at home. If they make me turn around, I’d still be riding on the trail.

I’m not really concerned about safety, but I will certainly keep an eye out for deer……. and cars.

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@reji 118051 wrote:

On a side note, you may not want to use your headlights attached to your helmet. Your lights will attract lots of flying critters and it’s better to run into them with your torso and not your face.

Thanks for the tip, but I’ll be testing a dynamo hub and light, with the light mounted to my fork crown. I should be able to get it at a properly low angle to light up the trail/road and not to blind oncoming people, and will hopefully keep the bugs out of my face.

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@jrenaut 118049 wrote:

There used to be a guy on here who did some crazy commute from way out in VA (part drive part bike) and I think he arrived in DC around 3 or 4am. He used to mention getting minor hassles from police in Georgetown but I don’t remember him ever mentioning the W&OD.

Yeah, I remember that guy! He lived in Front Royal I think. I think he got mugged in Georgetown and they took his work laptop. His commute was insane! I wonder what happened to him?

If I do it I’ll look more like a well-lit commuter than a shady stealth rider who may be up to no good, so I would hope any inquisitive police might leave me alone.

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@jabberwocky 118048 wrote:

I commuted 2005-2010 year round on the W&OD, which necessitated lots of night riding. I was never hassled (and I rode by police at crossings multiple times after dark). I was an obvious commuter though; lights everywhere, messenger bag, etc. Don’t know if that played a part in being left alone.

Safety, I can’t remember ever feeling unsafe.

Were you out before 5am or after 9pm? I’m thinking I may head out at 2am so it would only be a problem 1-way.

Yeah, safety seems like an excuse for the closing times – It’s really to keep the riff-raff (US) away from the properties of people who live along it.

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@CWJW 116906 wrote:

creadriner – thanks for the offer on the fenders. I’m not in a hurry to get some just yet. My commute may be short enough that I can live without them.

Anyway, for the most part the commute has been alot easier in the mornings than the afternoons as others have suggested. I missed this afternoon’s storm but it’s inevitable that I’ll eventually get caught up in one I guess. As for not biking during rainy days, it’s not really an option at this point since public transportation is way too inconvenient. As for RCP during the rain, that area by Pierce Mill that I pass was flooded out last year during one of the storms. I think a section of RCP was also effected.

Whoops, forgot about this thread.

Sounds good. Also, for clarification I only have the rear fender. Good luck today and tomorrow with the flash flood watch. Do you have detours you can take a round the flood prone areas? Summer rain is mostly just a nuisance, unless there’s some cloud to ground lightning in there too. Then it can be terrifying.

Contrary to what some of the guys above said, fenders do more than just keep you clean, they also help to keep a lot of the grit and grime off of your bike as well. I have found that in light-moderate rain you’ll get just as wet from the filthy water that comes up from your tires as you will from the rain itself.

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I played soccer as a kid, but then when I got to high school I finally realized I sucked. I switched to volleyball, which was a much more natural fit. I played through college on a club team, and we lost in the national semi-finals 2 years in a row, which is my high water mark for sports. At tournaments it was cool beating big D-1 teams and they’d always ask us where the hell Millersville U. was. Unfortunately, because of knee issues like tendonitis and bursitis I took a lot of ibuprofen in high school and college.

In grad school I hardly did anything then when I moved to this area I played a little volleyball again but got frustrated at not being able to play at a high level, and the knee issues came back with a vengeance. In 2004, I got myself a mountain bike, and have ridden at least a couple thousand miles every year ever since. As a supplement to riding I also do yoga, which keeps me from being stiffer than re-bar. I try to go 1-2x/week, but sometimes it’s tough to get out of bed at 430 in the morning to go workout.

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“When riding a bike, I am much more aware of the fact that I am living in a community of other people. I am much more inclined to smile and even wave to other pedestrians or cyclists when I am riding. This sense of connection to others works to some extent with people who are like me as well as people who are quite different from me culturally or socioeconomically.”

You don’t have to be religious or even spiritual to feel this. It’s the same for atheists too. In fact it seems to be a pretty secular point of view because everyone is just a person with no labels (christian, jew, etc…), other than bicyclist or pedestrian. It’s just about seeing the people in the community and not what style of steel and glass they decide to wrap themselves in.

Seems similar to how communities open up when police get out of their cars by foot or bike, get to know the people they’re charged with serving and protecting.

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#1) This morning going north on the MVT between gravelly point and train bridge.

You, the trail bro who got up out of the saddle to sprint past me as I was pulling up for the couple of joggers directly in front of me. Oh yeah! Now there’s a couple of joggers in your way, so just blow up the middle going 20mph. I wish the 6’5″ 200lb marine who was jogging south and you were sprinting directly at until the last second pounded your puny ass. You deserved it. I hope you got where you were going 3 seconds faster trail bro, because that’s about all the time you saved by being a dick.

#2) Going down 38th St. SE toward Suitland Rd.

You, the idiot in the car who was trying to pull a U-turn from the parallel parking to my right. You didn’t stop until you were halfway into the road and you finally heard me yelling at you. That’s a pretty steep little hill so I was easily going 25mph and could not completely stop. So it’s a good thing for both of us you did. Because if we collided, somehow, someway I was going to make sure my cleated foot flew right through your window and into your face.

PS – Get off the fucking phone!!

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@CWJW 116714 wrote:

thanks for the advice all. I think I’m going see if I can find a good deal on a rear fender. I agree that the morning commute shouldn’t be bad. Only section of my trip that might cause me some stress is a small section of beach road that I need to cross in order to get to Blagden Rd. Sometimes there’s a long queue of traffic and I sometimes see cyclists riding the centerline of the road.

I may have a fender for you if you have a road bike. I have a random rear fender on my rando bike that I want to replace with the matching set I got recently. I was going to donate it to VeloCity or something. The brand is Trexx or something like that, but I think they’ve been discontinued, but they’re easy to install if you have eyelets(?). They’re the wider variety so should fit tires 700×32 or so. I usually ride 28s. Let me know if you’re interested, and we can arrange a meet up.

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@Steve O 116764 wrote:

Is that like a licorice stick or something?

If only it was audio it would be the perfect entry for the BBC Radio1 Scott Mills game – Innuendo Bingo.

Here’s a clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTR-Ckz02hQ

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@pfunkallstar 116468 wrote:

Also, what is with all of the MTB shorts – own the spandex because it owns you.

Pockets? Or, maybe they’re a little self conscious about walking around their professional work environment in skin hugging, bulge showing lycra?

Shoalers are indeed the worst though.

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Saturday in Del Ray, Alexandria on Russell Road near Windsor and Monroe Aves…

You: Two cyclists, casually riding south, up and down the hills of Russell Rd. One of you is pretty far to the right, about 3-4 ft from the curb, the other is ALL the way over to the left near the double yellow lines with about 6 ft between you.

Me: About 4th back in the line of cars waiting to pass you. We were on our way to the emergency vet with a sick dog in the back. I am all for taking the lane when the conditions warrant, and of course if you’re making a left turn you have to be over to the left. BUT – you were not making a left turn, and there’s no reason to take the lane there! In fact, along that stretch, Russell is wide enough that 2 cyclists can ride side-by-side and still leave room in the lane for cars to pass comfortably. As a fellow cyclist I can usually figure out why someone does something that doesn’t make sense to a typical driver, but I absolutely cannot figure out why you did that, besides you’re an asshole. So if you could please explain I’d much appreciate it.

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