[Kitty]

Yay! I am so thrilled to see this Michigan love! The photos from Mackinaw bring back really fond childhood memories. I think I was in middle school when my family visited and rented bikes to ride the circumference of the island. Leading the pack and finishing the loop in less than an hour was exhilarating and made me think “Wow! I’m good as bicycles!” (Horse droppings are a major road hazard though…”

My bike was my car at MSU and I could get anywhere I wanted to within East Lansing, but then you run into the problem of Michigan cities largely not being built bike friendly. Businesses and neighborhoods are spaced such that you need to take hi-speed arterial roads to reach them.

However! For all of you tourists the cool little towns along the Great Lakes would be great for leisurely cruising and exploring, especially since there are usual nice parks and beaches along the waterfronts. And depending on where you are, a few minutes of riding on the right state road (The “M” ones, such as M-185) tend to have palatial shoulders, making flatland farmland and wine country rides a snap! Even car-capital Detroit is installing bike lanes in some neighborhoods (though largely in self-contained pockets of the sprawling city).

The funny thing is, despite these nice bike-friendly benefits, the idea of cycling for more and a neighborhood ride is so foreign in many parts of the state that they aren’t used! In June I went home for a visit with my bike and did my childhood dream of riding from my hometown (Port Huron) to the next town up the coast (Lexington)-about 40 miles there and back, straight shot, on M-25. Well. My family and friends all thought: A) you’re nuts, you’re gunna die, C) you’re serious aren’t you? Well call from Lexington and we’ll drive up and pick you up when your legs fall off… :rolleyes:

Anyway, I digress.

Thank you so much for sharing these photos! Let’s get more folks riding in Michigan!

[Kitty]

You know, I’m glad this came up. I was riding into work one morning in a pre-caffinated state and when I saw a “Share the Road” sign on L where the bike lane starts at 25th NW, I started asking the question I’d never asked before: who are they talking to? What if the car think I need to share with them? 😮 It really shows that its easy to make assumptions about interpretation….

@dasgeh 124052 wrote:

What about “Heavily used bike route”? It gets the point across that motorists should keep an eye out, but the negative inference on other routes is not harmful.

I would love to see signs saying “Expect [walking person] and [bicycle symbol] in crosswalk” on the ramp leading to the intersection of doom.

I love both of these ideas! I think they strike the right message of “here be bicycles/peds” without making it wound like an isolated bike zone.

[Kitty]

I think chances are, anyone who can do Kill Bill can do this ride.

Besides, I did it last year on my 7gear-1000-lb commuter hybrid, with a full trunk pack, in Keen sandals (on account of the rain). I think anyone can do it!

As for riding with folks, I’d love to attach to a group. What will our Forum-Ride Marshals be wearing/riding?

I’ll be the short brunette in my white and green Michigan State Spartans Jersey with blue mirror shades on a silver cross-bike! 😎

[Kitty]

Woo-hoo! With tonight’s commute home I hit 2000 miles even! That was my goal for this year’s NBC and I haven’t even done 50 States yet! 😮

[Kitty]

At first I thought it sounded like a fun ride/contest, but the part about needing to unlock of CaBi at each one… meaning I’d have to spend the money for a one day ride, which I would do on my own bike… I think I’ll pass and let an actual CaBi user enjoy the prize they deserve.

[Kitty]

Are you guys excited for the mania yet?

Last night I participated in the volunteer night at WABA and had the venerable task of making a DDOT bike map with the route from the cue sheets. However it turns out the bike map takes certain… artistic liberties and straight up doesn’t even show some roads, much less label them! Cartological issues aside, this route is going to be as crazy as ever.

Having only done the 50 once, I can’t say whether the route is the same as last year. Certain parts definitely look that way (Hello Hawaii Hill!) but others downtown might be a bit modified.

Anyway, I can’t wait to see you all there! The best part is always the collection of wild stories at the after party… 😎

[Kitty]

@mattotoole 123623 wrote:

Kitty,

No digression at all, this is what we love to hear. We’d love for our politicians and Amtrak to hear it from everyone too.

BTW, my colleagues will be testing again w/ Amtrak this weekend in Richmond.

I’ve got to so say, the train is probably my favorite mode of transit, but the fact that in few places (Washington a wonderful exception) the train station is in anyway accessible without a car. (Especially once you get into the Midwest). Couple that with “one train a day” timetables, exceedingly low speeds, and shared rails where freight gets the right-of-way, its sadly not an option I get to take very often. The cost of the ticket, even if somewhat cheaper than airfare, isn’t enough to make up for the time loss and miserable schedule.

So as much as taking my bike in its complete assembled form back home on the rails is a major tempter, I’d have to be ready to ride 135 miles from Toledo, OH to Fort Gratiot, MI, or have a family member drive an additional hour beyond the airport to pick me up… to disassemble my bike to go in the car.

That said, for places where I won’t have to disembark at 4am in an industrial morass hundreds of miles from my destination, I want to give this a go! It could be great for jaunts to Richmond or Pittsburgh! 😎

[Kitty]

I really want to attend it but sadly the timing doesn’t work out with some things I need to do for work. I hope a bunch of folks go, have a blast and meet new friends.

I attended a showing at the Drafthouse last year of “Half the Road” and met some great female cycling friends and rolemodels.

[Kitty]

Man! I need to be sure to remember this thread next spring when I’m planning out my century schedule. If this year’s goal was complete one… who knows for next year. Two? Three? Travel? So many choices!

[Kitty]

@worktheweb 123729 wrote:

I put in my first full century last Friday going from FCC up the C&O to White’s Ferry, over to 15 and the W&OD with a spur into Ashburn for lunch and then back on the W&OD back to the MVT and home. It was a lot of fun. I’ll be doing the 50 States Ride on Saturday, hope to see some of you there, too.

Fantastic! Congratulations on your first Century! That’s just the sort of thing we need to “Gaine” on them. :rolleyes:

I hope a bunch of us will add a nice boost from 50 State this weekend. I’ll be there distributing high-fives in honor of the great hand-shaped state of Michigan.

[Kitty]

I’m going to do my best. Now that the semester has resumed I have regular Thursday night meetings at GWU. I’m going to see if I can disappear from work early and then ride back into the city after visiting with the gang a bit.

[Kitty]

Hey thanks for the info! I’m still waiting for the timing on those plans be set, but it looks like the route for the first little bit will actually take me pretty close to where I need to be!

I’m glad to see that RSVPs are going until the night before. I’ll see what I can swing. After doing 50 states the week before, may as well ride the perimeter! 😎

[Kitty]

@Raymo853 123385 wrote:

I had assumed the original name calling of Fred was auto-corrected from “fed” as in “retired fed” and retired federal worker.

Regardless, Fred in cycling circle general is a relative term just like hipster, nutty crunchy,….

Basically a Fred is anyone that has a lower skill & experience to equipment investment ratio than you have. So, when I falsely thought I was quick and skilled while in grad school riding a RSX equipped rusty Specialized Allez, I had a extremely high self-assigned Fred ratio score. Pretty much anyone I saw back than was more Fred than I. If I had had some sort of $18,000 Halo bike, like a Specialized S Work McClaren, my Fred ratio score would have fallen with no change in my skills nor experience.

Ahhhh! I see now. I’d also thought it was an auto-correct on “Fed,” but I guess that speaks to the “brain within the beltway” mentality.

That’s actually a handy term, insofar as I’ve noticed the types. Coming from the videogame community I thought of them as “buying the win,” a phrase for a player who is spending real-world money on in-game items or boosts in an attempt to make up for lesser skill. At anyrate, interesting to hear a one-word term for it.

And I’d definitely say we have our far share of Freds in the area, what with the high paygrades tracking with old demographics and nice paved trails hereabouts.

[Kitty]

Does anyone know how late the full course ride goes for? It would be fun to participate but I might have to be somewhere in the afternoon/evening…

[Kitty]

I am so excited about this! I used to take the train home all the time while in grad school (extra time, no money) and had to take the Capitol Limited to Toledo… then get on a bus… that would take me to one of 4 Michigan cities that were not actually near to my home… but I digress.

If I can take my bike with me this way, or visit friends in Chicago with it, that would be awesome!
(Though I guess I’d have to pack a car rack so someone can pick me up on the other side. )

[Author]

Posts