2nd Ride, Beauty Among the Cherry Blossoms

Second Ride was Good Friday. The weather was perfect, upper 50s in the morning, and near 80 in the afternoon. I made pretty good time in, 2 hours and 15 minutes. I still couldn't get out until nearly 6:30, so I will have to get better preparing for my ride during the night before. I left early around 2:15 to get a jump on the weekend and decided to take a swing around the Jefferson Memorial on the way home. The blossom peepers were thick around the tidal basin and I had to walk my bike from the fish market to the 14th street onramp. I shot this picture right before I headed out. I noticed many families riding along the MVT, parking at Roosevelt Island and traveling into the city. I can't wait to do this with Keow and the Boys this summer.

I felt stronger heading up the Custis and cranked pretty regularly up to Vienna. Keow called me when I was on the roads of Vienna and asked If I would meet hear at Van Dyke Park in Fairfax City. I said that I was about 45 min away. I passed the Home Depot that I bailed out at last time and headed up the OLD LEE hill. After a few minutes of pain I got to the top and coasted down to Van Dyke. The kids were surprised to see me. We loaded the bike in the minivan and went out to REI and Red Robin for dinner. Yes this was the second trip I didn't finish but I know that I could have. Some things are more important than 3 lousy miles. Over 100miles under my belt so far.

SNOW!!!!

Special thanks to www.jessdillman.com and www.wandodtrialreport.com for the photos of the Custis and W&OD trail as of Feb 19, 2010.

I pledged to ride 75 miles in February. Well, that's not going to happen. We got dumpped with about 32 inches of snow during when two blizzards hit us in a matter of 5 days in the second week in February. Temperatures have been below normal and not much of the snow has melted. Plus the county's snow removal budget is busted and road snow was piled up on sidwalks. I don't expect the trails to be clear until at least March. I guess I will have to ride more in the spring to make up for it.

Here are some more photos of fun in the snow!

Made It! . . . Almost

First Commute: Jan 27 2010.

I've been excited to finally ride in. For most of January I was waiting for the remnants of the Snowpocolypse(R) to melt. I was also waiting for a short work day so as not to have a dark and cold ride home. Wednesday was that day. I had a day long meeting down in Norfolk on Thursday so Wednesday would be a travel day. I planned on biking in the morning, then leaving around 2 pm to bike home, have dinner with the family then pack and start the 3.5 hr drive down to Norfolk.

The day started off promising. I got up at 4:30. Had breakfast, coffee, and water. Then I showered, got dressed in many layers, and went around back to pull my bike out. I had to pump up both tires, and install my new bell. By the time I made my lunch and packed up my bag it was 6:15. I gathered some last minute items and headed out at 6:28am. The first streaks of light were appearing on the horizon when I crossed over Braddock road and headed into GMU. The Mason hill was longer than I remembered. Man, I'm out of shape. I took a photo in downtown Fairfax at the Sun Trust Bank: 6:33 31F. Brrrrrr!

The sky was lightening enough to see much of the trail from the Fairfax circle through the Vienna Metro. My toes were starting to freeze as I entered Vienna. After a couple of uphill miles I was at the W&OD trail. I didn't get to use my new bell much as the only people who were on the trail with me were the die hards who passed by me at quite a clip. There was no snow and the trail was clear as I worked my way through Falls Church. After a quick photo at the Custis Trail Marker, I headed under I-66 and up into Arlington. Before long I was heading down the long hill into Rosslyn and down to Roosevelt Island. The Potomac was very high and actually had flooded the trail in a couple of spots west of the Memorial Bridge. Humpback bridge was under repair so the side path was even more narrow than usual. It was still pretty cold over the 14th street bridge. I was surprised that the fish market still smelled bad in the below freezing weather. I took a quick breather at the red light at 7th and Maine Ave then pedaled up to I street. I noticed the new bike lane on I street. It is a good alternative to the traffic of M street. I crossed over South Capital and down 1st street to K street. I turned Left on K and went down to 3rd to travel down to M at the DOT. M street was pretty empty when I reached the Navy Yard, and I locked up in the NAVSEA garage at 8:50.

The afternoon was a lot slower as I was tired and sore, but at least the weather had warmed up to 40F. I had no troble retracing my steps to Rosevelt Island and up into
Rosslyn. Then the fun began, a half mile straight uphill. My legs were burning as I crossed over 66 and out of Rosslyn. My chain skipped and doubled over on itself on the S-curve. I had a tinge of fear that I would need to find another way to get home, 19 miles from home. But I got it free and was on my way. The weather was getting colder and I found that my leg muscles were getting very tight. I needed many breaks and I contemplated having Keow pick me up from the Metro station. But I trudged on. I called Keow from the Fairfax circle tired but told her I would be home in about an hour. But 15 minutes later at the Home Depot I called her again and had her come pick me up. I was 4 miles and two hills from home, but it was already nearly 6pm and if I kept at it I would have been home too late to make dinner and too tired to drive down to Norfolk. So I fell short of my January goal by 4 miles. Actually 3.6 miles. I learned that I will need to work out and stretch more before I head out again. February's goal is 75 miles. Stay tuned.

Yet another reason to bike commute: Parking

I work for the Federal Government, Department of Defense to be specific. And as a Government employee I do appreciate having a job. With 10% plus unemployment I am thankful for my cube, and don't want to come across as whining about trivial matters. One of the side effects of high unemployment is a surge in government hiring, which is great. I moved over from the private to public sector for better job security and better benefits, so I can't blame others for wanting to do the same. But with employment at capacity, parking has become a nightmare.

One of the perks of my job is a rather flexible work schedule. As long as I put in 80 hours every two weeks, and I'm there roughly between at least 9-3 each day I don't have to take vacation, or sweat it too much. I usually get in around 8, but when you have 3 kids sometimes it's harder to get out of the house in the morning. The Washington Navy Yard has 1 parking spot for every 5 employees, as it was described to me by the Management. Some drive, some take the Metro, and others car pool. Of late though I think more people have been driving in and avoiding the cold 4 block walk to the Metro Station. The Parking Garage across the street from my office used to fill up at 7:15. Base parking use to fill up around 8:45 most days, and would never fill up on Friday. Since the start of the year, the close garage is jammed by 6:30, and the base is full by 8:00. Each week the times seems to get about 5 minutes earlier. By spring we will all have to be there by 6 to get a spot! Last monday I pulled in at 8:15 and circled till 10 looking for a spot. I ended up having to park illegally so I would't miss a meeting, and then go back out at lunch to repark.

When I bike in, I get to lock up my bike in the close garage, no matter when I get in. I don't have to sit in traffic waiting to drive on base. When it takes longer to drive and park than it takes to ride in, I need to be biking more. Maybe 4 buck gas isn't that bad after all. At least more people carpooled.

The Great Weigh-In -- 201 lbs

Unfortunately, there is too much emphasis on "great".

The holiday season has come and gone, the new year is upon us so now it is time to put the resolution to the test. And with any challenge there must be a first step, a hideous "before" to go with the glorious "after". So without any further ado, as of Friday January 8th 2010, I weigh 201 lbs. *GASP* I have not weighed this much before in my life (unless you count the 207 I weighed in over Christmas vacation at my father-in law's house, but that was a different scale, right?) When I was in the Navy I was required to weigh less than 201 lbs for my height and never really had a problem with it, but as my job now has me sitting behind a desk all day I have put on about 20 lbs since leaving the service.

One of my challenges is to lose 20 lbs. My ideal weight is around 175 lbs. I think I will need to make the goal to lose 26 lbs.

Now that I am back at work I am itching to get started with the challenge. There are still piles of snow on many of the area sidewalks and roadsides from the epic "SNOWPOCOLYSE (R)" that gripped the Nation's Capital a week before Christmas. Most of the 20 inches of snow that fell are gone, but some 1-2 foot icy remnants remain, unable to melt with the consistent sub-freezing high temps over the last few weeks. I am figuring that if there is snow on my sun-drenched sidewalk, there is probably still snow on the shaded portions of the W&OD and Custis Trail. I am most worried about the Custis, with it's steep hills, narrow lanes, and limited sight lines.

The weather should turn warmer next week. I think I will inventory my equipment this weekend and plan on biking in sometime next week.

Neither, rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night. . .

Well, actually that's not true, all of those things impact my ability to ride into work. The reality of a 2-2.5 hour bike commute is that on most days I will have to ride in the dark for part, if not most of my ride. That is unless I want to show up to work around 9:30 and leave around 2:30, and in that case there wouldn't be much reason to go in at all.

Riding in the dark is more about equipment and attitude than anything else. I found that a good headlight is not enough. Headlights serve two purposes, illuminate the area in front of you, and provide warning to other bikes and cars of your presence. To be useful in the first way, the light has to be pointed downward at a spot about 10 feet in front of the bike, which makes it pretty useless in the second way. Also, how fast I ride determines where in front of the bike I would like to see possibe hazards. Ten feet may work for level ground, but when zipping down a big hill I naturally look farther in advance, and a stationary light doesn't quite work. The solution -- a head lamp, one of those camping hands-free spelunkeresque lights. They work great, are very bright, and solve all of the problems that my simple fixed light can't. It shines light wherever I direct my eyes; down the hill, at the startling noise I heard on the side of the trail, at the scary glowing eyes in the bushes, at the driver of the car who is trying to turn on red while I'm crossing the intersection. I use both, a headlight to be seen, and a head lamp to be able to see. I also use a blinking red tail light so that I don't get run down from behind.

Lastly, I think the most important thing to remember about riding in the dark is to know your limits. There are parts of the trail that I don't want to be on in the dark, and other parts that are okay. For example there are 4 miles of the Custis trail in Arlington, VA that are hilly, full of blind turns, and possibly covered with leaves and tree roots. I time it to ride this section only after it is bright enough to see where I am going. At an hour before sunrise you can discern shapes well enough to avoid them. This is called, "Nautical Twilight" or the point in which the horizon can first becomes visible. I have found it is okay to ride the W&OD trail in these light conditions, because it is straight, and relatively hazard free. I can see just make out other bikers and walkers with enough time to adjust to them, but I can't really see if there are tree roots or branches down that would impede my progress. At a half hour before sunrise you can see figures clearly, and colors. This is the start of "Civil Twilight" otherwise known as dawn. I know I know I'm a geek; the only reason I mention this is because you can look these times up for specific places to plan out the trip. For example, I know that to make it to the Custis trail with enough light to not fall, I need to leave the house no earlier than an 90 minutes before sunrise. That works out to about 5:45 in January. Brrrrr.
It also means that since I don't want to be riding the streets of Fairfax in the dark I need to leave work at around 3:30 in the afternoon. Summer is a lot easier. Day Lights Saving makes for dark mornings, but light evenings.

I can't wait for the year to start, and the snow to melt. Merry Christmas!

The Rules

One Year, 2000 miles. That's pretty much it. But this challenge is more than just riding my bike more. It is also to drive my car less - to be kinder to my waste-line and the planet. It's my low-car diet. So I am only going to count miles on my bike that I would normally drive. Bike to church, bike to get groceries, bike to work, bike to REI, etc. Living in Northern Virginia, my family and I are blessed with a fairly good trail system. Most things we need are within about 5 miles from our house, and accessible without traveling in traffic.

To help me achieve my goal I have set up some little goals that will make the challenge more manageable and easier to track. I set up the monthly goals based on available daylight and possiblity of good weather. They are as follows:

JAN 50 mi FEB 75 mi MAR 100 mi
APR 150 mi MAY 200 mi JUN 250 mi
JUL 275 mi AUG 300 mi SEP 250 mi
OCT 200 mi NOV 100 mi DEC 50 mi

I also have some personal goals:

I want to lose 20 lbs. While I will mostly bike commute only one time a week, I would like to do at least 7 "double" weeks, and 1 "triple" week. Finally, I would like to save at least $150 in gas money.

I will keep a running total of my milage at the top of this page. I will also post some photos of my favorite parts of the trail, and those things that catch my eye. I can't wait for the new year to start!