[newbiehere]

@cyclingfool 92813 wrote:

Pain is weakness leaving the body. Seriously, though, I’d say it’s normal. My 7-7.5 mile commute is pretty flat with the exception of a few overpasses and bridges, and my legs used to have a good “just worked out” sort of pain and tightness to them after my commute when I first started. Now after 5 years of commuting, I have to go A LOT further than my commute distance to bring on said sensation. It might help to warm down the last few minutes of your commute by soft pedaling a little. Otherwise, just keep riding and with time it’ll take longer, harder rides to really fatigue/pain your thighs.

I’ll take your word for it!

[newbiehere]

I should read more of these studies

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6450[/ATTACH]

[newbiehere]

@cyclingfool 92674 wrote:

so we’re here as your support group if you need one!

As for winter, it’s one of my four favorite seasons to ride! lol Actually, I love riding in the winter. There are a lot fewer people on the trails, so it can be almost like your own personal bike pathway for minutes, if not miles, at a time. Riding in the dark, with proper lighting, is a fun experience in and of itself.

My favoite riding conditions are when temps in the 40s or 50s. Given the weather trends of the last ten years (last year being a statistical outlier), there are a lot of those kinds of days between November and March around here, so I’m generally a happy camper. It’s nice to be able to ride and not even worry for a second about sweat.

IOW, winter riding is awesome. Don’t let the others get to you!

Thanks cyclingfool! I usually get even more determined when people tell me I can’t do something but I think it was starting to get to me because I was already a bit concerned about the cold weather. I get very cold easily. However, I rode to the station around 6:30am this past Saturday; the weather was in the 60s. Normally I would have on long sleeves and/or a sweater but I wore short sleeves with no sweater. Let me just saw, this is was most enjoyable ride I’ve had so far because I wasn’t sweating like crazy by the time I got to the station. Not a single drop of sweat, and I could smell a bit of my perfume. <

@rcannon100 92675 wrote:

[IMG]https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6716782592/h79F9E35A/[/IMG]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6449[/ATTACH]
I often communicate with memes so I love this!

@acl 92679 wrote:

I hate winter.:mad: I’m hoping that since seasons are supposed to come in order (spring, summer, fall, winter) and we have not yet had summer this year, that winter will not be able to come, either. That will make me very very happy.

That said:
1) As nearly as i can tell, riding a bike does not cause winter. Therefore, the suckiness of winter is no reason to NOT ride a bike. Even if it did, riding a bike is (by my calculations, ymmv) more good than winter is bad, so still not a reason to not bike.

2) There is no law that says if you ride a bike to work some days, you must ride a bike to work all days. How do you get to work now? You can still do that whenever you want, even after having a bike and riding it to work. If there is any day that it so cold or snowy or icy or just plain dark that you do not want to ride your bike that day– you don’t have to! It is entirely up to you when and how much you ride.

That made me laugh so hard. Very true. Right now I bike about 3 miles to the station, then take the train to work. After work, I take the train back to the station, then bike home. I plan on doing this for a while to build my stamina because my bike commute is about 10.7-11.5 miles each way depending on which route I take. That’s about 21.5 -23 miles everyday which will take me a while to get used to. I may not do it single everyday; perhaps just as much as my body can endure.

@dkel 92681 wrote:

If you’re like me, those people will talk less about your odd cycling behavior the more you stick to cycling (either they get tired of trying to sway you, or they just get used to the fact that your cycling isn’t going away). Also, if you’re like me, they will stop bringing it up because of your extreme enthusiasm and willingness to talk about it ad nauseam (no one wants to get me started…really).

I think I’m already aheada ya’ because I’ve been telling everybody about my biking with excitement any chance I can get! I like talking about the accessories I’ve been slowly adding to my bike. My bike is my baby right now.

@baiskeli 92705 wrote:

I hate hills too. Here’s how I handle them.

Downshift (be sure to shift to the small ring in front before you start uphill or it can get stuck) as far as you need to. Then when you feel it getting harder to pedal again, slow down. And then slow down more. And more. Try going as slow as you possibly can without falling over. You can go slower uphill, and it will be easier the slower you go. Slow, but steady pedal strokes. Be the tortoise, not the hare. But be ready to stop anyway if you get too slow or it gets too hard. Make sure you’re ready to put your foot down in a safe place.

Thanks for the tips! I’ll try it. I’ve been practicing shifting gears early but I find that my thighs still hurt ALOT! Is that normal?? My thighs always feel tight/stiff when I get off my bike.

[newbiehere]

@cvcalhoun 92444 wrote:

It’s amazing how much less steep the hills will get after you’ve been biking for a while.

I hope so! Thanks for the encouragement.

@Emm 92460 wrote:

I can’t agree more. On my commute home there used to be 2 hills that killed me. I walked my bike ALOT at the start. But after about 6 weeks of commuting I was able to ride up them without a problem. It just took practice, getting stronger, and also learning how to use my bike’s gears correctly–for example, I used to avoid using the smallest of my 3 chain rings and I also wouldn’t change gears early enough when encountering a steep hill, both of which I needed to master before I could handle steep hills. If you can tackle those issues, and give yourself some time to build up strength, you’ll be up the hill in no time. You’ll probably still be winded (4 months in, I still am at least), but you’ll make it to the top and feel like a champion

Also, my fiancee got me a book, “Every Woman’s Guide to Cycling” when I started biking. It was really useful in teaching me how and when to change gears, basic bike maintenance and developing training plans. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a good resource.

Wow! It’s good to know I’m not the only one. Thanks for sharing! I’ll check out the details of the book.

@ebubar 92481 wrote:

Congrats and welcome to the bike commuter fold! A bit of practice and you’ll be riding up hills like nobody’s business. I used to huff and puff up some big hills in the Rosslyn area on the Custis trail (they’re often discussed here) and now I can spin up them with almost “normal” breathing. Maybe you’ll even start seeking out hills? Or perhaps a future “Kill Bill” Century rider

Thanks for the welcome. Not sure I will be seeking out hills though, not now or ever. lol

Anyway, thanks for all the advice and encouragement. It means so much to me. 😮 There are people in my life who really do not support my bike commuting endeavor. Also, everyone keeps warning me about winter which is starting to get to me.

[newbiehere]

**Update**

After riding back and forth a few hundred feet near my house last weekend, I got on my bike yesterday afternoon and rode to 17th and G and back with a partner! I just wanted to practice my commute to get more familiar with the route. Few things:

1. I joined the NW Branch trail via University Blvd (somehow I missed Standford hill). When I reached 38th Ave, I followed Jeff’s route to get to Metropolitan Branch Trail.

2. Holy hell, that hill on 20th St NE is horrible. I changed to a lower gear and still ended up walking up the hill in exhaustion with my bike. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that every morning.

3. As Jeff suggested I took R street, then Q street eastbound to the 15th Street cycletrack down to the White House and merged onto 17th and G.

4. I love the 15th St cycletrack! It’s so convenient!

[newbiehere]

The Giant Escape 3W is now being marketed as the “Alight 3′ under Giant’s new women’s line called “Liv.”

[newbiehere]

Just bought my bike!

[newbiehere]

@eminva 90858 wrote:

Hello and welcome — like Steve, I am an LCI and teach classes with WABA. I would second his recommendation that you take City Cycling rather than Adult Learn to Ride. CC splits the group in two — mostly self selected, so you can sort yourself into the group working on basic skills. LTR is for those who truly never learned to ride at all. There is a long, long waiting list for that class. There will be instructors at CC who will work with you where you are. Have fun!

Liz

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Oh I see. Thanks for the clarification.

[newbiehere]

[HR][/HR] @Steve O 90795 wrote:

There are only two classes. You already know how to ride a bike, so you should sign up for the City Cycling class.

I’m embarrassed to say I was a little wobbly when I recently got on the bike I test rode, and I had trouble maintaining balance when turning so that’s why I was interested in the adult education classes as well. It’s been so long that I think I need to start from scratch.

@americancyclo 90804 wrote:

I’m sure you could just email Nelle Pierson

They also do an e-bulletin for those (i’m assuming) not on FB. more details here:
http://www.waba.org/programs/women-bicycles/

Thank you so much!

@vvill 90812 wrote:

You can view many facebook pages even without an account, just make sure you’re logged out if you want to dump facebook, and don’t want to be tempted
http://www.facebook.com/wabadc
(Although obviously just viewing a page on facebook might tempt you, at least you won’t be logged in and see your notifications, etc.)

Thank you. I am fully of aware of that. I have visited Facebook pages of organizations without logging in during past Facebook (mini) hiatuses. This time around, I just want to avoid it all together, not just the notifications and status updates.

I’ll mostly utilize the e-bulliten. It looks packed with events! Exciting!

[newbiehere]

Oh really?! Thanks! I will send and email soon then. Are the classes sequential or they completely independent of each other?

[newbiehere]

Thanks again everyone. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I’ve always envied people who can commute long distances by bike. Hopefully, now, I can be one of those people . It’s nice to have such a supportive community.

I wish I could get on the Facebook page for WABA, but I have deactivated my Fb account for the rest of the year and would like to stay away. I just wish the Adult cycling education classes were being offered. I test rode my future bike and I’m a little rusty so I was hoping to get a refresher. Nonetheless, I will probably start riding around my neighborhood to gain some confidence and eventually join one of the Proteus’s weekend group biking events since it’s nearby.

[newbiehere]

I’m actually more concerned about the NW Branch Trail near the Lane Manor area.

[newbiehere]

@n18 90658 wrote:

This Strava heatmap for the area shows where people bike more often, but it represents only those who upload to Strava:

http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#12/-77.01185/38.94262/gray/bike

Also, Google Maps shows biking directions, and I think only the desktop version shows elevation profile. There are some web sites that show elevation profiles, but they are hard to use. Here is one, but you have to switch to the bike symbol first(It’s the third button from the left), then click the starting point, and any points along the route, or the final point. It doesn’t show dots where you click until you click on a second point.

Thank you very much for the links! Those maps will definitely come in handy. I have actually already tried Google Maps but part of the route that I was familiar with didn’t seem safe for me early in the morning or at night. I will download the Strava GPS app and see how that helps when I want to shorten my commute.

SN: Sorry, again, for the duplicate thread!

[newbiehere]

@Greenbelt 90657 wrote:

Hi newb — I commute from Old Greenbelt to 19th and K, and I often have open commute convoy meetups on Fridays. Here are some ideas/resources. Also, if you’re willing to give out a more precise starting point (just within a couple blocks or so) over the Internets, people on this forum can often suggest precise street routings that may be the best or most pleasant.

Let me say that I think you’re right to look for the safest, nicest routes rather than the straighest or fastest — some roads in our area are just horrible to ride on, and some of the local trails are really nice, but may not be the most direct routing.

I take the trails along the Route 1/Anacostia Tributary trails corridor — here’s the route I took for the College Park Bike to Work Day convoy, although there are lots of alternate possibilities: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4518248

You can also take R street across town westbound and Q street eastbound to get from the Met Branch trail to the 15th Street cycletrack.

I’m affiliated (by marriage) with Proteus bike shop in north College Park, and we do open group rides on weekends. For example, tomorrow we’re riding down to DC in the morning to get coffee at Eastern Market and meetup with another shop ride from Bikinetic in Virginia.

Those group rides can be fun ways to learn the nicest commuting routes. Good luck! -Jeff

[video=vimeo;38578601]https://vimeo.com/38578601[/video]

Hi Greenbelt! Thanks for responding! I appreciate your suggestions. Your recorded commute from Greenbelt to DC was the first thing I found on the internet during my initial search which is what led me to lurke on this forum. Then I found your other vimeo and YouTube videos. They have been very helpful in easing my fear of bike commuting to DC. Proteus was the first bike shop I called when I started looking for bikes. It’s nice to know that there are group bike rides on the weekends.I will most likely join becauase I could use the community support.

I’d be starting from the intersection of University Blvd and Adelphi road (i.e. UMUC).

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