[Sunyata]

Not the shortest, quickest, or most comfortable route, but I can get you from Burke Center to Brandymore Castle (East Falls Church) without too much traffic. If you are confident taking the lane, this route should be fine (I ride from my house to Wakefield park all the time, so am familiar with the roads from Annandale to Falls Church). https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29846643

I am not sure where in Bethesda you are, but the quickest way there is through Chain Bridge, which from EFC Metro is about 5.5 miles. From there, the Bethesda Metro is about 6.5 miles. So all in all, you are looking at about a 26 mile one-way commute. (Eek! Perhaps that e-bike is not such a bad idea.)

If you wanted to shorten your commute, there are a few streets in Falls Church that are not timed or permit-based parking. In fact, my street is one of them.

[Sunyata]

I take Columbia on a daily basis for my regular commute. Granted, I am early in and early out, so YMMV, but I have never had an issue with traffic on Columbia while riding a bike. Plus, the lights at Columbia are evenly timed, so you do not have to wait for 2 minutes for the light to change and then hustle across as quickly as you can like you do on Westmoreland.

[Sunyata]

@mstone 189827 wrote:

Yes…for mud. For low pressure tires on gravel, not so much (arguably they can make things worse and knock the tires loose in a turn).

I disagree with this. I have ridden both file tread and treadier tires on LoCo (and many other types of) gravel. Trying to corner on loose gravel at speed with less tread is way more sketchy (at least for me). Most folks that I have spoken with about it that ride gravel competitively also tend to agree. Having those corner knobs have saved me more times that I would like to count. That being said, I am lighter than most folks and probably slide around a bit more in corners than those who have 50+ pounds on me.

As for the question about width… I am the wrong person to ask. My personal opinion is the wider, the better. You should have seen me at CX Nationals when I had to ride on borrowed wheels and tires because they have a 35mm maximum for the championship races. I thought I was going to die. 😮

[Sunyata]

Just wanted to bump this up and make sure it is on everyone’s radar. Less than a week away, so get your tickets if you have not already done so!

[Sunyata]

I am a HUGE fan of the Maxxis Ramblers. I have been running them since before I got a drop bar gravel bike (they were mounted on my Niner Air9 for gravel rides/races). When I got my Warbird, I tried a few different tires, most notably the Riddlers, none of which rolled as well as the Ramblers nor had as much grip in corners (also, the Ramblers are stupid light). I run 40’s, but they come in a few different sizes, including 650b.

Another plus, the Ramblers were designed specifically to take on the Flint Hills of Kansas and they performed splendidly during two DK200 races.

[Sunyata]

That storm did come out of nowhere. Luckily, I was warm and dry inside my office when it hit. However, this morning I apparently either misread the temperature reading on Weather Underground, or the weather station I was looking at was sorely off its mark. I thought it was it was 52F, so I dressed accordingly.

Spoiler alert.

[Sunyata]

@ursus 189575 wrote:

I was on the W&OD for the first time this year. I was surprised to see that this was apparently fixed. Does anyone know when it reopened?

According to my Strava data, it appears that it was reopened sometime between 6:15am and 3:47pm on Tuesday, March 19th.

[Sunyata]

I live in Falls Church and commute to Courthouse every day. I rarely take the Custis trail all the way in or out. On the way out, I usually take Key Blvd to 15th Street and get on the Custis at Vermont (the reverse of this is also my usual commute to work). This route has two climbs, but they are not quite as punchy as the climbs on the trail. If I am really tired and do not want any hills on the way home, I just take Wilson to FFX to the trail.

I am sure some other folks will chime in with some additional options as well.

[Sunyata]

So… Literally as soon as I got home, my work phone started ringing. I am not going to be able to make it. I will PM those who won Lost Dog prizes and make arrangements to get them their prizes.

If anyone wants to give a shout out to the winners:
muscyls – 1st Place
huskerdont – 2nd Place
josh – 3rd Place

[Sunyata]

Depending on what time I can get out of work, I will probably be there early, say 5:30ish.

[Sunyata]

@JorgeGortex 189111 wrote:

Well, I tried to defer, but because it was a promotion from DK through Enve they couldn’t do it. Easy come, easy go. But Enve is going to send me consolation swag.

Yeah, I am not doing regular 100s. Not yet anyway.

JG

Bummer about not being able to defer. But YAY for consolation swag!

[Sunyata]

So… This is all with the caveat that I did not participate in BAFS this year, so take my opinions and thoughts for what they are worth considering.

From a team assignments perspective, having the mileage cap makes things so much easier! Had I known that was happening, I would have done the assignments again.

That being said, I noticed the same thing that Alan did. I think the cap needs to be higher. Maybe not even that much higher, say 120?

As for regional teams, again, not having it makes team assignments way easier, but I noticed that there was not a lot of “smack talk” or team loyalty/events as in the past. I like the idea of regional teams for those that want them. It does tend to make things more social and creates more of a “team bond”. Although, since I opted not to do the social butterfly award, maybe I just missed some of the team events.

[Sunyata]

@Subby 188963 wrote:

Only two people registered for the GRUSK Grande Loco category so you are basically guaranteed to podium.

If this were any other year… But alas, my “fun” year does not allow such… endeavours.

[Sunyata]

@musclys 188946 wrote:

Huge thanks, Sunyata, for creating this Not-At-All-Pointless Prize. My team is great, but this has been the highlight of BAFS for me and a great addition to my life outside cycling.

All the puppies thank you for your early morning walks!

[Sunyata]

@JorgeGortex 188645 wrote:

Sunyata,

That is very kind of you to offer. I’d love to chat about your experiences sometime! That said, I think I am going to need to defer for this year. I have not been training like I think you need to be, and am not sure I’d be able to do so and cover the logistics for the trip in the time available. I can’t see flying out there for anything less than the DK100 or DK200. I’ll have to check and see how the course changed… I wasn’t aware they had.

JG

Yeah, I know the feeling. For Kanza, you really need to start training in early February unless you consistently do 100+ mile rides.

If you do end up deferring, I will hopefully see you out there in 2020!

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