Sunday is the big day. It's the National Capital Area's Tour de Cure in support of the American Diabetes Association. At this point, I am riding the half century (+4 miles) plus an additional ten or so miles from my house to the start/finish and back home which will equal a metric century. It'll be the farthest distance I've ridden even if I'm able to do only the "official" route. I'm nervous about this -- dull surprise -- but I will ride with the knowledge that the donors to my fundraising efforts and the people for whom I riding in memory of and in honor of will be with me in spirit.



I made these tags to attach to my bike as a visual reminder of those who live and have lived with diabetes. If you donated and wish for me to include the name(s) of someone(s) special, please let me know in the comments or by email (melaniesuzanne AT gmail DOT com).

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated and/or cheered me on. You are all fantastic people and my life (and the lives of those who will be helped by the ADA) are better for knowing you.

While documenting my hunt for the perfect loop frame bicycle of my dreams, I read a review of the Civia Twin City Step-Through by the delightful Dottie of Let's Go Ride a Bike. This is it, thought I. This would be the bike that meets my requirements of graceful/classic lines, power for hills, and a comfortable/smooth ride both on-road and slightly off. With words of encouragement from other bloggers, I searched for a local-ish dealer and was both excited and anxious about having found one in Richmond. I was excited because the dealer was within an easy and explicable driving distance and anxious because I wouldn't be able to make the five hour (with traffic) round trip for at least a week. I chewed my nails, threw common sense to the wind, extended my vacation by one day, and drove to Carytown Bicycle Company in Richmond on Tuesday.
( Civia Twin City Step-Through )
The Twin City is quite lovely in person with its rich burgundy color and gracefully curved top tube and handlebars. I liked the integrated rack, but was concerned about how the bottom hook of my shopping pannier would connect without slipping. Wrangling the far-reaching cables around a front basket might be difficult. The top tube was higher than I expected, though. Dottie and I are both 5'7" and she steps over the top tube fairly easily in her video review. I found it easier to throw my leg over the seat when mounting the bike (which kind of defeats the purpose of a step-through...), but pulling my leg through when dismounting was quite comfortable.

The test ride itself was enjoyable despite my turning the shifter in the wrong direction, but the bicycle forgave my slip-ups. The chain sound and felt like it slipped occasionally, but that could be due to improper assembly and I'm sure could be adjusted. The grips felt comfortable in my hands and the brake handles were in a good position. The back brake was sluggish and the front brake squealed like a banshee. The riding posture was extremely comfortable -- upright, but not stiffly so -- and I could easily bend into a lower and more aggressive position. The stock seat was EXTREMELY uncomfortable during my ten minute ride around the neighborhood and would need to be swapped out pronto. I have no idea of determining how fast I rode, but I wasn't afraid to tangle with traffic and take-off from a stoplight was easy. The ride quality wasn't as smooth as I'd expected. I'd equate it with the Linus Dutchi, not terrible like the Globe Daily but not as sweet as the Public Bikes M8. I don't know if this is correct, but I chalked that up to the narrow tires.

I had carried my Specialized Ariel to Richmond as trade and when I rode her up to the shop (parking was a couple of blocks away) after having ridden the Civia, I couldn't help but compare how much smoother Lily's ride felt to the Civia's. At that point I realized that the Civia wasn't the bike for me and I wouldn't compromise the form of a not-quite-right loop frame against the function of my current hybrid.

Some might see this as a wasted trip -- I kind of did as I sat in standstill traffic on I-95 for twenty minutes thanks to road construction -- but it was actually another object lesson in specs on paper (or the web) not meeting the gut (and butt) feeling. And with that, one more obsession has bitten the dust and I was completely happy with my utilitarian Lily. At least I was until the adorable G.E. of Endless Velo Love pointed out that Public Bikes must have heard my whine about the Mixte frame and the 3-speed loop frame having an internal geared hub and it wasn't fair that the 7-speed loop frame had a rear derailleur instead. They have since released an eight-speed, internally geared loop-frame bicycle. The Public Bikes M8 has been my favorite test ride thus far; this C8 may just be The One.

( Public Bikes C8 )

( Jackson Square )
During my college years at the University of Southern Mississippi, my friends and I would make the 1-1/2 hour trek from Hattiesburg to NO on a regular basis and I grew to love that city. In the intervening 18 years (good Lord, seriously?), I haven't been back except for a few short hours a couple of years ago when Scott and I were attending a large SCA camping event in Lumberton, MS. My goodness, but the city had changed.

( Royal Street blue )
I was able to return for a longer visit this past weekend and introduce the city to pirategirleee who hasn't traveled much beyond the mid-Atlantic region. I exposed her to the debauchery of Bourbon street, the peaceful lushness of the uptown and the Garden District, the incomparable food, and the near constant soundtrack of jazz, blues, and rock that fills the French Quarter. But she wasn't the only one to experience something new and exciting: I discovered the bike culture and infrastructure of New Orleans.

( Royal Street red )
It's funny, but before I started regularly bike riding, I didn't notice things like bicycles locked to racks and posts or cyclists, bike lanes or sharrows. But I was psyched to see the bike lanes and sharrows on several streets. And there were SO MANY cyclists out and about, and pretty much all of them were in regular street clothes. They were downtown and uptown and riding between the streetcar tracks. And the bicycles... so many beautiful and unique bicycles. I had to snap photos of the ones which caught my eye.

( Bikes galore on Royal )
A few people were puzzled by why I took pictures of various bikes chained to fences; my quick explanation was that I am bike crazy. PG said I should write something like a travel book about bikes in various cities. That sounds like a fun idea, but I am barely a good enough author/photographer to keep a blog going, heh.

( Secret garden on Toulouse )
The trip wasn't all about bikes, of course. We walked all over the city including the Quarter and Magazine Street. We shopped like we had money, got our drink on at various bars and with most meals, and even saw the Bustout Burlesque at the House of Blues (OMG, so much fun!). We even partook of two pedi-cab rides; our second "driver" was a student at Tulane and had ridden his Specialized Allez from his parents' New Hampshire home to Oregon one summer.

( NOLA Rising / Road Kill on Royal )
We even got to spend quality time with my NO friends and their kids and see how the "other half" lives in quiet part of the raucous city. They took us to La Petite Grocery for dinner, La Divina for gelato, and Taceaux Loceaux for food truck tacos. I never thought that I would have to safeword on food.

( Beads on Royal )
Other meal stops included The Corner in Jackson Square where I ate my first soft shell crab po-boy in eighteen years and sucked down a frozen strawberry lemonade which made my eyes go wobbly. We enjoyed a decadent Sunday brunch at The Court of Two Sisters, the near-mandatory beignets at Cafe du Monde, and excellent service and even better food at Arnaud's.

( This bike belonged to the chef at a tavern on Magazine. Apparently, it gets 35 MPG. )
Before our weekend ended, PG stated that she wanted to move to New Orleans. I had to laugh since she had complained about the heat and humidity through most of our stay, but I understand the desire. My local friends say that living in New Orleans is like an abusive relationship: when it's bad, it's really bad, but when it's good, it's really REALLY good.

Tomorrow afternoon pirategirleee and I jet off to New Orleans for the holiday weekend. I haven't spent more than a few hours in the city since college and she's never been there. We shall nibble on beignets at the Cafe du Monde. We shall experience delicious cajun cuisine with Holly and Paul. We shall boogie down Bourbon and cha-cha up Chartres. We shall tour a cemetery or two. We might even get our drink on and behave like coeds.

I spent two and half hours last night digging through my closet to come up with four suitable day outfits and something suitable for the evening. The sad part is that half of the components were fresh purchases yesterday afternoon. There will be a severe scouring of the wardrobe in the near future because so much in my closet is "meh". Happily, some of that stuff still had tags attached and can be exchanged for better fitting / more appealing clothing.

But I think that what I've assembled will be suitable for two and half days of fun, sun, and humidity. I'm even packing my swimsuit for a quick dip in the Mississippi. I kid. The hotel's supposed to have a nice pool. Maybe we'll even have a little bit of down time to enjoy it.

I do believe this is my first ever girls' getaway vacation that wasn't an SCA event. I am so psyched!

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.

( Let the collapse begin. )

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.

Saturday promised to be a gorgeous day and I was determined to make the most of it. Scott had plans to practice sword work with a friend in Herndon and I was left without adult supervision. I decided to head into DC and test ride some bikes I've been stalking on the internet. To keep me honest on this being a recon mission only, I took Lily with me to use as my mode of transportation in the city.

( Adventures in finding an accessible Metro station. )

I hopped off at the Foggy Bottom station because it was closest to the first bike shop I wanted to visit. I got my first taste of honest to goodness urban cycling while weaving through traffic jams on K and Pennsylvania. I played chicken with a taxi (and won, I guess, since I'm not only still breathing but also have full use of all limbs and organs) and dodged GW University grads and families.

( Flying down cycle tracks, playing in traffic jams, and seeing the sights/sites. )

I wound my way back to Independence and decided that it was time to head home. I'd been riding around DC for almost five hours -- well, four-ish if you deduct my stop for an omelet and milkshake at the Diner in Adams Morgan -- and had put nearly fifteen miles on the bike. En route to the Smithsonian station, a Lexus with DC plates buzzed me. I was miffed until I saw him cut off an SUV up ahead and realized the guy behind the wheel was an equal opportunity jackhole.

Aside from getting on the New Carrollton platform and wrestling Lily up the escalator so I could get to the other platform (not recommended, by the way) and then missing the first west bound orange line train, the trip home was easy peasy. I'm looking forward to my next urban adventure where I can visit the above-mentioned memorials, the Titanic memorial, the waterfront, the Eastern Market, and all sorts of other places I've never seen in DC. I am super excited about the prospect of being able to leave the truck at home and cycling over to the Wiehle station and riding Metro into the city from Reston when phase one of the Dulles rail extension opens next year.

PSA to locals -- My employer (Verizon) is sponsoring a Home Electronics Recycle Rally on Thursday, May 24, and it is open to the general public.

WHEN: Thursday, May 24, 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. ET
WHERE: 22001 Loudoun County Pkwy, Visitor Parking Lot
WHAT: Drop off your electronic items [and other items which can go in the usual recycling bins]

If you're unable to make that time but have an old computer or monitor or TV or something like that which you want to get rid of (for FREE!), let me know and I'll ferry it to work for you. I just ask that you bring the item(s) to me.

I had an urban cycling adventure in DC on Saturday. It wasn't just about exploration, though. The main reason for the trip was to test ride bicycles that aren't available -- or don't appear to be available -- in the bike shops near me.

The first shop I chose to visit was District Hardware - The Bike Shop near Foggy Bottom and GW University I called Friday about testing a Public Bikes step-through bicycle. I've been eyeing the C7 model, but the M8 was the bike in stock.

( Public Bikes M8. )

My next stop was BicycleSPACE near Mount Vernon Square and across from the Convention Center. I planned to test ride a Linus Dutchi 8, but what was on the floor was a Dutchi 3. Eh, it should handle the same as the 8, just minus five extra gears, I supposed.

( Linus Bikes Dutchi 3 )

The last stop on my bike shop tour was City Bikes in Adams Morgan. I've wanted to test a Globe Daily 3 Step-Through for ages. While Spokes, Etc could order one for me, since they're a Specialized dealer, none of the stores have had a model on the floor. But this store had eight of them! Choirs of angels sang. Well, at least until I got to the shop. There was a medium Daily 2 step-through and a small Daily 1 step-through. The guy "helping" me decided that the Daily 2 was too big for me (without adjusting the seat down for me and despite my Ariel being a large. Instead he set me up on the single speed, small Daily 1 and told me to follow the bike lane down the street, turn right, turn right again, and ride back up a hill that I'd just pushed my 21-speed Ariel up.

"You want me ride up that hill on a single speed bike?" I asked, incredulous. "It'll handle it," he replied. "Watch out for traffic and don't fall."

( Globe Daily 1 )

So. I didn't get to ride the bikes I've been looking at online, but I got to ride what I think are fairly decent analogs. I resumed lusting over the Public Bikes C7 until I realized that the handlebar backsweep is a different angle from the M8 and the C7 has a rear derailleur unlike the M8's internal hub. Now I just need to find a Civia dealer so I can test a Twin City Step-Through. There's supposed to be a dealer near the French Quarter and I'm going to New Orleans this weekend...

Happy Bike to Work Day or, as a lot of bike bloggers I read would call it, "Friday". There were SO MANY new-to-me commuters on the trail. And everyone seemed to be in high spirits exchanging smiles and nods and "good morning"s. The Sterling pit stop outside of the Orbital exit on the W&OD was a happenin' spot with Spokes mechanics checking over peoples' bikes, a Bike Loudoun representative, and Bike to Work Day sponsors handing out tees and little first aid kids and water bottles. (I swear, Scott and I are going to need to build a cabinet to house all the free water bottles we score.) A couple of commuters chatted me up because they recognized my bike basket. That was unexpected fun.


Lots of smiles at 8am.
A peloton of fellow employees met up in Reston and I declined adding an extra nine-ish miles to my morning commute, instead hoping to join up when they reached Sterling. I saw what I assumed was them as I prepared to continue on to work -- someone at the pit stop alerted folks: "Look out, serious bikers coming through!" -- but was unable to catch up until getting the parking garage closest to the entrance for the campus' fitness center. Ah well. I waved and said, "Good morning" and continued on to the next garage where I lock up my bike.

I'm wearing my free t-shirt now. I wore the "vintage" Bike DC 2008 shirt for the ride in not considering that sweat + thin white t-shirt = inappropriate office wear even in a super casual office. Thank goodness I had something else to wear. :)

The weather was absolutely gorgeous when I got home from work and I decided to give my darling single speed cruiser Kate a little bit of love. She gets neglected as I choose Lily the hybrid for my commute and Circe the road bike for distance training. Kate is adorable -- there's no denying that -- but I have the tiniest bit of buyer's remorse because she was SUCH an impulse purchase and isn't the most practical bike around.


I cruised up and around the neighborhood, mashing as hard as I could to get up hills and hanging on for dear life while coasting down. I've decided that I really, really don't like coaster brakes because 1) I can't kick the pedals into a good take-off position when I stop, and 2) it's hard to stop quickly without skidding. There are so many downhill sections that end with a stop sign and I'm less than excited about sliding into cross traffic.

That being said, I still enjoyed being out and about on my sweet little bike. We explored some gravel roads along the W&OD and Kate was as sure "footed" on that gravel as a mountain goat in craggy environs. I would have been nervous on Lily and there's no way Circe could have gone through that area. My sturdy Kate surprised the heck out of my by handling the bumps and ruts and loose gravel with ease.

When we got back on the paved trail and I was pedaling with all my might to get uphill, I thought that swapping out the cruiser's pedals for SPDs would help me move the bike more efficiently. And then I realized that I was thinking about a CRUISER. It's practically the antithesis of clipless pedal material!

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.

( Starting line crush. )
- 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.

- 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.
( Uuuuunicycles. )
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.

( Rock Creek Parkway )
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.

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

( 25 miles 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.
( Finish line. )
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.

A 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.

Both Scott and I had a blast riding in BikeDC this morning. I have scads of photos to edit and upload. In the meantime, here are some shakey-cam videos from the northbound lanes of the George Washington Parkway in Mclean, VA, and the westbound lanes of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge over the Potomac River.

( The second video verges on 'Blair Witch Project' levels of shakey-cam. Sorry. )

I'm kind of kicking myself for not taking some video along the Rock Creek Parkway because that section was bee-you-tiful. On the other hand, we were still pretty much in a pack and I needed both hands on the bars and brakes both going up and coming back down. Next year, I'll actually use the camera mount I put on my handlebar.


This is totally a bikeyface. (I was too happy to be at all self-conscious about my braces.)

PSA to locals -- My employer (Verizon) is sponsoring a Home Electronics Recycle Rally on Thursday, May 24, and it is open to the general public.

WHEN: Thursday, May 24, 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. ET
WHERE: 22001 Loudoun County Pkwy, Visitor Parking Lot
WHAT: Drop off your electronic items [and other items which can go in the usual recycling bins]

If you're unable to make that time but have an old computer or monitor or TV or something like that which you want to get rid of (for FREE!), let me know and I'll ferry it to work for you. I just ask that you bring the item(s) to me.

The honeysuckle along the W&OD is in bloom. Well, to be honest, it started blooming in late April due to the early summer, but today the flowers filled the air with their unmistakeable perfume. I do love that scent and the memories it stirs.

My paternal grandparents lived about three-quarters of a mile from our home when I was a child. My sister and I spent many a summer afternoon playing in their yard and lots of evenings in their screened-in back porch watching thunderstorms light up the sky. They had an old shed in the backyard which had a dog pen attached to it from the days that my grandfather had a dog to accompany him when he drove around his farms to check the crops. I don't remember when Jodie died, but there were no more dogs after her and the dog pen was eventually swallowed by honeysuckle vines. Mimi and I were terrified of the bees surrounding the shed, but we couldn't help being drawn to flowers. Our grandmother showed us the nectar at the base of the petals and we plucked as many flowers as we could and greedily lapped up the nectar.

I don't remember the nectar's taste, but the scent of honeysuckle transports me straight to my grandparents' yard in Heth, Arkansas.

The coming Sunday is BikeDC and I am super excited about the event. Getting to ride a car-free Rock Creek Parkway and George Washington Parkway? Yes, please! Scott and I are registered for the full 24 mile route, which will actually be about 33 miles when you factor in our bike club's starting and ending point at Gravelly Point Park in Alexandria.

( Route map. )

And thus begins my dilemma. My first thought was that I would ride Lily the Ariel. But after reading Sheryl's two part account and Julie's (albeit unhappy) review of riding their respective single speed bikes in the NYC Five Boro Bike Tour, I'm tempted to ride Kate the Cruiser for this event. Scott's concerned about the hills and reminded me that these ladies are much more used to riding their single speed bikes. I feel like I'm up for the challenge, though. I don't have to make a decision until Saturday night -- I'd say Sunday morning, but considering the hour we're going to have to load up and head out to the meeting point that day, I'm doing all prep work the night before -- and I already have plans to take Kate out for a spin with the girls Saturday afternoon.

So, if you're local and participating in the event, you may see me dolled up in a Life is Good tee and skirt and riding either ( ... )

See you in DC!

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.

( Elevation map. )
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.

( My hero. )
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.

( Route map. )
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.

We've hit my goal of raising $1,000 for the American Diabetes Association and I couldn't have done it without your generous support. To all the kind donors here is a great big

THANK YOU!!

I am still accepting donations, of course. :) If you've donated and your company does corporate gift matching, please consider checking in to that for this worthwhile cause.

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 carthews 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.

carthew 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.

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.

reedrover shared the link http://vixyish.livejournal.com/810227.html which discussed the fallacies of prescribed weight loss and included a link to a blog post by Dances With Fat who provided links to various studies showing how weight loss programs don't work.

A problem I've discovered with a lot of commercial weight loss programs is that they promote food restriction but don't factor in activity. Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig give lip service to exercise -- usually somewhere around week four of the program -- but they're assuming that the participant is fairly sedentary. I suppose that for the majority of cases, this is true. However, those of us who are active wind up at a caloric deficiency and screw up our metabolisms by keeping our bodies in constant starvation mode. In my last few months with Jenny Craig, which was also the time when I started bike commuting, I was supposed to be taking in 1200 calories a day while I burned somewhere between 200 and 400. It was disheartening to feel weak and starving and not losing any weight while I was doing everything "right" within the plan. A few months after I quit paying $600 month for food and counseling, I gained back 15 of the 42 pounds I'd lost but I didn't change clothing size. (And no, this isn't a function of vanity sizing; I continued wearing my "skinny" clothes.) My doctor fussed at me about the weight gain, but when I pointed out that my measurements hadn't increased, she stopped harping and grudgingly agreed that I'd gained muscle weight.

Nearly a year later, I've kept off the 10% of my starting weight. My BMI is four points lower than it was in August 2010. I am still obese and would need to drop another 50 pounds to hit the topmost point of the "overweight" category. I'd need to drop 60 pounds to qualify as a "premium" member for my life insurance company. Sure, I want to weight less and fit a more conventional mold but I know that my frame won't ever allow me to fall into the lithe category.

What I am focused on instead can't be measured on a scale or a chart. I am working to improve my strength and my endurance. I can ride with ease the hills upon which I used to walk my bike. I may huff and puff when carrying a full laundry basket up two flights of stairs, but I can jog unencumbered up those two flights without breathing heavy. I want to run at least a block, though, and build up my core so that I can ride farther without discomfort or bonking. I also want to build up strength to deflect the osteoporosis that runs rampant in my family.

Long story, short: No more food restriction (this does not I will go nuts and eat everything in front of me all of the time, but it does mean eating mindfully) and continued activity for me. It'll do my body good.

...since I last thanked donors. THANK YOU to courtney_d_h, psalite, and sskipstress for your donations to my fundraising effort of raising $1,000 for the American Diabetes Association by June 3rd, 2012. Your generosity has put me at 76% of my goal. THANK YOU!!

We're 32 days out from the event and I'm training hard for the 50 (55 actually, and 67 if you count the round trip from my house to the event start/endpoint) mile route. I'm gathering supplies to make the honor/memory ribbons which will adorn my bike and I will be sure to take lots of pictures for all of my supporters. Y'all are the absolute best!

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.

This past Saturday was the fourth annual Paul's Ride for Life and sixth annual Cyclefest Expo in Reston, VA. Since we were riding the twenty mile route, we took our time getting ready and hit the trail just before 8:30am for the five mile ride to Reston Town Center via the W&OD. The skies were sunny when we left the house, but the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped significantly before we even got to Herndon. Check-in at the RTC pavilion was smooth and as we snapped photos of each other, two members of the Bike Me DC club joined us and we hit the trail.

( Pics )

The ride itself was pretty easy -- I mean, a third of the route was my usual commute and we've both traveled the entire route many, many times -- and everybody from volunteers to ride participants were enthused and high-spirited despite the chilly temperature. Most people alerted a pass with a "Good morning!" rather than the standard "Oh your left!" Lots of families joined the ride with kids on trail-a-bikes, in baby seats, or in trailers. One man even had a chihuahua in his front basket. Poor little guy looked chilly despite his fluffy jacket. The rest stops were nicely appointed, but some hot cocoa would have been a nice touch. I was so cold when we left the second rest stop and headed back towards Reston that I suggested we stop by our house and get some warmer clothes. Mother Nature must've been listening, though, because the temperature shot up a few degrees and the wind dropped enough that I actually had a good sweat going by the time we got to our jumping-off spot. We decided to continue without stopping.

When we got back to Reston Town Center, the Ride for Life volunteers were in celebration mode and the Cyclefest Expo was in full swing. We visited for a long while with a couple of women representing Tri Team Z. Scott's interested in triathlons and this looked like a great group with whom to get involved. He signed up for more information and will probably attend one of their next meetings.

I chatted with a representative of Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling a bit. They've organized a ride from a Reston Park-n-Ride to the Udvar-Hazy center this coming Saturday (available to WABA members only for insurance reasons). I'd love to participate, but I've already committed to another ride out to Purcellville. The rep said that this was the first of what will hopefully become a regular ride; I hope he's right because it sounds like fun. We also discussed the issues that we suburban cyclists have which differ from our urban counterparts such as faster-moving traffic, limited access roadways, and scarcity of cyclists which means that drivers aren't as aware that we're on the roads. I also stopped by the Friends of the W&OD tent and asked how one becomes a friend of the trail. Seeing as how I use it for business and pleasure, I feel like I should give back, you know?

By this point, Scott's and my teeth were chattering and we decided it was time to head home. We'd been given coupons for a free water bottle from The Bike Lane and we swooped by the shop for swag before hitting the trail to go back home where there was hot showers, fluffy PJs, and lots of napping with warm cats.

According to an email sent out by the event organizers, 460 riders participated on Saturday and by all accounts, everyone had a pretty good time. I know that we enjoyed ourselves and will be back again next year. I may even feel comfortable enough riding one-handed on Circe that I can take some pics on the road.

In my hunt for a way to carry belongings on my road bike on solo journeys, I overlooked the most obvious and universal portage solution: the humble bike jersey. My main reason for not considering this garment is that, up until very recently, I had only one jersey.

It's a cute jersey and does a fairly good job of fitting my non-standard cyclist body. But it's so specific to a certain time of year that I didn't even consider wearing it in winter and spring. Which is weird since I wear Halloween-themed PJs year round; my deeply-closeted goth must be extremely closeted when it comes to jerseys. At the time I wore this garment, I didn't really use it for holding stuff since I had a trunk bag on the back rack so the pockets were kind of superfluous.


Looking like a pumpkin at last October's "Great Pumpkin Ride".
My typical road bike ensemble has been a Ruu-Muu with a long sleeved shirt or windbreaker. The Ruu's back pockets are good for holding a hankie, my iPod, and a camera. I could probably stuff more in there, but it would start getting uncomfortable and bulky underneath the overshirt/windbreaker.

Yesterday, though, I decided to wear my new jersey from HillKiller Apparel for a short ride and I discovered the joys of honest-to-goodness cycling jersey pockets. Hankie, ID, cash (you never know...), phone, iPod, and keys all fit comfortably with lots of room to spare. I could stuff extra powdered drink packs and waffles and a banana back there if I'd wanted, plus my camera. So this is how it's done...

Post ride, front.		Zombie Girls do have more fun.

My deeply-closeted goth is beyond delighted with both the form and function of my adorable purple jersey. Their plus size actually FITS which is not always the case. I'm going to contact the HillKiller guys and ask if they'll make some of their men's designs in a women's cut because I want more of their jerseys. In the meantime, I'm champing at the bit for my jerseys from Scudo Sports Wear (they made the Halloween jersey) to arrive.

Got a call last night from the accounts receivable department of a mail-order pharmacy. I had mailed in some scripts and asked them to bill me. That was all fine and good, but AR wanted to know how I would be paying the $600 for 90 day supplies of my two scripts.

WHAT???

Apparently, the script that cost ~$2 for thirty days from a retail pharmacy was going to cost me $470 for ninety days via mail order. (The other script was two-thirds the retail cost which was a happy surprise.) AR lady was sympathetic to my confusion, put my order on hold, and suggested I contact my insurance company to find out why they weren't subsidizing more of my mail order. I spent the rest of the evening fretting and fuming except for the part where I read a third of Chamber of Secrets.

When I got to work this morning, I visited the pharmacy's site and reviewed my prescription history. Everything looked normal until I got to the most recent order and realized that the brand name drug was in that order. I've been using the generic with no ill effect so it was worth my while to call the mail order pharmacy again and ask about that.

It turned out that the brand name cost is $490 for ninety days while generic is $5 for ninety days. There was no hesitation on my part when I changed the order to generic. Megan the CSR was an absolute delight to work with, and we'll be diligent about marking that "Generic is okay" box in the future.

With the Kindle release of the Harry Potter series, I have finally succumbed and joined the rabid fan base. Up until Sunday evening, I had only seen movies one through seven, part one (seven, part two isn't on cable yet) and I'm already realizing how much richer the story is in the printed form. I have to admit, though, that the movies are informing the way I picture people and places, but I don't suppose that's a bad thing.

I am not a fast reader and I devoured the first book in three nights of bedtime reading. I shall start the second book tonight and continue on the journey.

In the not late to the party side of the coin, thanks to a heads-up from wyvern_or I have added a new Dark Tower novel to my collection. WHOO and HOO!

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.

A friend in Ashburn hosted a Girls Night In Friday night and, after checking the mileage from my house to hers, I decided to bike over. There were two route options: 1) 8.5 miles which was half bike trail and half not-so safe 35+ mph surface streets with no shoulders or sidewalks and 2) 10.8 miles which was almost all bike trails and 15-20 mph neighborhood streets. Being a big ol' chicken, I chose the longer route and enjoyed the relaxing ride up and down a twisty path to my friend's neighborhood with a basket and pannier full of my offerings for the evening's potluck.

I tried to go slow to keep from overheating and being all sweaty when I arrived, but I appear to be incapable of doing so. I'm hardly the fastest rider out there, but I can't stand riding slowly. Even on the single speed cruiser, I do a pretty good job of keeping up with Scott on his hybrid and keep fighting against the urge to get into a more aggressive posture on that upright bike. Competitive much? Oh yeah.

My girlfriends were shocked and amazed that I had ridden over. On the one hand, I felt pretty chuffed by their awe. On the other hand, it was only ten miles or so which, of course, made them even more awed. False modesty? Maybe... it's more like I enjoy the approval but I'm also embarrassed by it. It would be noble to say that riding my bike to a social engagement is no big deal and could be accomplished by any able-bodied person, especially considering the bike infrastructure that I am privileged to live near. But the reality is that in my circle of friends it is a big deal and my commuting and transporting by bike is amazing to them, if not also kind of kooky.

Now, I did punt on biking back home at midnight-thirty and rode home with a friend who keeps a bike rack in her trunk.