Admission is the first step

The main reason behind my not commuting recently is that I developed a fear about riding home in the dark. More specifically, I was terrified of riding the unlit 1.25 miles from the campus to the trail. My headlight is more than adequate for seeing the road ahead and my taillight is also powerful and (hopefully) attention-grabbing. Plus, I have multiple weights of reflective outerwear. However, I've had so many close swipes in daylight from jackhole drivers in that distance that the thought of riding in the dark on those streets made me panicky.

It's skeery out there.

The weather yesterday was so beautiful that I HAD to take advantage of it. And you know what? The ride home was actually more relaxing than the ride in. I felt so calm and happy when I got home that I cajoled the Hubs to come out and ride around with me to look at Christmas lights. We cruised up and down neighborhood streets and my love for riding at this time of year was renewed.

I light up the night.

So beautiful

Autumn weather has descended upon the mid-Atlantic region, and the hubs and I took full advantage of it this morning with an impromptu ride to Leesburg and back. I'm proud of Scott for making the 24 mile round trip considering he hasn't been on his bike in probably a month. With a few rides over the next two weeks, we should be ready for the 30ish mile route of the Backroads Century on September 23.

Still looks like a vintage Doctor Who location.

The ride itself was fairly easy. There were a lot of folks out on the trail, but it wasn't nearly as crowded as I would have expected. I'd planned to take it easy on Scott so I suggested that we turn around at the Luck Stone Quarry.

Once we'd arrived at the quarry, he still felt energetic and wanted to continue on to Raflo Park in Leesburg.

Lookin' good and feelin' great.

The only spot of trouble happened as I rounded the base of the Route 15 underpass and spooked when another cyclist popped out from the other side. Luckily, I'm used to getting startled there and was already at nearly a crawl. I yelped, hit the brakes, and slid off the seat to stop moving just before clipping the wall. I've got to stop being so high strung.

The gazebo at Raflo Park is approximately twelve miles from our house and the first rest stop of the Backroads is at twelve miles. Now, we'd stopped a couple of times en route for readjustments and little breaks, but we didn't want a significant break until that point. We wound up visiting for a while with another cyclist who'd ridden from the eastern side of Herndon and compared stories of experiences with the various trails in the area and interactions with other cyclists and pedestrians. Oh, and he also hated the approach and climb to the Rte 28 bridge. Heh.

The ride back to Ashburn is mostly downhill and we needed no breathers along the way. We did, however, stop at Ashburn Road and snack a bit outside of Carolina Bros. BBQ. That stop was approximately eighteen miles into our ride and the second rest stop of the Backroads is at mile twenty. But back to the BBQ. As a native of the Memphis area, I am practically powerless against BBQ'd pig. While His Nibs kept cool in the shade, I trotted over to the restaurant for a take-away sandwich platter and slice of pecan pie which fit fairly well in my basket.

Lookin' good but feelin' the burn.

Not as busy as I'd suspect on such a gorgeous day.

The ride from Ashburn to Sterling is mostly uphill and I rode at an easy pace. Scott pulled ahead and sailed up and over 20-hate at which point his quad seized up and he massaged his leg until I caught up. Poor dear. The last mile and half was trouble-free, though, and we both felt pretty good when we pulled our bikes into the house. We just need to get a few more rides in over the next couple of weeks and we'll be good to go. Also? It's going to be 55F tomorrow morning. I can't wait to ride to work!

Bike DC 2012

Starting line crush.

Aside from some unpleasantness before and during the Bike DC event, Scott and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. I'll start with the bad:

 - Waking at an ungodly hour so that we could get to Gravelly Point by 6am to meet our bike club and get registration materials. Seriously, I don't know how you early morning commuters do it. I'm unhappy if I have to get up before 7:30am.

- The choke points at 50/Meade, all of Marshall, and Washington Blvd/Columbia Pike. The mixture of speedsters and children as the full ride and family ride converged made all of those especially fun.

- And speaking of little kids: eleven miles up and down strenuous hills is really too much for a "family fun ride". If I were supreme ruler, I would have kept the little ones on a downtown course around the Mall or something. More fun, and safer, for everybody.

These guys planned to ride the entire 24-mile route.

- Food, or rather lack of choices in the food. There were apples, bananas, water, granola bars, and candy at the two rest stops. I didn't see any food at the beginning -- I would have maimed someone for a bagel with cream cheese -- and the food at the end was bananas, bags of chips, and Jolly Ranchers. I expected maybe something like a cookout atmosphere with burgers and hot dogs at the finish line. My expectations of supported tours has been completely ruined by the fantastic spread that the Backroads Century provides at rest stops and the end, but come on! I can't eat apples, Twizzlers, or Jolly Ranchers because of my braces. I've now eaten enough bananas that I'm sure I'll make a Geiger counter click.

That being said, we did have a good time on the full route. I got to go places and see things I haven't experienced before. I'd never personally seen the front of the White House before. I'd never been on a cycle track. I'd never ridden behind unicyclists.

Not as impressive as the back, but still pretty.

I've driven on Rock Creek Parkway less than a handful of times and traveling it via bike was one of the more amazing things I've done. What can I say, I lead a boring life.

 We rode on the GW Parkway of DEATH. I've now seen the Iwo Jima Memorial in person and the Air Force Memorial from the base. I'm still buzzing about riding through the K Street tunnel and up and down car-free DC streets. I do wish, though, that more of the ride had been in the actual DC boundaries. I mean, it was fun riding in Virginia, but DC, man. And now that I think about it, all of the congestion was in the Virginia half of the ride. Coincidence? I think not.

We got to ride our bikes on an INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, y'all. Mind, blown.

It's just another 25 miles west to home.

After crossing the finish line and not finding any suitable food, we snagged our T-shirts, purchased a couple of "vintage" ride shirts, and cruised across town back to Virginia on non-car-free streets. I wasn't entirely sure how to get where we needed to go, but I did know that once we hit Constitution, my bearings would return. We rode through the Mall and wound our way past the Vietnam Wall and on to the Lincoln Memorial which I haven't been up close and personal with since my family visited during Spring Break 1990.

All in all, and aside from the snafus, we had fun. Unless something more important or pressing comes up next year, we'll probably ride in Bike DC again. I do hope that my girlfriends become stronger and more confident cyclists by then so we can ride together.

I promise I did not photoshop our bikes onto a postcard.

Another fun point is that I got lots of compliments on the floral basket. So many in fact that Scott was disappointed no one commented on his Hula girl shirt. People eventually noticed his sartorial flair and we wound up about even on comments. One guy even suggested that Scott invest in a dashboard Hula girl to attach to his helmet for the next group ride. We're both pretty keen on that idea.

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.

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.

Bikes! Bikes everywhere!

After returning home from my clipless adventure yesterday, I accompanied Scott (via truck) to the Vienna Spokes, Etc location so he could test ride a deeply discounted 2011 Specialized Crux Elite. SpokesPerson Mike set him up on a 54cm frame and Scott took it for a spin.

Later that afternoon and closer to home...

While he was out, I spied a row of Trek cruisers and, out of curiosity, sat on one. Wow, it was comfy. But totally unnecessary. I was still mentally arguing with myself when Scott returned and took out a 56cm frame for a test. Okay, I was going to test the cruiser, too.

Wow. I grinned like the Cheshire cat the entire time I was on that bike. Super comfy, super easy to "drive", and more fun than a barrel of drunken monkeys. My mind was made up by the time I got back to the shop. Happily, Scott's mind was made up as well and we both walked out of the store with new bikes; although, his didn't include a basket and streamers.

How cute is she??

 We had to go out for a ride as soon as got home and I actually did a fairly good job of keeping up with Scott despite my being on a bike with no gears. Heh. I did finally lay off the afterburners and cruised while he took off and stretched his and the Crux's legs. I felt comfortable being helmet-less and enjoyed letting my hair flow in the wind. Everybody, and I mean everybody, smiled and waved at me on my silly little super girly bike. I was grinning ear to ear.

Reality struck when we got back home. We now have five bikes in our house. Holy cow, we've got to get on the ball with the basement remodel so there's some place to store them other than the bike garage dining room.

We'll have to remove the table to make room for the cruiser.

Good thing we don't use the dining room for actual dining purposes all that often.

Househunting by bike

Not that we're in the market, of course, but our current townhouse is a starter home and we're always grabbing for-sale flyers to compare interiors and prices in this area. My last townhouse was in Herndon and I loved living there because it felt like an actual town and not just a suburb. While riding around Herndon last night, Scott snagged a flier for this house.

Front porch, bay window, original wood floors in amazing condition, claw foot tub(!) and gorgeous tile in the bathroom, built in bookshelves. Built in 1900 with remodeled kitchen and baths. Mere steps away from Old Town Herndon and the W&OD. It's almost perfect -- there's no garage -- and it is, of course, way out of our price range and, more importantly, we're not in the market.

Scott is picking up a couple of lottery tickets tonight just in case.

Aaaand there's an open house on Saturday. We should be back from the Bike Me DC ride in time... I am such a masochist.

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.

Rawr

Every now and then I talk the hubster into meeting me along the trail as I ride home from work. On Wednesday he decided he didn't want to deal with the gym and said he'd meet me for the ride home. I warned him that I needed to do a little shopping as well, but those stops would be mostly surgical strikes.

I wound up leaving the office later than planned thanks to a last minute IM from the bossman and met Scott just before the blind curve on Smiths Switch. He turned around and fell in line behind me before a FedEx truck rumbled up behind us and then passed us with a WIDE berth. Heh heh heh.

Shopping and banking happened. The test run of my Avenir Softside shopping pannier happened (successfully). Not running down pedestrians happened. Seeing another cyclist in the shopping center happened ("He just left Eastern Mountain Sports so that doesn't count," said Scott). We headed for home and something new and exciting-to-me happened.

We rode up the blasted incline to the Route 28 overpass and I stayed in front of Scott the entire freaking time. I not only stayed ahead of him, I pulled away from him. Dude! Plus, I was loaded down with shopping bags, a tote, and my purse. I didn't need to gear down: I was in my middle gears the whole way up. I was breathing heavily when we got to the bridge, but I wasn't wheezing nor jelly-legged.

This morning's commute was pretty amazing. As rough as I felt on Wednesday morning, it was a complete 180 to this morning. I flew along the trail and street in my upper gears (even on the uphills) and beat my average speed of 12mph by almost 2mph. It. Was. Amazing.

Losing my mind

Dude. We mid-Atlantic dwellers are going to pay so much for this mild winter. We're either going to get slammed in a couple of weeks or the bugs next summer will be horrific. Either way, I'm going to take advantage of getting in as many bike rides as possible (and enjoy the lack of stink bugs invading my home to escape winter's chill).

Scott and I still need to work out a mutually agreeable definition of a "short" ride. We rode around Sterling doing Saturday morning errands such as fetching prescriptions, mailing packages, dropping off recyclables, and grocery shopping. After a quick lunch, I talked him into accompanying me on a ride to Herndon. The W&OD was full of bikers, joggers, and families. We made it up to Elden Street where I asked if he wanted to ride around Herndon or continue up the trail. He voted to continue on the trail. I then had an idea and suggested we take the Fairfax County Parkway trail up to Route 7 and ride through Sterling to home. He was game and we sped up and down the hills (max downhill speed 30.6 mph!). The ride home was mostly uneventful but the steep, steep uphills were rough.

On one of our rest breaks -- I'm getting over a cold and am not pushing myself as hard as I could -- Scott mentioned that he was getting annoyed with slipping off his pedals and wants a spiky pair like mine. I asked if he wanted to ride to the Ashburn Spokes, Etc. He looked at me like I'd lost my mind and nixed the idea.

Scott threw his chain (first time!) midway up a hill and I was grateful for the imposed break. He was kind of grateful, too. Heh. At that point, I told him I no longer wanted to ride to Spokes. His response was a gaspy, "Good."

We got back home and Scott draped himself on the floor while I bounced around, jazzed from all the fresh air and exercise but also hungry. I called the local Chinese place and ordered for pickup rather than my standard delivery. Again Scott looked at me like I'd lost my mind. Pshaw. The place is only a two mile round trip and just off the trail! He suggested a bike intervention. I laughed as I rode off into the sunset. Okay, perpendicular to the sunset.

A mostly good start

The hubster and I hit the trail on New Year's Day to return a few items to Tarzhay. The weather was sunny and warm when we left and I wore fingerless gloves and left the windbreaker at home. Scott runs colder than I do and wore more (and warmer) layers, but was still comfy on the ride over. When we got rolling, I had a ball updating him on how fast my cycling computer said we were going. I'm thrilled to bits that I'm a lot faster than I thought I was.

The trail wasn't choked with people, but there were more than the usual number of winter folks enjoying the mild weather. We got to the shopping center without issue, returned items, and then purchased a few more. We left the store and noticed the sky had clouded, the wind had picked up, and it was starting to drizzle. Scott suggested we seek refuge at Eastern Mountain Sports so he could browse sale items. He wound up not buying a thing while I picked up four pair (buy three, get one free!) of Smartwool snowboarding socks (because thick wool socks are a winter cyclist's best friend) and a Bern helmet. I've been lusting after the women's Berkeley model, but every one I tried at REI hurt my head. The men's Brentwood, on the other hand, fit beautifully and I walked out with the matte red with black visor version.

When we left EMS, I definitely regretted leaving my windbreaker and full finger gloves at home. The rain was heavier and with all the car traffic, Scott and I put our headlights on blink mode. I had to tell him to put the light on steady when we hit the trail, though. Blinky lights on a MUP are unnecessary and rude, I think.

The rain starting pounding down after we crossed 28 and we passed a few other cold and wet cyclists. Scott asked if we could skip our planned ride to the recycling center. Oh my, yes, that was off the table. And, of course, after warm showers and dry clothes, the sun came back out. Unfortunately, I'd broken a spoke somewhere along the way home and I wasn't going to ride anywhere until that got fixed (which it was yesterday when my bike shop was again open).

More cheer!

I keep messing up my husband's gym plans. When I left the orthodontist last night, I noticed how warm the air felt and decided that I needed to get on my bike before the rain and cold front came through Thursday night. I called Scott and suggested we go for a ride through the neighborhoods across the boulevard (which are NOTORIOUS for tacky [as well as pretty] Christmas light displays).

It really was a perfect night for a ride. No wind, mid-40s temps, little traffic, and great light displays. Scott usually suffers with decent humor my desire to drive around looking at lights; I asked if a ride wasn't a much better way to view the lights. His only complaint was that he couldn't drink while riding around.*

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*It's how my stepdad gets through touring Christmas lights with Mom and me. He'll have a Sheltie on his lap and a Miller Lite in his hand. It's a family tradition!

Cheer!

On Friday, Scott was trying to muster up enthusiasm to go to the gym. I suggested that he instead meet me on the way home and we could bike through a few neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights. He liked that idea and that's exactly what we did.

He didn't want to wait at the proposed meeting place and instead met me a little further than halfway. We nearly passed each other on the trail, but he recognized the Christmas lights adorning my basket. He also mentioned that he could see my headlight from the time I turned off the street onto the trail, a distance of just over a mile. And that was on medium power! Heh heh heh. Another fun thing was that I was able to keep up with him as we rode up the Rte 28 overpass. I've never been able to keep up with him. Yay!

We jumped off the trail at Church and rode the sidewalk down to the next neighborhood. We (okay, I) oohed and aahed at the pretty lights and amusing yard displays. I wish I'd taken my camera, but I'm not very good at taking night shots anyway. The funniest set-up, though, was a yard full of inflatable penguins, snowmen, and a Frankenstein monster with a jack-o-lantern at his feet. Scott didn't notice the monster as we passed and did a u-turn so he could boggle at it as well. On the way home, we passed a Santa on a Harley. Our neighborhood is lighting up even if our street is still pretty dark. If we get another warm snap, I'd like to tour through the neighborhoods on the other side of the boulevard. There's some seriously tacky stuff other there.

Winter biking just got easier

The Nite Rider MiNewt.600 and Radbot 1000 head- and tail-lights arrived Friday night and I finally got to test them out last night.

Oh. My. Gosh. The first phrase that comes to mind is "Do not look into laser with remaining eye". Yeah, 600 lumens at point blank is kind of intense. With that important safety lesson under our belts, Scott and I took the lights outside for a test. I pointed the headlight at the woods across the street. Even with the local street lamps, I could still see the illumination created by the headlight. Scott climbed the hill into the woods for me. The reflective bits on his helmet stopped reflecting at 275 lumens but I could still see the glow at 400. At full blast, I'll be lighting up deer in the next county!

I put my old head- and tail-lights on his bike and we took off for the trail so that I could road test the new lights and also see what my bike would look like to an oncoming vehicle/cyclist/pedestrian. When we got to a fairly dark patch, we swapped bikes and I had Scott ride up a quarter of a mile or so and then ride back to me. Thing the first: my little Bell WO blinkies are NO match for the Radbot on steady. The blinkies disappeared in after only a few feet. Thing the second: damn, that MiNewt is powerful when pointed straight ahead even at 275 lumens. Thing the third: my Planet Bike Blinky 3 DOES stand up to the Radbot's steady glow; I was happy to see some blink action in addition to the steady. Thing the fourth: other commuters (we were passed by four as we stood off the paved trail adjusting and readjusting lights) are using dazzlingly bright headlights so it may just be a part of the commuting game and I'll be giving as much as I've been getting. I'm not especially happy about that last point and I'm going to do my best to keep my headlight from pointing directly at other cyclists' and pedestrians' eyes. On the other hand, I'm thrilled to bits that a whole new world of night riding has opened up for me. This is very exciting.

Something else that will might make a winter bike commute doable is the NVRPA's purchase of a snow plow for the W&OD. Whoo hoo! When I was jogging last winter, I had to change my route from the trail to neighborhood streets when we got snow because it took FOREVER for VDOT (or the local authorities) to send a plow down the trail. I'm not sure how (or even if) all of the forty-five miles of trail will be plowed -- my guess is that it will be for the inner suburbs -- and there's not much info aside from the mention of the plow purchase. To be perfectly honest, I'll most likely stick with the 4WD truck when the snow flies and ice attacks, but it would be nice to have the option of going out for a ride. We'll see if the late January/February winter crazies drive me to purchase studded tires. ;)