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Nice custom scheme with the carbon. Looks very fast and light!

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I’ve been looking forward to some conditions where I can use my new Nokians, and for me snow is the only joy of winter, so I was happy as well!

A few photos from the 68F Sat in January:
heading out
happy to be back home
Tears of Pride?

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I’d be interested to know how the median mi/trip and mi/person end up. I bet there’s a lot of outliers on this forum! 1%ers etc

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All things considered, I think it’s great. You can’t include everything there and still have it be clear/concise/readable.

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DC is mostly riding on the road. Check out some of the DC area bike maps for the best options (DC, Arlington County and Fairfax County all have good bike maps available online). You can also look at Google Maps and enable the Bicycling option.

Note that you can only take your bike (unless it’s a folder) on the train at certain times. Check wmata.com for more details. If you don’t mind miles (and hills) I’d probably just ride into DC assuming you can get to one of the trails.

Also, weather wise it’s only going to get colder in the next two months, so I would just go ahead whenever it’s above 35F…

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@jrenaut 12799 wrote:

Speaking of which, any other parents of small children interested in kid-in-bike-trailer-friendly rides?

I’d also be interested although I don’t know if either of my kids enjoys it enough to be actually worth dragging along. I have a kid carriage thing that attaches to the non-drive side chainstay for my son and also a front seat for my daughter (yet to ride with both of them together). I’m not sure could get anywhere too far with my kid in the kid carriage (it doesn’t fit in my car) before he gets bored. Most rides with him are 15 mins max. But by the time it warms up again I’ll have a better idea I think. It might be easier to just take my daughter in the front seat, depending on how her temperament goes…

@Tim Kelley 12806 wrote:

I would be interested. I went out to do the Conte’s/Freshbikes group hill ride a few weeks ago and it was tough! Going downhill the added weight didn’t make up for the added wind resistance, and going uphill with the motivation of staying with the group was quite a challenge.

I think their ride is tough enough without a kid! I’ve only done their ride once and I think it was the hills ride (up Military, back down Williamsburg I think).

@jabberwocky 12822 wrote:

…

It wasn’t a fun experience for me. I’m coming from the MTB world, where people are far more friendly and social, and leaders go out of their way to keep the group together.

Interesting. I’d always seen roadies as elitist/snobby and road cycling sort of at odds with my idea of cycling as a more utilitarian activity, probably because almost all the cycling I’d done was recreational or commuting. Bikes to me were always great machines, marvels of engineering – not something to be dressed up all shiny and ridden in skin tight clothes. That was perhaps one reason I never owned a road bike until last year (it was partly watching the Tour de France in depth that changed my mind – that and realising how much fun it is to ride a fast bike). The few roadies I’ve actually managed to talk to though have all been friendly – but I rarely go on group rides. It definitely helps to know at least one other person first. My first attempt was the Conte’s/Freshbikes one above, which seemed ok, but I did a century after that with a fellow commuter/ex-colleague and we (along with several others) got screamed at by a small group (riding a lot faster) for not riding all the way on the right single file even though we were out in the countryside and moved over whenever there was passing traffic. This was at least 55 miles into the ride as well. :rolleyes:

I’m planning to try one of the Reston Bike Club rides this year but otherwise I’ll stick to trying the casual “no-drop” ones run by shops, since I don’t have time for more than a couple rides a week I’d guess. PP have a LOT of rides listed but I find their more formal setup a bit intimidating for some reason. I wouldn’t expect any of them to compare to Dirt’s Kill Bill anyway! When is the next one gonna be?

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I think it’ll all be melty slush judging from the temps forecast. I was surprised to see so much snow though – when I checked the forecast before I left this morning it said 30% chance of rain.

@eminva 12813 wrote:

so alas, I guess it’s not yet time to play with my new toy (studded tires on the mountain bike).

My thoughts exactly. I actually ended up un-mounting them in November after having them on for a couple weeks as I still use that MTB as a wet weather option.

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It was nice indeed, I took my daughter for her first bike ride. She cried

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@KLizotte 12644 wrote:

The only reason I’ve even *heard* of Purcellville is because of the WO&D. The only reason I would *visit* Purcellville is because of the WO&D.

No bike, no visit – simple as that.

Same here.

@JimF22003 12667 wrote:

If you’re going as far as Purcellville, and if you still have a little gas in the legs and the time, there are tons of places to ride in that vicinity. I suggest a ride out to Bluemont for sure. You’ll see lots of other riders on Snickersville Turnpike and environs. Round Hill to Hillsboro and back to Purcellville on Hillsboro Rd. is a nice little loop. The roads are a lot hillier than the trail, but variety is the spice of life

Sounds good to me. Any route maps?

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@dbb 12663 wrote:

A commute counts as two trips.

I feel like this should read as “A return commute counts as two trips.” I’ve done one-way commutes before, and I know a colleague who brings the bike in his car, and then rides home (his girlfriend has longer hours so she drives back later).

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I love the idea of riding whenever you go on vacation, partly for the same reasons as Mark stated. I started doing it last time I went to the Outer Banks, and I managed to ride a few different bikes (mostly folders) on a recent trip to Taiwan, including a belt-drive Strida with disc brakes. It felt weird getting back on my full size bike when I got back.

@acc 12658 wrote:

a helmet (I brought my rhinestone one from home).

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@PrintError 12630 wrote:

You suffered the world of Peachtree too?

SO glad I moved out.

Yep… I liked the free cookies in reception though.

Actually I didn’t mind the place overall. Helluva lot cheaper than owning a house

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Haha, I used to live right near here too (in the apartments next to the Pimmit-Tysons library). If you don’t mind possibly dismounting a few times for potential curbs/pedestrians and riding on the occasional sidewalk you can go on service roads alongside 7 all the way to Magarity (check out the Street View around there). This way you could skip the backroads of Pimmit Hills.

Actually I think americancyclo has the best route change suggestion I’ve seen (though I’m not familiar with that way).

That said, if it was me I’d probably do something like this because I’m actually more familiar with the traffic/road conditions than the trails. It’s almost 2 mi shorter but of course there’s more traffic exposure. (Also a good part of this is the same as my existing commute.)
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Newseum,+Pennsylvania+Avenue+Northwest,+Washington,+DC&daddr=38.8936,-77.02294+to:38.89872,-77.038515+to:38.901529,-77.0590749+to:38.90257,-77.059844+to:38.90257,-77.062027+to:38.9041474,-77.06545+to:38.9025901,-77.1119232+to:38.9028,-77.13448+to:38.902036,-77.1711031+to:38.92077,-77.20088+to:The+Westin+Tysons+Corner,+Leesburg+Pike,+Falls+Church,+VA&hl=en&ll=38.903858,-77.151146&spn=0.102461,0.154324&sll=38.904238,-77.067016&sspn=0.003202,0.004823&geocode=FfZ0UQIdP8Zo-yGaz6P6Y-gI1g%3BFSB4UQIdJLlo-ynJdIe5mre3iTGy40jzCws1bg%3BFSCMUQIdTXxo-ymdYXeIvLe3iTFYUupy8K4NGg%3BFRmXUQId_ito-yk7x_X-TLa3iTHW2Jf3QG8PrQ%3BFSqbUQId_Cho-ykvfL5gTLa3iTEwGNg7GC9GjA%3BFSqbUQIddSBo-ynJAeUgTLa3iTG8XfWiv_76cw%3BFVOhUQIdFhNo-ynpGrsuT7a3iTGUj_ezvesJZw%3BFT6bUQIdjV1n-ykxnOpO0LW3iTHl1aIUbUaP2g%3BFRCcUQIdcAVn-yntgGYVsbW3iTFSAac6BqQ_pQ%3BFRSZUQIdYXZm-ym9fELzH7W3iTG5Rt5Yanr5Qg%3BFULiUQIdEAJm-ymHNAlhyUq2iTEwqdGCuo1frQ%3BFfWtUQId5Mdl-yGPhLkO_s_76g&vpsrc=6&gl=us&dirflg=b&mra=mrv&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10&t=m&z=13&lci=bike

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Hmm, so with this and Carolina Bros in Ashburn, a trip up to Purcellville could really add up. I’ve only made it as far as Leesburg once.

@culimerc 12569 wrote:

I usually wait to hit this place in Leesburg personally

So is it good? I’ve had it bookmarked for awhile to try next time I’m in Leesburg. I miss doner (either Australian or UK style – never tried the German style).

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I counted a daily commute as two trips as well. I think that’s the only way that makes sense. e.g. one morning I crashed and broke my arm = 1 trip. There was no return trip that day.

I realized I underestimated my total miles that I answered but not by more than maybe 200 miles.

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