Bicycling Events
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WABA 50 States Ride Last-Minute Taper and Training Tips
The WABA 50 States Ride is fast approaching (this Saturday!) and it’s important to be ready for the District’s ultimate concept ride. Are you? Before you answer that question, I’ve put together some handy taper and training tips that you can follow for the rest of the week. Remember, you want to make it to… Continue reading
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Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 4 of 4: Unexpected Joys, Lessons Learned, and a Look Ahead
What better way to spend a Friday than spending a few minutes with Tara and Simon as they wrap up their RAGBRAI trip. Read on to find out the unexpected joys they encountered, lessons they learned through the week, and their pondering of the question– would we do it again? Continue reading
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Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 3 of 4: Other Riders and Unexpected Challenges
RAGBRAI is a sprawling event with more than 10,000 riders criss-crossing the state of Iowa over seven consecutive days of riding. Today’s post features Tara’s observations about some of the other RAGBRAI riders as well as unexpected issues that Simon and she confronted. Continue reading
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Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 2 of 4: The Ride
What is it like to be a rider on RAGBRAI, the largest cross-state bike ride in the country? Tara takes us there with her vivid recount. The Ride Continue reading
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Tara and Simon’s RAGBRAI Part 1 of 4: Why Iowa?
Every year in the final full week of July, thousands and thousands of people participate in the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), a west to east ride through the state from the Missouri River to the shore of the Mississippi. As many readers know, Iowa is my home state. Growing up RAGBRAI… Continue reading
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Century Ride: D.C. to Buckeystown, Maryland
Sunday was a perfect day to be a bike rider. Since Felkerino and I consider ourselves bike riders, we went outside and rode our bike most of the day. We departed from the District and steadily made our way north past the Lincoln Memorial, through Georgetown, and out to Maryland. Continue reading
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Something Old, Something New… Falling (in Love!) with Off-Road Tandeming
Felkerino’s and my years of randonneuring on tandem together combined with our growing interest in off-road riding made the Hilly Billy Roubaix, a 74-mile ride largely on the unpaved gravel and dirt roads in Monongalia County, West Virginia, an intriguing challenge. With the exception of tires (which Felkerino researched and purchased prior to the event)… Continue reading
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Hilly Billy Roubaix: the Short Version of our Ultra Cross Race
More than 24 hours after completing the Hilly Billy Roubaix, I am still riding high on the post-event rush. This 70, 72, 75, approximately 74-mile ride, billed as an ultra cross event, was held this Saturday just outside of Morgantown, West Virginia. Felkerino and I rode it on our “lead sled,” i.e., the Cannondale mountain… Continue reading
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A Taste of Skyline Drive on the Co-Motion Java Tandem
The past two out of three weekends, Felkerino and I have headed out to Skyline Drive to test out the Co-Motion Java’s feel on long steady climbs and to condition our legs for summer rides ahead. Felkerino has a great write-up of Sunday’s ride on this other blog I know called The Daily Randonneur. Even… Continue reading
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The River Runner Century
Saturday’s weather was so stellar that Felkerino and I agreed to spend the day together out on the bike. I know that must be shocking news to all of you reading this. This time of year is wonderful for riding. The humidity has not yet settled into the area, overnight temperatures are high enough that… Continue reading
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WABA’s 2013 Vasa Ride: It’s All About the Blueberry Soup
This Sunday, Felkerino and I participated in WABA’s annual Vasa Ride, a bicycling event conceptualized loosely around Sweden’s Vasaloppet cross-country ski race. The ride begins and ends at the House of Sweden and all participants receive a cup of blueberry soup (or Blåbärssoppa, if you’re fancy) at the finish. Our early spring schedule left a hole for… Continue reading
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Make Your Own Cue Sheet Holder
Someone recently asked me what I use for a cue sheet holder when I ride. There are a variety of ways to affix a cue sheet to your bike, but the method I’ve been quite happy with over the years is one that Felkerino taught me. Felkerino makes cue sheet holders that affix to your… Continue reading
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The Cold & Blustery BikeDC Hot Chocolate Ride (aka, the Chocoride)
Having spent the bulk of the last four days in self-imposed isolation, I busted out of my hibernation state today and joined the Hot Chocolate Ride for a few miles in the saddle and hot beverages with BikeDC buddies old and new. Continue reading
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WABA’s Women & Bikes and the Hains Point 100
The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) recently launched a Women & Bikes initiative. WABA describes the intent of Women and Bikes on its website, stating: The mission of Women and Bicycles is to get more women on two wheels through mentorship and peer-to-peer learning, between those who already ride and those who would like to… Continue reading
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Unintended Consequences of Not Setting Goals: A Century a Month
Lately, I have been mulling over the question of what we can accomplish even when we do not set specific goals. This is a concept I was first introduced to when I read an interview with Leo Babauta, the author of the Zen Habits blog. Babauta writes that goals foster inflexibility and turn activities into… Continue reading
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The Grand Fondue: A Superbly Challenging Bike Ride
Every once in a while it seems like a good idea to test my tandem stoker climbing skills on an ultra-hilly bike ride. The opportunity to do just that came in the shape of the Grand Fondue, a combination of dirt and paved roads ride sponsored by the Bike Doctor of Frederick, Maryland. The full… Continue reading
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WABA 50 States Ride 2012: All About the People
This past Saturday Felkerino and I participated in another edition of the Washington Area Bicycling Association (WABA) 50 States Ride. Yeah, that ride with 500 participants that crosses over all 50 of the state streets within the District of Columbia and covers about 65 miles in the process. True to our plan, we shortcut as… Continue reading
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WABA 50 States Ride: Pre-Ride Prep for the Ultimate Urban Excursion
This coming Saturday marks the arrival of another edition of the 50 States Ride. While this ride sort of freaked me out the first time I did it, it’s since grown on me and now it’s a much-anticipated fall event. Washington Area Bicycling Association (WABA), our local cycling advocacy group, organizes the ride. My entry fee supports… Continue reading
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BicycleSPACE and the D.C. Murals Ride
After all the heat and humidity we’ve endured over the summer, this past weekend we received a welcome reprieve. Especially Saturday. Warm sun, light breezes, pleasant temperatures. Far too gorgeous of a day to stay inside, Felkerino, his daughter, and I joined BicycleSPACE’s mural ride to see where it would take us and to simply… Continue reading
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Cupcake Ramblin’ with Sol and BicycleSPACE
BicycleSPACE, one of D.C.’s local bike shops, has done an excellent job of building community through their group rides. Felkerino and I have attended a few of their evening social rides in the past and, while they were literally not my speed in terms of the pace with which they meandered through town, they were… Continue reading
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Spring Training Rides, Leaving the Pavement Behind
The past two weekends, Felkerino and I put the brevet cards aside to enjoy some excellent training rides. As you may know, I like to qualify weekend non-brevet cycling as “training.” It’s like a doctor’s note that excuses me from my household responsibilities. D.C. to Frederick, Maryland – 120 miles Two Saturdays ago, Felkerino and… Continue reading
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400K Route Scouting in Pennsylvania
This weekend Felkerino and I headed into Pennsylvania to check out some roads for the upcoming D.C. Randonneurs 400K that we agreed to organize. It was a gorgeous day on the bike and I’m glad to have ridden farther out than my usual D.C. to Poolesville, Maryland loop. Our route took us from Emmitsburg, Maryland,… Continue reading
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Weekend Training Ride: 112 Miles of Dogs, Hills, Sun, and Dogs
This past Saturday, Felkerino and I met up with a couple of riding friends to take on some challenging terrain near Skyline Drive. Starting in Marshall, Virginia, we scaled Massanutten via Chester Gap, rolled our way over to Edith Gap, descended into Luray, and climbed back over Thornton Gap under Skyline Drive before biting off… Continue reading
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Century Ride, Burley Trailer, and Santa Hats
Even though the holidays are quickly closing in on us, Felkerino and I made a joint escape from our chores on Saturday to do a century ride. We then made up for our day at play by doing car-free errands on Sunday, including a few with the Burley trailer. Crofton, Maryland, Century Ride Saturday, Felkerino… Continue reading
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WABA 50 States Ride, 2011 Edition!
This past weekend the Washington Area Bicycling Association (WABA) hosted its annual 50 States Ride. This urban cycling event meanders through all four quadrants of Washington, D.C., and passes over all 50 state streets. It’s the only ride I’ve ever done that’s 65 miles and takes 193 cues to complete. That’s 10 pages of cues. And… Continue reading
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Cycling Memories: RAGBRAI
This week, Girl on a Bike invited people to post their favorite cycling memory to her blog. Prize for posting? A chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Revolution Cycles. (See here for her writeup and contest). Her post prompted me to dig into my bicycle memory bank. As I thought back, my first… Continue reading
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Seen at the Seagull Century
While Felkerino and I started our bike tour, the rest of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area cyclists made their way down to Salisbury, Md., to ride the Seagull Century. OK, not everyone, but a large number of them. Continue reading
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WABA 50 States Ride
Want to do a ride in the District that’s 65 miles long, takes 212 cues, and feels like a daily commute that keeps on giving? Then maybe you would be interested in the Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s annual 50 States Ride. That’s where I was this past Saturday. The course is a drunken sailor tour… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 