Fear the bicycle

I'm afraid of my Specialized Dolce. She's a beautiful bike and satisfies my need for speed, but she's so light and twitchy that I never feel fully comfortable on her. It's not because of the few falls I've had from her: I've suffered more, and bloodier, crashes on the Ariel. Nor is it the function of being clipped in: my clipped falls on Circe were at a near stop while my clipped falls on Lily were at speed (see "bloodier" above). I don't feel like Circe is under my complete control and it makes me hesitant to ride her.

Rawr.

A local friend has a Dolce, which is two years older than mine, and she feels the same way about her bike. She's not the collector like I am and this is her only bike. At least I have a choice when I want to hit the road for a bit of two-wheeled freedom.

Anybody else? Do you have a bike that gets neglected because it gives you the heebie jeebies?

2012 National Capital Area Tour de Cure

Long story, short: I rode just over 55 miles, raised $1,225 with the help of many generous donors, and had a pretty good time.

The people for whom I rode.

Long story, long: I picked up my ride packet Saturday afternoon and was told that this constituted "check in" and I could hit the trail any time during the half century start window (7a-8a). With that knowledge, I altered my ride plan just a bit. Originally, I was going to ride from home to Reston, ride the Tour route, and then ride back home from Reston. That would have put me somewhere around 65 miles for the day and was way outside of my comfort zone. I did ride the Tour's 54 mile route; I just started and ended elsewhere than the "official" points.

The tropical print jersey was a tribute to a friend who died in March.

After breakfasting and dousing myself in sunscreen, I was ready for the Tour. The air temperature was in the upper 50s Fahrenheit and the mix of sun and breeze felt just about perfect. The W&OD trail looked pretty open at 7:30. I saw only a few blue/50mi folks but lots of green/107mi and yellow/81mi folks flew past me as I settled in to a comfortable pace. I passed Rest Stop #1 at Ashburn Road/Carolina Brothers BBQ in almost no time at all. As I passed the Spokes, Etc tent, I recognized Nate -- he introduced me to the Dolce at the Vienna shop -- and called out hello. Surprisingly, he recognized me/my voice and told me that my bike looked sweet. I grinned, waved, and continued on to Leesburg.

Somewhere along the way I hit a squirrel. I rode up between pedestrians on either side of the trail and a squirrel darted out. He froze, I dodged, he ran into my dodge, and we both chose poorly. I think I got his tail because there was a solid thudthud under my tires after my "Crap! Crap! Crap!" and before my "AUGH!" I don't know what, if anything, the peds thought about the collision. I'm pretty sure the squirrel was mostly okay. It wasn't dead, anyway.

Ashburn Road rest stop.

Rest Stop #2 at Raflo Park was full of cyclists and cheering volunteers. I munched on half a PB&J, noshed half a banana, refilled my water bottle, and continued west to Purcellville. Shortly after leaving Leesburg, a non-Tour cyclist asked me about the routes. He thought it'd be fun to follow the horse country route when it left the trail and bid me good luck. And then I began that hateful climb up Clarks Gap.

After crossing Leesburg Pike for the second time, the blue, yellow, and green routes left the W&OD for the open road of Simpson Circle and Meadowlark Drive. The climb up Meadowlark was almost like that huge horrific climb during the Backroads Century. My momentum slowed and slowed until I feared that I'd lose my balance so I unclipped, hopped off, and walked Circe to the top of the hill. That walk was totally worth the 35mph descent on the other side. WHOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!

I arrived at Rest Stop #3 in Purcellville at 9:15am and found it stocked with PB&Js, energy bars of all types, water, Gatorade, oranges, bananas, band-aids, and sunscreen. I posted an update to Facebook, phoned Scott, and rested for twenty minutes or so in the shade of a large hydrangea bush. At this point, I was 24 miles in and felt surprisingly good. Food and hydration didn't seem to be a problem and the mild temperature was a godsend.
 

Carolina Brothers BBQ.

The ride back to Ashburn was blessedly downhill and I coasted and sang most of the way to Rest Stop #1. I pulled up to the Spokes, Etc, tent to show off Circe's flame job to Nate. He thought that was pretty crazy. FunReflector.com, folks. I also gave Scott a five mile warning so he had time to get to the W&OD and ride up to Reston with me. East of this rest stop, the trail got extremely crowded as the longer distance riders started mingling with the 33-milers and general trail traffic. Side by side roller bladers: I feel about them the way that most drivers who comment to online fora feel about cyclists. I saw a lot of 33mi folks pushing their bikes up the 20-hate bridge. Bless their hearts, it wasn't that long ago that I was right there with them.

Scott joined me, GoPro-enabled, outside our neighborhood and I whined to him about how hot, sweaty, tired, and numb I was. Yes, the last two paragraphs were about mild temperature and coasting downhill. However, the tree cover ends east of Leesburg and the sun had been baking me for a good ten miles. The trail's elevation starts rising at Ashburn and that adds to the fun. But there were only five more uphill miles to go until the finish line and with someone I could natter at, my spirits bubbled back up.

The detour through Herndon to avoid the Herndon Festival was harrowing, but we'd navigated through it Saturday morning and we weren't as surprised as other Tour riders. The W&OD continued getting more and more crowded the closer we got to Reston and then we were at the finish line where yellow-shirted volunteers waved pompons, shook clappers, rang cowbells, whooped and hollered. One girl stuck out a red foam hand and I gave her a high five as I rode past. Scott and I pulled to a stop just past the Town Center fountain and spotted Bob and Laura (who had just completed the 33 mile route). Tamara, who volunteered with the media squad as a finish line photographer, had spotted me crossing the line and found our little group clustered on the other side of the Pavilion. I snagged some pork barbecue, half an orange, and a can of ginger ale for my post ride meal and nommed my way back to life as we waited for Barb to arrive from the fun ride route.

Our little sub team: Laura, Barb, and me.

After a few texts and a phone call, Barb let us know that she was almost to the finish line. We all ran over to holler and cheer her on. I think she was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing, but in a good way. After group photos, hugs, and congratulations all around everybody but Scott and me took off for their respective homes. My raising over $1,000 meant that I was a "Champion" and would be given a medal. I've never gotten a medal for any kind of sporting event and gosh darn it, I was sticking around for that medal ceremony. We didn't get a "ceremony" so much as a group photo and then we stood in line to receive our medals. But I'm cool with that.

We are the Champions.... weeeeeee are the chaaaampiooooons.

After donning my medal and remounting Circe -- ow, my hands; ow, my thighs; ow, my [redacted] -- we made a bee-line for Red Velvet Cupcakery for celebratory cupcakes which Scott gallantly transported in his trunk bag. We passed several century riders and a half-century girl -- I'd complimented her wicker basket earlier, she congratulated me on the medal this pass -- and I hollered at Herndon Festival patrons not to take up both lanes of the trail. (Not my best moment, but they were taking up both lanes and wouldn't move when I called "on your left" or "bicycle approaching" or "HELLO" and I was tired and cranky.) But we eventually made it home and I ended the day with 55.8 miles in 4h 09m, two cupcakes, lots of chocolate milk, a good hot shower, a nap, a medal, and quite a bit of pride, if I'm completely honest with you and with myself.

THANK YOU!!!

Training ride #4, or trainus interruptus

This past Sunday was my last good training ride day. I will be in New Orleans for Memorial Day weekend and the Tour de Cure is on the following Sunday. My plan was to ride from home to Reston Parkway, turn around and ride west to Purcellville, then turn around and ride back home. That route is 56 miles, only five miles short of my Tour de Cure if I have Scott drive me back home and ten miles short if I ride the bike back home.

I got on the trail at 11:30am, much later than planned, but the trail wasn't too crowded. The trip to Reston and the return past home were easy. I worked on keeping my pace at a reasonable 13 MPH but it kept creeping up to 14.5 or so. I got into a spot of trouble in Ashburn when my sunscreen started running into my eyes. After clearing that up, I continued on while being pounded by the sun. The air temperature was only 80F and the humidity was tolerable, but that sun was baking me pretty hard. I couldn't wait to get into the tree cover outside of and through Leesburg. I got to Raflo park -- mile 22 of my trip -- and seriously considered calling Scott to come pick me up. But I rested in the shade and breeze, ate half a sandwich, ate a banana, and drained both water bottles. Thankfully, there was a working water fountain and I was able to refill.

I hit the trail again and was doing okay until I crossed Route 7 and began the climb up to Clark's Gap. The sun started baking me again and everything hurt. My gloves felt like they were squeezing my fingers, my shoes crushed my toes, my shorts pinched my thighs and lady parts, and my helmet felt like a vise on the back of my head. My hands were numb, my toes hurt, my right heel hurt, my head hurt. It's only 30 more miles, I bargained with myself. I can do that easily. But I slowed, and slowed, and slowed.

No, damnit! This is my last time to train! My body could NOT give up. Except that it did. I gave in and called Scott for rescue. I was at Clark's Gap but I asked him to meet me in Leesburg. I figured I could at least coast most of the way down hill to town. I was disappointed in myself and fretful about what this meant for the Tour. However, as I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening recovering from heat exhaustion, I realize that I made the right decision in calling for rescue.

You know, my not being a morning person makes me grumbly about tours and supported rides starting so blasted early in the morning. But now I understand why they do that. My Tour start time is between 7 and 8am so I feel a little better about not getting too sun baked while riding. Of course, now watch us get a monsoon on the day of.

Training ride #3

Since I skipped the group ride from Leesburg to Purcellville on Saturday, I made Sunday a training ride day. Scott agreed to meet me in Leesburg and ride to Purcellville and back so I had the first and last legs to myself. The ride out was pretty easy and, due to the gloomy skies, the W&OD wasn't too crowded. I found myself amongst a group of the lycra set and kept up with them through the downhills, eventually losing them before we got to Ashburn.

I made the twelve mile trip to Raflo Park -- middle of Leesburg -- in 49 minutes and waited for Scott to arrive. A couple with two young boys stopped in the gazebo where I waited and asked for suggestions on bikes for them and a carrier for the boys. I may have overwhelmed them with answers, but I stressed the importance of finding a good bike shop and asking lots of questions.

Raflo Park.

Scott finally joined me and, after chatting with the family for another 30 minutes or so, we hit the trail westward. That climb to Clarks Gap is a bugger and the downhill side is a welcome respite. I started to bonk around mile 20 as we made the final climb into Purcellville, but again the slight decline as we hit the town limits revived me enough for us to pedal slowly through town and find a restaurant for a well-deserved lunch.

The highest point is Clarks Gap.

I feared that heading back out on full stomachs might not be the best idea. Scott may have had the same thought and suggested that we stop and browse Trails End Cycling. He may have regretted that decision as I found a pair of white shoes at a significant discount off MSRP. A girl does want a choice in footwear... Of course the problem became how to get them home. We were both on road bikes with no baskets or racks. Scott volunteered to play his usual role of porter and crammed the shoes into his jersey pockets. Bless.

He promised he was comfortable.

The downhill ride home was a breeze and Scott was pleased to note all the recumbents out on the trail. He's developed a fascination with tadpole recumbents and I see a trip to bikes@vienna in our future. Anyway, I still felt great when we hit Leesburg and continued home alone as he loaded his bike onto the truck and drove home.

My final leg was pretty easy and I'm happy to say that I avoided any crashes with the ground, or anything else for that matter. I was able to play good Samaritan to another cyclist whom I noticed bleeding and limping along the side of the trail just east of route 15 by giving her some wet wipes and a band-aid. She said she didn't need any other assistance and I continued on my way. I even had enough energy to race a guy up the route 20-hate bridge (Scott's clever moniker) and not let him pass me until about half a mile from my neighborhood. I wound up with 46.99 miles in 3h 29m, a mile farther and 21 minutes faster than my last time riding this route. Color me very pleased.

Western end of the W&OD.

We ended the day with an hour at Scott's gym where I enjoyed feeling weightless in the pool and getting pounded by the waterfall in the spa. Now I just need to work up adding another 21 miles for the Tour de Cure in four weeks.

More damage

To me. The bikes are fine. In fact, it took Scott longer to put the bike on the back of the truck than it took for the bike mechanic to shift the horn/brake assembly back into position on the side portion of the handlebar. Apparently, the actual metal part of the handlebar was completely unscathed. I had no idea that the horns could bend so much! Now I just need to take a Sharpie to the edge of the brake handle and Circe will be back at 100%.

Friday night I rode my hybrid over to B's house and then rode the trails around her house with her. It would have been a faster trip to her house, but she's getting used to riding again and is on a hybrid so I took the slower bike with new combo platform/SPDs. These SPDs are pretty tight as I discovered when I lost momentum going up a hill, lost my balance, and couldn't unclip before falling sideways into a ditch full of thorn bushes.

Good times.

B. pulled my bike off me and then hauled me out of the thorns. She also kindly pulled a couple of thorns out of my upper arm. I washed off the blood and we resumed our ride. I felt fine when we got back to her place and decided to ride back home. The traffic was kind of heavy for a Friday night, but I've gotten pretty comfortable around cars. I amused myself by hitting and maintaining the 25mph speed limit on a residential street which meant that the car behind me couldn't (well, not legally anyway) pass.

I hopped on the W&OD in Old Town Herndon for the trail leg of my trip and ran into a bit of trouble when the trail was CLOGGED with teens who were ignoring the concert happening on the green behind City Hall. I slowed way down but when a girl darted out in front of me, I went down hard on my right side.

The kids around me were horrified and helped me up, gathered my belongings which had fallen from my basket, continually asked if I was okay, and apologized again and again. I thanked them for their help and told them that I was very nearly a professional faller and I was okay. One of the boys said, "In that case..." and began to clap. I bowed, we all laughed, and I hopped back on for the final leg.

When I got home, Scott was horrified to see the bloody scratches on my left arm and leg, fresh bruise on my right arm, and streaks of blood from knee to ankle on my right leg. He's looking to develop a line of cycling clothing made of bubble wrap for me. I think I may simply need to go back to wearing leggings over my cycling shorts. I never got banged up like this when I was fully clothed.

Due the cuts and bruises and stiffness and soreness, I stayed home from the group ride today. I was disappointed to make that call this morning, but as of tonight I've realized that was the best choice. Scott and I will take our own trip out to Purcellville and back tomorrow. Oh, and he's going to loosen the clips on my pedals a tiny bit so I can yank my feet out more easily and not escalate injuries.

Damage

During last weekend's ride, I overheard a cyclist tell his friend that when learning to ride clipless, you will fall three times. I had my third, and worst, fall last night.

I was exiting a shopping center (what my friends and I call the "Bavarian Monstrosity" at the corner of Centreville Road and Sunrise Valley in Herndon) and the driveway was a fairly steep hill. The driver in front of me gunned his car to make a right turn but then hit his brakes. I hit my brakes and unclipped on the right towards the curb. Unfortunately, Circe decided to go left. She never goes left. All my falls have been to the right. But left we went and I couldn't unclip fast enough and went down in front of a car. I hopped up as fast as I could, yanking my foot out of the left shoe and bounded with bike to the grassy spot next to the driveway. I lost a little skin on my left knee because I was wearing bike shorts instead of my usual capris, but I wasn't bleeding much. It took some work to wrench the shoe off the pedal, but eventually I got everything in order and walked the bike up the hill so I could clear my head of the shock and adrenaline.

Eventually I felt comfortable enough to get back into traffic and, because darkness was quickly falling, headed for home. I was a couple of miles from home when I realized that my left brake handle felt weird and I had to put my hand in an odd position to use it. It was only then that I noticed the left horn was no longer 90 degrees from the handlebar; it was more like 75 degrees from the handlebar. That didn't seem good. But it was working well enough and I got home just as full darkness came on.

Today I'm a little sore on my left side -- dull surprise -- and have discovered that I scraped up my elbow as well. The road rash on my knee isn't too bad, but I've got some pretty spectacular bruises. This isn't putting me off riding with a girlfriend tonight; though I will be on my hybrid. Scott works half days on Fridays and will take my bike over to the shop and get them to fix my handlebar. He said he could bend it back into place, but I want the professionals to handle this first repair.

May Day

It's the first of May (NSFW for language), my eighth wedding anniversary, and the start of National Bike Month. Whoo hoo! I've signed up for the WABA-sponsored Bike to Work Day -- yay, free food and swag en route to work -- and am anxiously awaiting to see what activities the fitness center at work will provide on May 18.

In other news, I -- well, the staff at my LBS -- have made some upgrades to Circe and Lily. Circe got a new stem Friday afternoon and that change has made my road bike so much easier to ride. My hands usually went numb a few miles into a ride; on Saturday, I completed a thirty-two mile ride with no numbness or discomfort. I even felt comfortable enough to ride in the drops a few times and I didn't feel like I would take a header over the handlebar. The new stem has me riding in a slightly higher position which is a lot more comfortable on my overdeveloped ab and my back. As my core strength improves, I'll probably go back to the shorter stem.

Lily got a thorough bath on Sunday. And I do mean thorough. It was a two and a half hour ordeal, but I got every bit of road grime off the frame and out of the cogs and sprockets. Her rims, cassette, chain wheel, and chain practically sparkle. She's not showroom clean, but she's the cleanest I've seen her since taking possession. Unfortunately, when I put her in the two highest/hardest gears, there was some grinding in the chain wheel. I could have monkeyed with the front derailleur, but I let the professionals handle that and I had the mechanic change out the spiky pedals for the combo platform/spds I purchased a few weeks ago. It's going to take a little getting used to riding with pedals that aren't grippy, but I'm happy to have the option of riding clipless while commuting.

Comedy of errors

The weather promised to be beautiful and I had no directly-after-work obligations so today was the perfect day for this fair weather cyclist to commute. Unfortunately, those after work obligations and weekend laziness -- okay, I wasn't entirely lazy; I did clean the house, after all -- caused the MUCH-needed cleaning of my beloved Lily the Ariel to fall by the wayside. Her chain and sprockets are filthy and have been making terrible grindy noises for a while. At this point, I'm kind of afraid to ride her until I've given the chain and cassette some TLC. With those considerations, I rode Circe the Dolce to work.

This is the second time I've commuted by road bike and I find the departure preparation is more intense than the hybrid's. Mainly, Lily is outfitted with a basket and shopping pannier. I dump my purse in the basket and clothes bag in the pannier and hit the road. I typically check the tire pressure every few days or so because she's got a fairly wide pressure range and when I top off, I go to the top of the range. Not so with Circe. She has no basket and no rack. I had to  scrounge up the hub's backpack and stow my clothes in a plastic bag within the backpack -- he keeps some of his martial arts gear in there and it's kind of stinky -- and dump my purse necessaries into the pack. Where are my gloves? Where are my helmet and glasses? Yes, I wear a different helmet and glasses on the road bike. Oh! Tire pressure. Circe's a fickle beast and her narrow tire pressure range requires my checking every time I take her out. Yep, low again.

Is it just me, or does everyone work up a sweat using a little pump to inflate tires?

All right. Got all the gear. Got the bike outside and the front door locked. Ready for take off and I realize that I had taken off the front reflector so I could attach the handlebar bag. No worries, Virginia law states either a front reflector of a headlight and my little wo blinky is on the front fork... except it isn't. Drat! It must've fallen off in transport at some time. Good thing those lights are cheap. Back into the house to find the reflector... crap, where did I put it when I cleaned? After a fairly quick and unsuccessful search, I said screw it and decided to go with a headlight. I dug through the basket in the coat closet and found a suitable light. Good thing I checked to see if it worked, though, because it had no batteries. Good thing I have a stockpile of rechargeables in the kitchen drawer. It took another five minutes or so to actually attach the headlight to my surprisingly thick handlebar.

Is it just me, or does everyone work up a sweat when attaching a headlamp and discovering that they are now running pretty late for work?

After that, the commute itself was a snap aside from the rusted out pickup truck nearly running me down when he tried to make a U-turn at the opening of the neighborhood as I approached the stop sign. Oh, and the indecisive groundhogs who slithered across the W&OD trail and then couldn't decide whether to proceed or retreat as I approached at speed. Oh, and the cars passing me so closely on that last stretch of surface street before the campus that their side mirrors would have grazed me if I'd stuck out my elbow. At least the weather was nice and I was only two minutes late for the conference call.

Paul's Ride for Life

This coming Saturday is the fourth annual Paul's Ride for Life in Reston, VA. According to the event's website, this ride is dedicated to the memory of a cyclist, Paul Rossmeissl, who died in June 2006 from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident on the W&OD. Paul's unfortunate death allowed three organ recipients to live. All proceeds from the ride go to the Washington Regional Transplant Community. 



If you're localish, this event might be of interest. It looks like Saturday is going to be pretty nice for cycling with overcast skies and a high of 55F. Well, it'll be nice for me as I prefer chillier days. Scott and I are being punks and riding the twenty mile route, but we are going to ride our bikes to and from the event which will put another ten miles onto the day for us.

In addition to the ride, the sixth annual Cyclefest Expo will be going on from 10a-3p in Reston Town Center. "Multiple vendors"? Oh, yeah; I'm there. Although, I'll be on the Dolce which doesn't have much in the way of cargo capacity... Hrm. I suppose putting Lily's metal or Kate's wicker basket on Circe would be the peak of silliness.

Training ride #2

I hit the trail at the crack of 1pm on Saturday (so not a morning person) for another training ride. Just like last weekend, Scott met me at Idylwood Park in Falls Church, but this time we continued east along the Washington &Old Dominion Trail until its junction with the Custis Trail and rode that to Rosslyn. Since I'd ridden that route before, I called out to him the blind corners ahead of time -- for which he was grateful -- and gave him a heads-up on potentially troublesome intersections as well as the switchback ramp leading down to the Roosevelt Island parking lot. The ramp was much less scary my second time down but he found it terrifying. He kept one foot unclipped and extended the entire ride down just in case... but we made it to the base safely.

(Yes, there are commuters who face that ramp just about everyday, but we live in the sticks and don't have to deal with switchbacks... except for the one just west of Clarke's Gap which is especially fun in autumn when it's blanketed in leaves. But anyway...)

Sterling to Falls Church to Arlington and back to Falls Church.

On the W&OD, you can easily ride two abreast. Source.

I wouldn't try that on the MVT. Source.

I realized something as we pedaled along the Mount Vernon Trail: that multi-use path feels about half the width of the W&OD. It seems like the MVT could almost fit in one lane of W&OD. I find passing other cyclists and pedestrians fairly harrowing. I always feel like a jerk because I'm passing too closely, following too closely to wait for an oncoming cyclist to pass, or nearly running oncoming peds and cyclists off the trail. Suburban trails, like suburban streets, are wide expanses compared to their more urban counterparts, I guess. Yes, I'm generalizing a bit.


Okay, so the photos don't show that great a difference, but note how much space the W&OD guys take up compared with the MVT guy. Maybe I'll take my own comparison photos; that would require my taking my life into my hands by being even more of a jerk and stopping on the trail.

We stopped for a short picnic break between the Memorial Bridge and Lady Bird Johnson Park where I marveled at the Washington, DC skyline. I still feel a flutter in my chest when I see the monuments and Smithsonian castle across the river and realize that I live in the nation's capital. Okay, I live twenty-five miles northwest of the nation's capital, but you get the picture. The hubs, who spent most of his years in Annapolis, is less impressed seeing as how he had field trips there all the time. But for me, despite living in Virginia for sixteen years now, that skyline still gets to me.

We hopped back on our bikes and reached Gravelly Point Park -- which was CLOGGED with people -- easily. The ride to and past National Airport was harder because we were beginning to tire and the wind from the south kept getting stronger and stronger, but once we turned onto the Four Mile Run Trail, it was smooth sailing again. I have to say that I was very glad to have Scott with me at that end of 4MRT because the isolation creeped me out pretty badly, but I eventually relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. We returned to civilization fairly quickly and panted our way up to the W&OD trailhead in Shirlington.

Oh my goodness, I had NO idea how pretty the trail is up there. Well, once you get out of the urban part, that is. I want to explore the paths down along the stream. I guess that's still Four Mile Run? Somewhere along the way, I called out to Scott that we needed to stop. He was worried that I'd hurt myself, but I was scrabbling through the bush of the side of the trail trying to find the plant that smelled like the plant that used to grow in the bayou near the farmhouse where I grew up in Arkansas. I love the scent of whatever it is, but I have no idea what the plant is and I can't remember what it looks like. But gracious, does it smell sweet and it send me right back to my childhood.

Back on the bikes and we pushed to the meeting point of W&OD, 4MRT, and Custis. I began to tire and was nearly done by the time we got to Shreve Road. I bargained with myself, promised myself that I could walk Circe up the formidable hill that is Virginia Avenue (like last weekend), told myself that the truck was less than a commute distance away, and I didn't have to ride fourteen miles against the wind back to Sterling. The ride up Virginia Avenue was hard and I pushed myself to "get to the next driveway" and then I could walk and just as I thought I couldn't climb any more, the street leveled off and I could get ready for the downhill into Idylwood Park.

Route elevations

I wound up with just under forty miles with the ride. I'm trying not to be disappointed in my stamina and reminding myself that I'm still adjusting to the road bike and new posture. Scott stressed that I'm riding faster than I could on the hybrid and I'm able to go farther with each ride.

New gear

Lily is great for road trips thanks to her basket and pannier. I can (over)pack whatever I might need for a longish ride such as snacks, extra beverages, an assortment of gloves, extra jacket, speakers for the iPod, etc. Even the larger pump can fit in either the basket or pannier. Circe doesn't have that storage capacity. Even her seat post bag -- the Detours medium Guppy -- is smaller than Lily's.

I love its wee flowers.

I've crammed a spare tube, CO2 cartridge, tire levers, multitool, handi-wipe package, a tiny amount of emergency cash, and a couple of band-aids in the Guppy and that sucker is PACKED. I might be able to wedge my house and bike lock keys in there, but no way could I stow my phone or snacks.

Detours Mighty meh.

My first solution was a Detours Mighty Midge stem bag, but I was never completely happy with it. I couldn't fit much in the way of snacks in there and it wound up getting pretty full with phone, cash, ID, and keys. Plus there was no good place to stash my handkerchief. Despite trying to use and love the bag, the final straw was when it fell out of the mount no less than three times during the solo portion of my training ride last weekend. Thank goodness I was stopped each time. When Scott arrived at the park, I ripped the bag off my bike at threw it at the backseat of my truck in disgust.

However, that wasn't the only bag on my bike. Oh no. I also had a Bell handlebar bag which DID contain gloves, headband, PB&J, banana, camera, and the contents of the stem bag after it was removed. It, however, also had drawbacks. It unzips in the front and, if not opened carefully, will dump its contents into an unseemly pile in front of the bike. It also doesn't play nice with the brake and gear cables and I was nervous that the velcro straps would come undone since they were so tenuously clasped in order to make room for the cables. It was close, but not right.

I'm hopeful that the Detours Metro is the final solution to my portage problem.

My aesthetic needs are satisfied.

It's roomy without being overwhelming. It has multiple openings for stashing items of different sizes and shapes. And it matches my saddle bag and the colorway of my bike. (Shush.)

The cover flips up to reveal mesh pockets and a deep front pocket.

Headband and bag strap, check. Windbreaker, check. There's room left over in the deep pocket for extra gloves, sport drink powder packs, and a marmoset or a small lemur. When its cover is flipped open like this, the inside of the cover has a clear pocket which could hold a route sheet, but I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the cover open like that. On the other hand, the marmoset might like feeling the wind in its fur.

Can't go anywhere without my HoneyStinger waffles.

The top zips open to reveal deep storage which will easily accommodate a sandwich, banana, waffles, and my camera. The zippered inner pocket will easily hold my phone, ID cards, and cash, and the key ring will do what key rings are supposed to do.

No attachment anxiety here.

The attachment mechanism does a fairly good job of playing nicely with the cables and keeps the bag pushed out from the handlebars enough that I can wrap my fingers around the flat portion when I want to give my hands a rest and/or sit uprightish for a bit. The bag is removable from the bike by pulling on the ring on the back of the bag. Be careful of jostling the small mammal in the front pocket.

The hubs and I are taking a training ride tomorrow and I will report back on how well (or not) this bag performs on a modified Arlington Triangle route.

Training ride #1

I've been moping about how much solo cycling I do. While I cherish my alone time on the bike, I do occasionally get a little lonesome putting in all those miles by myself. With that in mind, I jumped at the chance to ride on Sunday with friends who are also training to ride in the ADA Tour de Cure in June.

Bel, Bob, Scott, & me with our trusty Specialized steeds.

My route was slightly shorter than my planned fifty mile ride, but I still managed almost 37 miles by riding from Sterling (mi 22.5) to Idylwood Park in Falls Church (mi 8.5) , backtracking to Hunter Mill in Reston (between mi 14.5 & 15) with Bel, Bob, & Scott then riding back to our meet-up spot in Falls Church (mi 8.5) and continuing with Scott up to the spot in Arlington where the W&OD meets the Custis (~ mi 4), and then back to the park in Falls Church where the truck was waiting to carry us back home. I am so thankful that Scott drove the truck to meet me at the park. While an easterly tailwind got me to Falls Church in an hour, that same wind was a killer going westbound. My legs were killing me on the final leg of our ride and I wouldn't have made the slog back to Sterling in that headwind.

Elevations from Shirlington (0) to Sterling (22.5). Source.

During the ride, I took my first clipped-in spill. I unclipped on the left and promptly fell to the right on to a, thankfully, super soft patch of grass. Also thankfully, I remembered to leave my right foot clipped in so I wouldn't possibly sprain it or worse. Bob and Scott were horrified, but I threw my arms in the air -- after crawling out from under the bike -- and hollered "Whoo hoo! I'm a real cyclist now!" Circe was fine and I was merely covered in chain grease from my knees down. My pride wasn't even bruised; I was too jazzed that the fall wasn't anywhere as painful or scary as I had imagined it would be.

Scott took his Crux off-road and disappeared in the bush.

The training ride shook my belief in my being able to ride a metric century, much less a full one. But I have to keep reminding myself that this was the first longish distance ride on my new bike and I have six more weekends of training -- I'm out of town Memorial Day weekend -- before the big event. There's plenty of time to continue training and the ride will be okay.

Overachiever

In less than twenty-four hours and within fifteen miles of riding with combo clipless/platform pedals, I decided that I'd rather have dual-sided clipless pedals. Luckily, based upon my enthusiasm for the new pedals, Scott decided Saturday morning that he wanted a set as well. En route to the shop, I asked Scott if he'd like my pedals on his bike and I'd get the new pedals for mine. Since both sets of pedals use the same style of cleats, switching them around wouldn't be an issue. He thought that was a great idea and the Spokes, Etc. mechanics were only too happy to set us up.

Circe at rest.

Oh my gosh but the dual-sided pedals were even easier to use than the combo pedals! Scott used the platform sides for the ride home and I coached him through clipping in and out Sunday morning and he took off to practice with his new pedals and shoes on the W&OD. He came back all grins.

When he's ready to change his combos out for standard clipless, we'll move those pedals over to my Ariel so I can either clip in or wear regular shoes on commutes and shopping trips.

Kate's a natural against cherry blossoms.

In slower and lower news, I love my cruiser so very much. I've decided to name her Kate because she's so spunky and all the Kates I know are overflowing with personality. I love that everybody smiles at her. Little girls gasp as I cruise by and even the two ten-year-old boys I pedaled past yesterday let out a breathless "Cooooool". Her only drawback is that my cable-and-string-eating cat Oreo wants her tassels so badly.

Ima eat your tassels.

Apparently plastic tassels are made of noms.

Going clipless

I biked to work this morning on the Dolce so I could ride directly from the office to Spokes for a personalized fitting. And since I was getting the fitting, I decided that I may as well switch out the pedals and get some clipless shoes and cleats. I chose the Shimano PD-A530 SPD pedals (I think... I'm too tired to get up and verify) which have a clip on one side and a platform on the other and Specialized's Women's Spirita Touring Shoes (surprisingly comfy!). Alexander took his time measuring my angles and adjusting my posture. Everything seemed to line up satisfactorily and he suggested trying a shorter stem if I continue to experience hand pain. I think that particular issue is clearing up as I can now ride in the horns for ten miles before my hands start hurting.

After the fitting, he let me stay on the trainer and practice clipping and unclipping until I felt comfortable to try it on the open road. My sometimes-elegant (-ish) dismount method off platform pedals didn't really lend itself to a clipless dismount and I had to talk aloud to commit "move pedal to 6:00 position, unclip, coast, brake, lean to unclipped side, put unclipped foot down, and get clipped foot into 2:00/10:00 or 3:00/9:00 position for take-off" to memory. My platform dismount is "move pedal to 6:00 position, coast, brake, stop, take foot off 12:00 pedal and sail forward off saddle so I can touch the ground, step off 6:00 pedal and kick it up to 3:00/9:00 for the next take-off".

Yeah.

Anyway, I finally felt like I had the process figured out and I hit the open road -- literally; the shop is about four miles from the W&OD trail -- and, as luck would have it didn't need to unclip until I got to the gravel turn-off for my neighborhood. Yes, you have to "turn off the paved road" to get from the trail to my neighborhood. It amused me that every single stop light was green and every single intersection was free of oncoming vehicles. I successfully unclipped to leave the trail and successfully clipped back in on the neighborhood street. My only issue was when I got home, unclipped on the left, and promptly fell to the right. Luckily, I caught myself on the side of my truck and was able to correct before hitting asphalt. D'oh.

Impression? I LOVED riding in cleats. I was able to power up hills more easily and I could feel different muscles working. I can see how using this style of pedal/shoe combination will make it easier to ride longer distances. I wasn't nearly as psyched out by having my feet attached to my bike as I was afraid I'd be. Some day I'll fall with my feet clipped in but I'm almost used to falling with my feet on platforms so no big.

Prepping to dash

Since I was already sweaty from my commute yesterday evening, I decided to get even sweatier and changed into my running shoes for a brisk walk around the neighborhood. I'd mapped out a three and a half mile route when I walked regularly in 2010 and 2011 and that's the route that I used yesterday to get back into non-bikey exercise.

I shambled along the first mile feeling like my feet were cement blocks. It sucked and I wanted to turn around and take my road bike out instead. But I persevered and as I entered the second mile, my pace increased and I felt lighter. I jogged a TINY bit -- and I do mean TINY -- but I didn't feel like I would die when I slowed down. Walking and running really do use different muscles than biking. Weird.

One of my current goals is to reduce my flabby belly so I can fit into all the cute shorts, skirts, and capris I bought for last summer. I've also got an adorable jersey and sweet exercise skirts which are a little too tight for my pride. The regular biking has firmed up my legs and booty, but my belly and arms are in a sad shape. Crunches, push-ups, and strength training are part of my renewed exercise regimen as well.

My other goal is participating in the Maryland edition of the Warrior Dash in May. Scott ran the Dash in Charles County, VA, last October and had so much fun he's going to run it again. I thought it looked fun enough for me to give it a go in 2012. I need endurance and strength to get through the course.

Of course, there's bike training to be done as well. I'm aiming to ride the metric century (~65 miles) in this year's Backroads Century (ride date is 23 September; registration opens 1 May). I can comfortably ride Circe for fifteen miles or so and I've got to get in more time on the saddle to ride that additional fifty on the road bike.

Joyful

This evening was absolutely glorious. I got home from the orthodontist just before dark and had to take Circe out for a short ( <5 miles) ride. I rode through the neighborhood on the other side of the boulevard and picked up the W&OD for the return home. But as I approached my hopping off point, I had to keep on going. I could smell someone's dinner grilling. A choir of peepers sang as I flew past. I looked up and realized that the last light of the sunset reflected on the clouds in the west while the full moon in the east cast a pink glow on the wispy clouds in front of it. I'm so thankful for having the opportunity to experience such beauty.

But it's not all sublime joy about these parts. I was gleeful to discover that I hit over 30 mph while going through the twin hills on the W&OD east of Sterling Blvd. Wheee! And that was before the flame job.

Flame on, you crazy diamond frame. Or something.

 But that wasn't the only decorating. I couldn't neglect my trusty commuter. It's beginning to feel like spring and Rose needed prettying up with a garland of lilies and a floral bag.

Springtime Rose/Lily.

You'd think I'd use roses, but the white roses and greenery looked to "wedding-y". Hm. And now that I think about it, I might have to rename the Ariel "Lily". That feels more natural than "Rose".

Margie and Oreo helped out to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, that help consisted mostly of trying to eat the silk leaves.

Margie is why the rum is all gone. And some of the leaves.

 

I'm too cold to think of a title

We didn't make it to WABA's Vasa Ride yesterday. Scott wasn't up to a thirty mile ride and I didn't want to go without him. I wasn't too keen on the super early hour we'd have to be out of the door to make it, either. Instead, Scott planned to ride to the gym, swim, and ride home. Before leaving, though, he worked on attaching some bar-end handle thingies to his bike, but couldn't get the handle over the stem of his rear view mirror. The stem of the rear view mirrors we both have are slightly too big for the inner diameter of his handlebar tube so Adam shaved the stem down just a bit and mashed it into the handlebar. The bar attachment thingie Scott wanted to put on couldn't open wide enough for him to slip it over the mirror end and he wasn't able to pry the mirror off his handlebar. I suggested we take his bike to the local bike shop and get Adam to work his magic. This ride would also  give me a chance to put more miles on Circe.

The Weather Channel promised a little bit of wind in our neck of the woods, but I would call that "little bit of wind" downright blustery. We took turns acting as windbreaks for each other and that worked out pretty well. I was amused to feel the difference in exertion depending upon which one of us was in front and in rear.

We made it to the shop without issue; although Scott was fairly wiped out from the seven mile ride. He had plenty of time to recover, though, since Sunday is apparently the day when everybody comes in for maintenance. I was sad that the usual gang wasn't on staff, but I guess they need a day off every now and then. While we waited for Scott's turn, I purchased a couple of bottle cages for Circe because the pair I had were too loose and made my bottle rattle the. entire. ride. over. As I swapped out old cages for new, a couple of the salesguy came over to ask if I wanted assistance. I laughed that it was just bottle cages and I was good. One of the guys praised my self-sufficiency. I told him I could even change a tire and had taken my friend's cruiser apart and put it back together. They said I should watch out or they might hire me. I joked back that I wouldn't mind the employee discount. That banter carried over to Scott's perusal of cyclocross bikes where he asked if it was possible to change out the nubby tires for slicks and vice versa. Salesguy said yes and that I could show Scott how to do that. Heh.

The ride home was MUCH easier now that we had a tailwind and I was really able to open Circe up. I was able to get her to just over 26 mph on a flat section and sailed up a hill at 24. I then coasted for a couple of minutes to let Scott catch up. It was fun showing off and passing him on hills especially on the route 28 overpass. I hit that sucker at 14 mph and crested at just under 13. All in all, it was a fun outing and I'm enjoying getting used to the new bike.

Second ride

I took Circe out for a second spin after getting home from work last night. I eschewed the W&OD, which was chock full of other cyclists and strolling families, for neighborhood streets and gunned it to the top end of my comfort level. It's going to take a while before shifting becomes natural; since there are no dials at the shifters, I tend to look down at the chain to figure out an approximation of what gear I'm in. Yeah, that's about as safe as it sounds.

I put my hands in a slightly looser position on the horns and saved the thumb/index webbing from further abuse, so that's good. I've wound up with chain grease on the side of my right calf during the past two rides and that's weird. It may be how I'm standing at stops; more research indicated.

Oh, and toe overlap: I have it. In perusing the internet -- because it knows all -- this seems to be a fairly common occurrence with compact frame cycles. It's annoying at very low speeds when I'm steering a fairly sharp turn, but I'm pretty sure I can work around that.

First ride on the Dolce

Tonight was my first actual ride on the Dolce and I learned many things during the short, six mile jaunt:

• She wants to go fast. I barely had to pedal and she was off and running. I even raced up that blasted hill to the 28 bridge at 12mph. WHAT?? And, when I got home I wasn't a sweaty mess despite riding faster and farther than I do during a commute. Instead, I was merely glistening and my hair was almost completely dry.
• My posture needs a lot of work. That's hardly surprising since, aside from the test rides, my road bike experience was a couple of short rides on my cousin's bike in my early teens. Riding on the horns and in the drop bars put pressure on the webbing between my thumbs and index fingers. Also, I don't need bike shorts for anything less than thirty miles on the Ariel, but I could've used them tonight. The saddle isn't that different from the hybrid's, but my posture put uncomfortable pressure on new and interesting places. Ouch.
• She is light! I already knew this because I've goofed around using the bike for bicep curls. :) There was a bit of a cross wind during my ride and I felt like I might have been blown off the trail if I weren't so heavy.
• She's also kind of squirrelly. Riding one handed was... frightening. I'll get there, and I might even get to hands-free someday, but it's going to take some practice.
• Her name is Circe and we're going to be fast friends. See what I did there?

New bike!

Back in January, I test rode a Specialized Dolce Comp Compact and fell in love. I had decided that my next bike would be of the road variety so I could increase my mileage and participate in metric and actual centuries. When my bonus hit the bank account on Friday, I knew this was the weekend that I would make that bike mine.

Since I was already at the bike shop and learned from the manager that all branches of Spokes give club discounts on bikes and accessories -- Bike Me DC counts as a club, whoo hoo! -- I had Max pull the 54cm Dolce down and prep it for a test ride. Despite the gorgeous weather, the test was a short ride because 1) I'd already ridden the same style of bike and I wanted to make sure this one felt the same and 2) I needed to save my legs for the (uphill) ride back home. I carried the bike back into the store and declared, "SOLD!" I then phoned Scott and asked him to drive over and carry the new bike home. I think everyone was shocked that I wasn't going to ride it home, but I want to get used to the new bike in my own neighborhood rather than the open road and trail. After all, I'm used to a flat handlebar and a fairly upright position. The horns, drop bars, and brake/shifter combo levers are going to take some time to learn.

I still haven't ridden her, mostly due to lack of time. It's looking like the weather will be fairly mild, for February, on Sunday and I will be able to make friends with my new ride and figure out a proper name for her. "Nancy" is still stuck in my head despite not sounding "fast". Mom suggested that spelling the name as "Nanci" sounds racier. I think she's right.