Fancy Pants Bike Parking

My office building in Rosslyn has been showing some love to bike commuters. First they removed the dim florescent bulbs in the garage and replaced them with LEDs. Now I can ride into the garage with my sunglasses on. In fact, I might even need them.

This week we got a peek at the new bike parking facility. It’s activated by the same card key security system as the rest of the building. You have to register with building management to get your card upgraded for access to the bike room. It has space for 20 bikes, 18 hanging and two on an inverted U rack on the floor. It also has a bike pump and tools.

The old bike parking was lame. (At my previous job the bike racks were the same as my elementary school’s. I went to that school in the 1960s. I am not entirely sure if the racks at my current office are any better.) A bike commuter had her Cannondale road bike stolen earlier this year. Here’s what it looked like. (That’s Little Nellie on the right.I took the pump off the frame because someone stole a similar pump off The Mule earlier this year.

The new bike room is more better. Here you can see one half of the hanging bike rack and the U rack on the floor. The pump is on the lower right.

There was an opening day card key problem. Once they activated your card for bike room access, they deactivated it for access to the gym and showers. I’m sure they’ll get it all sorted out soon.

And the Winner Is…

Nobody guessed my baseball celebrity so I’m going to buy myself a beer.

We had some really guesses that were creative though.

Jason Werth (left fielder and Beltway record holder) – lives in Northern Virginia and owns a dog the size of Trigger
Max Scherzer (starting pitcher extraordinaire) – I have no idea why
Jonathon Papelbon (relief pitcher) – bought a house about four miles from my celebrity sighting. For the record, the dog my celebrity was walking didn’t have a choke chain.
Thomas Boswell (Washington Post baseball writer extraordinaire) – I have no idea why
F. P. Santangelo (Nats TV color commentary dude) – I have no idea why especially since he lives around the corner from Nationals Park, about 15 miles from Fort Hunt Park

The celebrity was Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo. He was wearing a lightweight vest with the zipper all the way down. Beneath it was a gray Nationals t-shirt with a big red curly W on the front. He said hi to me. I did
n’t realize who it was until I was past him. My fusiform gyrus still needs some work.

If you don’t know who Mike Rizzo is, well, tough taters to you. He assembled the Nationals over the last five years. He had to fire a whole bunch of people last month when the Nats didn’t make the playoffs. He’s had a crappy couple of months. I hope he enjoyed walking the dog.

Celebrity Cycling Quiz

One of the really fun aspects of living in DC is serendipitously spotting famous people while you are out and about. Easily my biggest get was President and Mrs. Reagan. My younger sister had come to DC for the first time. Reagan’s limo came down Constitution Avenue. We ran to the edge of the street and stood alone as the small motorcade came by. My sister waved like a lunatic. Reagan spotted her, pointed at her, and waved back!

Lesser sightings occur about once per year. Earlier this summer while drinking a beer outdoors at a DC brew pub with Katie Lee, I spotted Colin Powell standing about 50 feet behind her. He and his wife Alma were posing for a picture. We traded stories about celebrity sightings. She shopped in a liquor store next to a Supreme Court justice (I forgot which one). My wife and I shopped for a TV with Dick Gephardt, former House Majority Leader.

Once in Boston my sister and I were seated at a restaurant. Sitting behind my sister at the next table was Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans. I didn’t tell her he was there because she would have gone berserk. He had recently been beaned and was having a miserable time regaining his ability to hit. (He ultimately became a follower of the Charlie Lau/Walt Hriniak batting system and saved his career.)

I’ve also seen Stephen Stills (at Disneyland – oddly not seeing any Disney characters on a rainy day), Hillary Clinton (nearly tripped over her at a play at my daughters’ high school), Steve Case (of AOL, who took French next to me at my daughters’ Back to School night) former Senator Trent Lott (walking across Pennsylvania Avenue in front of me as I waited for a red light on Big Nellie), George Will (at a high school baseball game), sports announcer Dick Stockton (in my cab in Boston during college), Red Auerbach (in front of Boston Garden – he passed my cab up), Archibald Cox (in the Harvard subway station), Caroline Kennedy (in Harvard Yard), John Kennedy Jr. (at Brown, several times), Dan Rather (on a DC to NY shuttle flight in the seat in front of me), basketball great Willis Reed (at my high school where he was providing motivation to a misbehaving student who’s mother was a friend of Reed), Gemini and Apollo astronaut Michael Collins (on the C&O canal towpath), and Tom Hanks (riding a bike past me while filming a movie in DC before he became TOM HANKS).

There are a many others but I know them personally so they don’t really count. Also, I can’t count the head of my government agency or other celebrities who came to events at work.

So today I was out riding my bike in my neck of the woods in suburban Northern Virginia. I was riding laps in Fort Hunt Park when I spotted a man walking his dog. He was wearing a Washington Nationals t-shirt. As I rode by I said hello and he said hello back. Only then did I realize that this man is something of a DC-area celebrity. (Okay, you have to be a baseball fan to know who he is but still I thought it was pretty cool.)

Can you guess who he is?

25 Percent Is More than Half

I am told that 25 percent of cyclists in the DC area are women. I doubted this until I did a count on my rides home from work a while ago. Perhaps the reason I doubt it is that the women I know in Bike DC are badass. Here’s a sample from this weekend.

Megan went to Tampa to do a 70.3 mile triathlon. I watched her running her last tune up running race last weekend. Suffice it to say, that Megan kicked butt in Tampa. Congratulations.

A change of plans meant that Lisa would have to work later in the day on Saturday. Undaunted, she drove over an hour to get to the Great Pumpkin Ride in Warrenton Virginia and squeezed in the 30 mile route. Well played!

Last year husband Robert had a mess of trouble with cramps during the Great Pumpkin Ride. Undaunted Reba and Robert went at it again this year. They both finished the 48-mile route in fine fettle. Maybe the beer at the final rest stop had something to do with it. Cheers.

Training, schmaining. Rachel stayed up late, watched Goldfinger, and tweeted about it instead. Then she got up early and rode a cyclecross race. You don’t expect me to finish do you. No, we expect you to die. She finished!

Michele has been training her butt off for this weekend’s cyclecross races. She has become a cyclecross maniac. And her intensity and preparation paid off with two top-ten finishes. Dang! 22457806292_f315becfb7_z

Linel was between jobs so she decided to hop on a train to Cumberland Maryland with her Surly Long Haul Trucker. She rode back to her home in Northern Virginia, a 200-mile excursion in four days. On the way she was passed by Nelle, riding outbound from DC on an overnight bike excursion. Linel was rewarded with perfect weather and peak foliage. Bravo.

Mary, Queen of Caffeine, had really gotten into running this year. As a retired marathoner, I can say that running two marathons in a season is really hard. Two marathons in a month is crazy. Today she finished the Marine Corps Marathon (her fifth MCM) just two weeks after running a marathon in Shepherdstown WV. Double Dang!

So by my math:

Megan + Lisa + Reba + Rachel + Michele + Linel + Nelle + Mary >>>>>> 25%

First Freeze for a Buff-less Wonder

I knew the cold was coming. A few days ago I foraged around the house for my cold weather gear. My favorite piece of cold weather clothing is a tube of light-weight fabric called a Buff. The damned things are remarkably versatile and they are perfect for late fall and early spring weather. They also have one annoying characteristic. They disappear like odd socks in the laundry. And so my remaining black buff was nowhere to be found.

So I ordered three of them from Buff world headquarters in ironically warm Santa Rosa, California and hoped the package gods would smile down upon me and get them here before temperatures dipped into the freezing territory.

Hope, as they say, is not a plan.

Today, buffless, I did battle with the first frost of the season. I am happy to report that I emerged victorious. No noo-noos were frozen. The only discomfort came during the first three miles from home as by body heat became trapped in the three layers I wore on my upper body. In fact, the only parts of me that remained at all uncomfortable were the lower half of my face and my neck. This is where the Buff normally does its magic.

Despite my cold face and neck, I fell into a comfortable trance on the way to work, my legs fresh from having not ridden yesterday.

Temperatures rose about 25 degrees during the day making for a more comfortable ride home. There must be something about cool dry air that allows my brain to shut down into a meditative state. Or maybe it’s just the fact that the summer nimrods (who make long stretches of my summer commutes on the Mount Vernon Trail a sort of slow-speed bike slalom) were nestled all snug in their Metrobuses.

Somewhere near the airport someone headed for DC said hello. Being in my trance the voice didn’t register in my brain for several seconds making responding politely futile.

The rest of the ride home happened. I know because when I ca 22326715851_78b3e50773_z me to I was putting my bike away. Somewhere in there I lost about 45 minutes of my life. There must be a wormhole just south of the airport.

At my front door was a big envelope. Inside were my three new Buffs. This time I bought them in an array of colors so they won’t blend in with all my other black outerwear (like tights and arm warmers and gloves).

So I suppose you can say my next bike commute will be in the Buff.

Beautiful Ride – Ugly Reality

The day began with crisp fall air. I was ready for it as I pit on my vest, arm warmers, and head band. Dressed perfectly, I headed north on the Mount Vernon Trail bound for DC and Friday Coffee Club. The ride in went so smoothly that as I rode onto the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River I had that strange how-did-I-get-here sensation. A tailwind and fresh legs (I drove to work yesterday) probably helped.

Coffee Club was crowded. It was good to see some faces that I haven’t seen in over a month. This definitely eased my recent feeling of social ennui.

I rode to work on the narrow side path on the Teddy Roosevelt Bridge. I stop for DC-bound cyclists because there just isn’t enough room to pass on the fly. One of them asked me if the bridge was one-way. He was new to DC and he couldn’t believe the trail was so narrow. I assured him it wasn’t. Welcome to the land of improving bicycling infrastructure.

I left work and head for home, once again assisted by a trail wind. It was a similar vibe to the morning. No discernible effort involved. I barely broke a sweat. My delight in this wonderful autumn commute came to an end. I stopped to take a picture of this sign posted next to the trail north of Old Town Alexandria just after the Slaters Lane turn off.

It’s a sad reality to the women of this area that enjoying area trails comes with this risk.

Not 100 feet after starting up again I was passed by an on-coming woman running. She had earbuds in her ears.

Every safety expert I know warns against doing this. I know it sucks and it’s unfair but you are responsible for your own safety. Whether you are trying to avoid a potential human assailant or a garbage truck you need to hear what’s going on around you.

Speech over.

The rest of the ride was thankfully peaceful. For me at least.

Be careful out there.

Hiking the Gold Mine

The thought of riding my bike just didn’t work for me today. So I decided to drive up to Great Falls and revisit the Gold Mine trail. I put the windows down and drove up the river with the windows down. As much as I hate saying adios to summer, I find driving with the windows down on a 65 degree day one of life’s pleasures. The fall foliage near DC is not quite ready for prime time. There are some yellows here and there and the occasional red tree but green continues to dominate. The GW and Clara Barton Parkways made for a lovely ride nevertheless.

Last fall I hiked the Gold Mine Trail in Great Falls Park in Maryland twice. The first hike was my way of coping with a tragedy. The second was my way of coping with the end of autumn. Both times the Gold Mine Trail did the trick.

I drove past the free parking lot near Old Anglers in. I had no need for it since my friend Kirstin convinced me to by an annual National Parks pass which gives me free admission to the park which otherwise costs $10. (Counting today, I have already used it four times.) The parking lot was full. I was expecting to see lots of people on the trails. As it turned out, they must have been on the C&O Canal towpath or taking in the views of the falls.

I began my hike along the River Trail. This trial is about one mile long and completely flat. It goes along the river bank north of the falls. It is the perfect place to get into the hiking vibe. After a mile, you hike back to the start on the towpath.

Warmed up, I headed uphill on the Gold Mine Spur Trail. For all those cars in the parking lot, the trial was surprisingly empty. During the course of my hike I encountered about ten other groups of hikers. The less said about the two groups of LOUD talkers who don’t get the concept of a contemplative walk in the woods the better.

The spur trail leads to the Gold Mine Loop Trail. This trail rolls up and down over a modest ridge line. The footing is mostly smooth with only few hundred yards of small rocks to slow the pace. This means that you can enjoy the woods, listen to yourself breathe, and zone out. Which is what I did.

After completing the circuit, I hiked back down the spur trail. Mission accomplished. During my hike the temperature never broke 75 degrees and the humidity was low. I arrived back having barely broken a sweat.

Pardon My Karass

I was reading an article this morning about a young married couple: one a conservative pundit, the other an Obama White House staffer. The latter was killed by a car while he rode in a bicycling charity event outside DC.

It’s a sad story that you can read about here.

The two were the unlikeliest of couples. The story ended with a reference to Kurt Vonnegut who came up with the concept of a karass. According to the Urban Dictionary, a karass is

A group of people linked in a cosmically significant manner, even when superficial linkages are not evident.

Time and again I have met people who are part of my karass. I find myself hanging out with them even though there is no logical reason for them being important to me. Somehow they become incredibly meaningful to me and have a great influence on how I think about…everything.

I won’t name any names. (Long time readers can almost certainly guess who some of the members of my karass are anyway.) As someone who read Vonnegut back in the day, I am surprised that I don’t remember this concept. It was lost in all the cynicism and twistedness of his writings, I suppose. I am grateful to finally have a word to put to something that has been puzzling me for years.

So, who’s in your karass?

Bike Commuting with Jet Lag

My recent vacation took me (literally) around the world. We flew from DC to Sydney, did some flights in Australia and over to New Zealand, then flew to Phuket Thailand. After staying there a couple of days (it rained, my son who lives and works there got food poisoning) we flew home by way of Abu Dhabi and New York. The great circle distance between all these points is about 28,800 miles. If you allow for routing off this shortest path we probably flew 30,000 miles. Our time in the air was in the neighborhood of 64 hours.

64 hours of sitting in coach is not a really good idea. It’s really hard on your body. Your hamstrings tighten up and you back starts to ache. In Melbourne, about the middle of the trip, my lower back start to ache in sharp bursts. I managed to calm things down with some gentle back and hamstring exercises.

When I got home from the trip, I started getting the same back twinges. I decided that the best way to get back in the saddle figuratively was to get back in the saddle literally. So I rode my bike to work the very next morning. It was the slowest, groggiest bike ride I have ever done but I made it in one piece. The ride home in the rain was not anything I’d like to repeat. The back twinges were coming and going after the rides but my back felt fine during the commutes.

Yesterday I rode to work again. Again I had a few back twinges during the day but they didn’t propagate to full on back spasms. I rode home with very welcome strong tail wind. When I went to put my bike in the shed, I noticed that the grass in front of the shed had gone to seed. I hadn’t mowed it in nearly three weeks. The grass was up above my ankles so I decided to mow the lawn.

During all this riding and mowing I drank only 2/3rds of a bottle of water.

Last night at 3 am payback time arrived. I rolled over in bed and the inside thigh muscle on my right leg went into a massive cramp.

It took me a good 15 minutes to get the muscle to calm down enough to get back to bed, all the while having little aftershocks to remind me to stay perfectly still.

I thought about riding to work today. The idea of having one of these cramps on a bike was somehow unappealing.

So I drove.

What a wimp.

At least my jet lag is gone.

September by the Numbers

September was my lowest mileage month of the year. I rode only 349 miles including 8 bike commutes for 243.5 miles. My longest day of riding was 33 1/2 miles, a commute extended to meet a friend for a beer in DC. I did 8 bike commutes: 6 on The Mule and 2 on Big Nellie.

For the year I know have ridden 5,669 miles. I’ve done a 121 bike commutes. I am wearing my oldest bike out. The Mule has done 70 bike commutes and 3,012 miles.