[oldbikechick]

@dasgeh 81216 wrote:

biking the kids around town is AWESOME. Let me know if you ever want to talk family biking. Like at THIS SUNDAY’S KIDICAL MASS ARLINGTON RIDE.

Thanks! Actually, I plan on turning the school drop-off into a bike ride if I can. I just didn’t feel right about doing that to the kids in really crummy weather. What I need to figure out is the least hilly route to school since my daughter is not so good at hills yet. Is there an app for that? or maybe it’s time to get her a geared bike.

[oldbikechick]

Having recently stopped biking to work (only because I stopped working), I have been doing some thinking about this. For the first week and 1/2 of not working, I didn’t bike at all! Granted some of that was because of terrible weather and some due to the bike being in the shop. But still, why did I bike to work nearly every day, and now not bike as much for fun? So, the reasons I biked to work:
-biking to work is easy (once I had the route, gear and routine figured out, it is easier than biking anywhere else). Plus, I really had a good set-up for it – locker room/showers at work, secure parking, private office (for stinky gear).
-biking to work is exercise and “me” time without adding any extra time to the day. ie – there is no guilt factor saying “I should be doing xyz right now” instead.
-I love fresh air and being outside and with an office job and busy home life, this gives me almost two hours of outside time I would not otherwise get (and my commute is very pleasant, along the Custis and MVT).
-Riding in all seasons and all kinds of weather has been good for me. It has taught me that you can get cold, wet, dirty, etc and it’s really nothing that a hot shower can’t cure. I have also learned a lot about the weather patterns, and even tides, prevailing winds, etc around here.
-this one is a little strange, but when I rode the metro, which brings me to literally under my office building, I always felt a little like a robot on a conveyor belt going to work. It’s very passive. The bike commute is invigorating, you have to be alert and put some effort into it. You leave when you are ready and go as fast as you want to make yourself go. No waiting, no helpless wondering when the next train is coming. I always felt like I had already seized the day when i got to work, which is a great way to start off the day.
-all of the above makes me a much more laid back and pleasant person than I would otherwise be.

Because of this last reason, I am going to make a more concerted effort to build a bike ride into my day now that i have no commute. I rode today and it was glorious!

[oldbikechick]

My commute (until very recently) has been up the Custis, which has been good for me since I find it motivate, but I at least get some exercise going up those hills. I end up pushing myself based on how late I am getting to work or getting home. My all time best time was when I ordered a pizza from work and then got held up and barely made it home in time to meet the pizza guy.

[oldbikechick]

@cyclingfool 80484 wrote:

I was specifically holding off on a chain and cassette replacement until after this snow just in case I ended up riding through salty slushy yuckiness. All that is to say that if the forecast for the end of the week and the weekend goes from 60s to cold and snowy, it’ll probably be my fault.

When would you like to have a few days of fabulously perfect cycling weather? Because I need to take my bike in to be tuned, which should bring about perfect conditions while it’s in the shop. Let me know

[oldbikechick]

Please count me in too!
Thanks

[oldbikechick]

@jrenaut 80301 wrote:

I’m sorry, fair weather has been canceled for this year. We’re going straight from Polar Vortex to soul-destroying heat and humidity. You can always be a sweaty and miserable cyclist, though.

This is my worry. Will I ride as much if conditions are not perfect? For my commute, the alternative was the bus and metro, so it was a rare day that the bike was not the better choice. I’d rather be sweaty on my bike than jammed in with 50 other sweaty people on the metro. However, if the choice is between being sweaty on my bike and just chilling out with some iced coffee, hmmm, it’s a little harder to motivate. I’m going to try to incorporate biking into my day in some other way, so it just becomes part of the day, as has been suggested. Otherwise, I really will be miserable… and probably 20 pounds heavier!

[oldbikechick]

Did my last commute today for awhile, since I’ll be taking a hiatus from work. It felt weird to unhook my bike lock from the hitching post for the last time. I’ll now enter the brave new world of recreational cycling (and pre-school drop off). Will I be able to motivate myself when it’s not my travel mode back and forth to work? Time will tell. I think I’ll miss my commute. But maybe it will be nice to be a fair weather cyclist for awhile.

[oldbikechick]

@Steve O 80158 wrote:

Just like the Sloppies, we also had 44% women, but ended up in 9th. What does that mean?

Women %’s
Sloppies – 44%
Frenchies – 50%
Flood control – 10%
Cosmos – 10%
Pig meat – 20%
Journalists – 22%
Scalawags – 18%
Oxidized – 10%
Busters – 44%
Loafers – 40%

Total – 22.4% women (22 of 98)

I find it interesting that if you plot the percentages in a chart, it makes a W

[oldbikechick]

KayakCyndi – how do you figure out the King/Queen of the World prize?

Another question – would it be possible to determine who had the least variation in average ride distance? I suppose this would be the lowest deviation from the individual average ride distance, if you could leave out non-ride days. Not being a techie, I don’t know if this would be easy or difficult to calculate from the data. If it’s easy, then I’ll give out a pointless prize for this. “Most consistent (or boring)” rider.

[oldbikechick]

@dkel 79675 wrote:

In spite of being crazy tired at work, I had a vigorous, windy ride home: 14.6 mph average (which is pretty good for me!), and I stretched it to 11.7 miles! Lesson learned? It’s WORK that makes me tired, NOT cycling! Ha! In your face, work!

So many times I’ve been dead tired at the end of the day, thought I was coming down with something, considered taking metro, etc. Then, as soon as I get on the bike, get a little fresh air and get the blood pumping, it’s all better! Yet another good reason to commute by bike. Now if the darn snow, ice and wind would just lay off a little.

[oldbikechick]

I ended up taking a CaBi ride from DC to Rosslyn to get my ride in. What a beautiful day for it. I was wishing that there were higher gears on it though. Although when I found the rack in Rosslyn completely full and had to hoof it to the next station straight up Key Blvd, I was glad to have the low gear!

[oldbikechick]

@Steve O 79314 wrote:

If the opportunity arises again, you could get in touch with officer Heather Hurlock at ACPD. She tracks all the bike crimes. She would know if there had been any reported thefts at that (or any other) location.
Her email is: Hhurlock@arlingtonva.us

Thanks! I’ll have to try this next time.

[oldbikechick]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I ended up chickening out and taking the bus. It’s killing me since that was my only chance to ride today and there was probably a very low chance of it being stolen, but it’s my only bike and there’s the hassle factor of replacing all the various add-ons. Time to invest in a beater bike I guess! Or hope for a CaBi station near my house some day.

[oldbikechick]

There is a Gold’s Gym near there

[oldbikechick]

@Arlingtonrider 78687 wrote:

Ski goggles are pretty amazing for biking in extreme cold when combined with a partial face mask or balakava, and while you might have to be a little more cognizant about peripheral vision, I haven’t found that to be too much of a problem. I think I compensate by looking around a little more. Also, they’re vented on top and designed not to fog up. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they are when riding. I might have sprung for a good pair when I bought them several years ago (for skiing), but it was awesome to have them in yesterday’s temps.

Thanks. I have used ski goggles, but with my glasses underneath, I have a problem with fogging up. Also, they seem so bulky and silly looking I thought I’d try something else. Unfortunately, these fogged up just as much. Ski goggles are definitely the warmest though and after trying the skydiving ones, I think they are equally silly-looking. At least with the ski goggles on (plus balaclava) no one would recognize me

I should use this as an excuse for getting some more expensive ski goggles. Although it’s risky since they will inevitably end up as part of someone’s superhero costume.

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