[LhasaCM]

@Judd 161472 wrote:

That’s kind of where I’m going…. What’s the criteria for something being abandoned property versus a bike locked up that appears to not have moved.

I think that varies from location to location and whether it’s on private vs. public property.

For example: in DC, a bicycle is considered abandoned if it’s locked up for more than 12 hours. From a WAMU report a few years back (http://wamu.org/story/12/07/18/ddot_has_no_plans_to_recycle_abandoned_bikes/), they’ll tag the bicycle for a minimum 10-day period (to give the owner a chance to reclaim it), haul it away, keep it for 30 days, then dispose of it.

Most locations have a longer period of time before something is considered abandoned (12 hours could just be a long day at the office), but the general process isn’t too dissimilar from what I’ve seen.

[LhasaCM]

@bobco85 161409 wrote:

I picked up silver (okay, they’re light gray since they’re not shiny, but I’ll take what I can get!) clothing through a combination of Amazon and bike store luck.

Since I won’t be shiny, I’m considering the use of aluminum foil attachments to my bike…

…(oh, this is gonna be fun)…

A braver person than I would consider https://www.betabrand.com/disco-sport-shorts.html

I am aiming for comfort (so more gray than silver) in the hopes of making it through the day…

[LhasaCM]

@scoot 161026 wrote:

Thanks. That would suggest that the 24% might be a simple fraction of people, i.e. 24% of people who self-identify as cyclists are women. If so, it would not include any weighting for time spent riding or total distance traveled.

According to a People For Bikes blog post from a couple of years back (http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/new-research-on-womens-bicycling-participation-reveals-insightsand-some-sur), the 2009 National Household Travel Survey found that 24% of bicycle trips were made by women. That’s similar to a study that was done of bikeshare usage in NYC, Chicago, and Boston covering part of 2013. However, a survey from 2014 found that, of the 104 million people who rode a bike the previous year, 43% were women.

It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of the 2016 NHTS once the data is published (collected just ended, so publication is slated for early 2018).

[LhasaCM]

@Harry Meatmotor 160348 wrote:

NOMA was disappointing. Warm cold-brew coffee (no ice yet), no food (at 7:45am…), and the registration list was by order of registration. Not alphabetical. I mean, I’m not trying to sound too grumpy, so kudos to everybody for helping out, and better luck next year I guess. I didn’t want to hang out past 8am if there wasn’t any food or drink. REI was there, but no freebies. Nando’s was giving away free bottles of Peri-Peri sauce ’cause obviously I can use that while bike commuting. At least it wasn’t raining.

It sounds like they just weren’t quite ready yet when you got there. I rolled up just after 8, and by that point they had cold cans of the La Colombe draft lattes (in a bucket of ice), a tray of muffins/crossiants, REI handing out stickers and water bottles, Moe’s handing out bags of chips and guac (for folks to take to work for lunch?), plus the Nando’s freebies (in addition to the hot sauce, they had coupons for a free lunch, a little container of roasted nuts, and all of it was packed in a helmet cover). Definitely seemed a few notches lower than last year’s festivities.

[LhasaCM]

@trailrunner 160217 wrote:

When I used to do a lot of trail running, I was going to (but never did) organize something similar on a local network of trails. The only twist I had was that I was going to assign different point values to each location. I forget the details, but it was some sort of scrabble-based system. Each checkpoint was a letter, and some letters gave you more points based on their scrabble value. The idea was to put a layer of thought into it — should I go for two easy, but low-value letters that are close by, or go for the high-value X that’s further away? I was trying to avoid making it a race won by the fastest, yet keep it relatively simple. Not sure how well the idea would have worked in practice.

That sounds like something I did with a few friends back in 2004(?) and Pandamania. There were 150 pandas scattered around town, and we did a scavenger hunt to find (and take a picture with) as many as we could and get back to whatever point at a certain time. Points were awarded based on the number assigned to the panda, which was alphabetical (I think) from whatever the artist had titled it (so one location could have numbers 2, 47, and 135 nearby). As a result, there was some strategy involved to maximize points beyond “here’s where the most look to be on the map.”

[LhasaCM]

@Emm 160143 wrote:

My recommendation–get to the front of the advanced group next year if you and your family are confident riders (sounds like you might want to work with your wife to get her more confident first though.) I was in the middle of the first wave of advanced riders, and like Judd, I found it to be clear and smooth sailing once I got out of Hains Point. There were points I couldn’t see anyone in front or behind me it was so empty. This is even after stopping twice so I could take off my jacket and use a restroom. But there were confident kids, tandem bikes, and other slower riders in the advanced group, so you wouldn’t be out of place there as long as everyone is confident handling their bike.

Agreed – that’s what we should’ve done/should do in the future. Things weren’t too bad (crowd-wise) once we got off Hains Point, until the 395 entrance. We were sunk to start with when we translated the different corrals as speed (like many events generally are organized, and where my wife was concerned) rather than “confidence” (if anything, she’s a bit overconfident dealing with traffic…); I honestly couldn’t remember what the registration form said since it’d been so long since I signed up, and she wasn’t really paying attention when she signed up Saturday. Live and learn. It still was a great time

[LhasaCM]

@Judd 160138 wrote:

The Judd types sailed right through. Don’t have to worry about “no passing” when you’re already passed everyone.

And that was my problem – starting behind 6,000 people(*) – by the time we crossed over Maine Ave, it was a virtual standstill as we Flintstoned to get to the “no passing” zone. And with the trailercycle attached, I’m not the most nimble in working through a crowd. (To the contrary, a bunch of impatient folks forced their way past us in that section – so we had to pass them once again going over the river.)

(*) Since my wife decided the day before to join us on the ride, and she’s not a regular rider, she opted to start in the Beginner corral.

[LhasaCM]

@drevil 160131 wrote:

A few snippets from the ride:

[video=vimeo;217676295]https://vimeo.com/217676295[/video]

Very nice – but I am now even more jealous of your smooth entry onto 395. (By the time we got there, it took us about 10 minutes to get through and past that point.) Why can’t I just enjoy my ride as it was?!?!?

[LhasaCM]

@Kitty 160100 wrote:

If you completed the DCBR course yesterday, I guarantee you saw me–I made it a point! I was the panda with the vuvuzela (official “Bike Arlington” edition might I add) cheering on riders at the turn at Maine and 7th.

Given the price and lingering disappointment from last year, I told myself I would volunteer this year. It was a blessing and a blast! The shift allowed me to ride the whole course to get to my station (just 1.5 miles from the finish) with next to no one on it! Normally riding in groups isn’t an issue, but due to my hand being messed up from a recent dooring incident, my breaking and ability to react is limited. I’m not sure I was/am in a condition to ride with so many folks with such a range of experience.

I agree that the course was much improved (save for some nasty choke points that would’ve been trouble with a larger group), and the weather was fabulous. The best part though was making so many people happy (or at least smile) as they neared the home stretch! 😎

My daughter really appreciated seeing the panda, especially after her meltdown on 395, so thanks!

I’ll agree on the “choke point” issue with groups, particularly the entrance onto the 14th street bridge. The DDOT sign there warning about overnight road closures didn’t help things much, either (tightened the return trip/exit). Then again, we were in the last wave (we were early in the last wave, so rolled over the start line around 8:50 AM)…that made for a “hurry up and wait” morning throughout the course. It would’ve been great if we could’ve rolled up to the corrals around 8:15 or so instead of the stated 7:30 (still a bit of a wait, but it would’ve still been slightly before the Judds of the world rolled through on Independence and helped with the 5 year old’s patience.) Oh well – all in all, it still was a great time

[LhasaCM]

@bobco85 160093 wrote:

No worries! I figure this time range would work better for most people, as they would be able to get home by dinnertime.

Yeah…not that I could form a cogent thought last night, but I was trying to work backwards from starting in EFC at 8AM, what time I’d need to leave home in NE DC to make sure that happens, and what time I’d have to wake up. I’m not much of a morning person, so Sunday’s DCBR was a good test of “can I wake up early and, at a moderate pace, bike around a while.” Assuming of course I try to bike the whole thing, which would end up making that day my first century (or close enough that I’d be silly not to keep riding around).

The beauty of a transit-oriented ride is that there are plenty of opportunities to alter individual plans should conditions warrant.

[LhasaCM]

I think today’s DCBR experience proved that I’m semi-functional waking up early enough to make this work (though not by this point of the day), so pencil me in.

[LhasaCM]

Assuming we wake up early enough (main access to the start corrals closes at 7:30?!?) I’ll be there with a 5 year old in tow, so as much as I would love to hang out afterwards, I don’t think that’ll be allowed. Or we’ll just end up in the Kids Zone.

[LhasaCM]

@drevil 158874 wrote:

Methinks y’all aren’t being creative enough

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14632[/ATTACH]

I do have a lot of purple bike clothing, including lycra, which I’d totes rock if I was going. Instead, we’re going to the March for Science tomorrow. Have fun!

I can’t pull off either of those looks, and I don’t think anyone wants me wearing any lycra…

[LhasaCM]

@Emm 158870 wrote:

Find someone who does Team in Training. The leukemia and lymphomas society’s color is purple, so most of the team kits are purple. I just got a lovely purple jersey from a friend who rides on a team. Unfortunately, I’m out of town so I cant make this weekend’s ride to show it off

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That’s a good idea. There’s also this year’s Bike To Work Day shirt, though that doesn’t help for tomorrow. Regardless, I am not worried about lacking purple clothing – as a proud Northwestern alum, purple is a staple of my wardrobe. It’s just been a struggle to get to this point with cycling-ish gear

[LhasaCM]

@streetsmarts 158833 wrote:

I was thinking of hitting a goodwill. I don’t think I have purple stuff!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I’m always struck (and disappointed) by how few purple cycling clothing items they make for men. Women – purple as far as the eye can see for jerseys, jackets, socks, shoes, whatever. It’s such a struggle…

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