I have been so happy to see cyclists obeying traffic laws, specifically traffic lights!

Yay!

• More Stations
• More Bikes
• More Station Balancing

Along with the original reasons

• Zero Maintenance
• No Theft Potential
• No Batteries for Lights

The expansion of the Bike Share system has really alleviated the number of empty or full racks by the addition or expansion of stations and additional bikes.  Granted this comes in the winter and perhaps ridership is down due to the cooler temps, but recently whenever I have wanted a bike, there has been one, sometimes only one, and always a spot in my destination rack :)  Before the expansion, I was able to walk past 3 empty stations on my way to work and ended up just taking public transportation.  I sometimes will supplement my travels with a CaBi leg to additional transportation.

Go CaBi

So…hats off to d. and Bike Arlington for making this system one that will be around for good, unlike the first stab at bike shared called “Smart Bike” which was added by d. in order to give Clear Channel Communications advertizing rights on the bus stations.

Find someway to provide sanitized helmets and the system would seem perfect :)

Sunday, June 12th started very early.  I got up at 5:30 AM and met a friend at the end of the block to head over the 14th street bridge on the Mt. Vernon trail to participate in the non competitive Crystal Ride.  Since Shane was part of “Team Sabre” which is the fundraising team for the ride, he got to start at the Air Force Memorial which was close to the half way mark of the course from Crystal Drive in Crystal City.  We wished each other luck and off he went to his starting location and I mine.

Wave 2

It was not so clear how to line up for the ride, but basically there were 2 waves.  Wave 1 was for those who received a Gold Metal in a previous event or were VIPs, part of “Team Sabre.”  Apparently that wave seemed to start from the Air Force Memorial since there was no division in Crystal City.  Once the serious riders lined up, I lined up with some others I was chatting with who were also first timers and watched the minutes tick down until the 7:30 AM start.  Recently the weather has been pretty hot in DC so it was good the ride was in the AM.

The Ride

The course is approximately 12.5 KM starting in Crystal City and looping around the Air Force Memorial.  There were a few hairpin turns on the leg over, but as the ride progressed, the 1500 participants spread out a bit.

The Goal

Everyone has their own goal of course, but the idea behind this ride was to ride as many laps as you can in the 3.5 hour time allotment and earn medals dependent on the number of laps completed.

• 1-3 Laps Bronze
• 4-7 Laps Silver
• 8 Laps Gold

Ready…Set…Go!

The time arrived and off we went.  I have to tell you I was so excited as I received emails the week before as I registered back in March.  While you hope you don’t have any bike problems, you do expect there to be some flat tires along the way and this ride was no different.  As more laps were completed, the number of riders diminished as did the upside down bikes getting new tubes.  I only saw one scary situation which required emergency medical assistance.  Others just stopped early.  Perhaps they met their goal, not feeling well, or body just said “Not that hill again!.” (The hill up to the Air Force Memorial seemed to take me longer each time I climbed it.  The 8th time up I was going less than 10 MPH!  Got to love gravity! :)

Lap 1 Complete

Since it was a bit slow getting going it took just over 30 minutes to make one lap of the course.   Lap 2 I think only took 20 minutes.  I am hoping to get the results later today or tomorrow to see how my laps did.   I do know my average speed was dropping on my last lap.

Time is running out Lap 8…

So I was not really sure what lap I was on.  The “Laps to Go” was counting up!  I assumed that meant laps completed, so when I crossed the start line at 7 laps with about 25 minutes to go I thought…”This is it, Gold in sight!”  As I approached “the hill” I was a bit worried about my time.  I was not sure I was going to be able to make it back to the start/finish line before 11 AM.  With only 5 minutes to go, I checked my mileage and still had a few miles.  I pushed as hard as I could!  10:59 came around and I was trying to remember how many more turns before the finish line.  At this point I was a bit shaky in my legs.  Eleven am arrived….I thought if I could make it before it was 11:01 I would be golden.  That time came, but I did not give up.  I was so close now and not going to admit defeat!

11:05 AM Course Exit

I was not sure if I had completed 8 laps or not, all I knew was that we all had to exit the course as more events were coming up.  I snagged one more bottle of water from the volunteers who were skilled at delivery while you were biking by which was cool.  I only missed a bottle one time.

Medal Pickup

I walked around the vendors at the finish line to get my medal.  They asked me how many laps I did?  Hmm…I was not quite sure but thought I did 8 laps.  Apparently if you did less than 8 they believed you and you received the medal from the staff there.  They sent me over to a tent where staff were checking the computers and the timing chips we were all wearing to see how many laps we completed.

Gold!

I was so excited when I was told I earned a Gold Medal.  Granted this was not competitive, but it was the longest continuous ride I have ever gone on.  Sadly I use my bike for transportation to cut costs and travel time.  The reason I started biking and gave up the free shuttle bus was because the bus route was changed increasing 5-10 minutes travel time.

My longest trip was about 20 miles.  I did make it to Mt. Vernon with a friend, but we stopped to eat and check out the grounds for a few hours  before getting back on the trail and biking back.

A few weeks back I marshaled Bike DC which was about 20 miles.  I took that at a more leisure pace as we were stopping to help riders in need change flats, etc.

The Day After

I took the free shuttle bus to work today since my knees seemed to not like the ride that much.  That probably means I need to be sure my bike is properly adjusted to prevent issues down the road, especially if I enter more long rides.  Short commutes do not seem to bother my knees.

My Unofficial Stats

• Start Time: 7:30 AM (Crossed start line by 7:33)
• End Time : 11:35 AM
• Average Speed*: 17.9 MPH
• Top Speed*: ~35 MPH (Somehow I cleared my data at the end :( )
• Distance*: ~ 63 Miles or 100 KM

*(According to my bike computer)

Official Stats are in!

Top view sports was kind enough to give me my lap times :)  The data showed 9 laps total with 3:51 for the one, so I added them together for lap 1.

1. 7:33 AM – 7:58 AM ~25 minutes
2. 7:58 AM – 8:23 AM 24:49 minutes
3. 8:23 AM – 8:49 AM 25:48 minutes
4. 8:49 AM – 9:14 AM 25:34 minutes
5. 9:14 AM – 9:44 AM 29:46 minutes
6. 9:44 AM – 10:10 AM 25:54 minutes
7. 10:10 AM – 10:37 AM 27 minutes
8. 10:37 AM – 11:04 AM 27:50 minutes

L to R: Me, Shane, Lisa (Met her day of event)  Why didn’t someone tell me I had helmet hair!  LOL

I brought my modified Cyclocross bike with me which has a fender attached because the forecast looked to be ominous.  While disk brakes are now legal in the sport, my bike originally had cantilever style brakes on it.  Perfect for Cyclocross, these brakes shed mud, but don’t really stop you quickly.  After my fork was recalled by Felt, and a replacement back ordered, I decided to invest in a new disk brake compatible one.  I forgot that that meant I needed a new wheel too which set me back a bit of cash.  Needless to say, I was so happy with the disk brake and only wished I could have one on the back too.  Recently I replaced the rear brake with a V-Brake which has much better stopping power.  I needed to add a “travel agent,” cable pull doubler, to make the brake work with the road style brake levers, but am so much happier now.  In fact, I have to be careful that I don’t lock up the brake and skid, now that it actually works!

Back to the story….so on the way home I used the brakes as I normally would with the front disk brake humming a bit with the water, but stopping as quickly as ever.  I decided to try to test my theory that rim style brakes don’t work well in the rain and require much greater distances to stop.  So, at the next intersection, I only appled the back brake.  I expected a little noise and after the water dried off the rims, the brakes to work.  Not at all!  My rear  brake, which I was applying decent pressure, did not do a thing to slow me down!  I honestly could not tell a difference when the brake was not applied.

The moral of the story…..if you have the option to get disk brakes, or at least a front one, do it!  It is much cheaper if you get a bike that has them already (you can always change out the cheap ones for nice ones later) since you have the required frame and fork mount attachments.  In fact, some bikes with V-brakes have the mounts for the disks which probably come on a more expensive model.  While they do weigh more, they require less maintenance and will stop you in all kinds of weather.

Not much to say, but this site is great.  Not sure the delay if any, but it shows current bikes being used, undocked, and the bikes at each station.  While I don’t think it tells you how many at each dock, it does show empty or full and the coloration helps determine the rest.  The spotcycle app for iPhone and Android shows current status of each station.

So if you are curious on patterns, check this site out during the morning commute, mid day, evening commute and the weekend to see where the CaBi riders are going ro and coming from.

Interactive CaBi Usage Map

Ooh..Change the City or Country :)

London has over 4000 bikes!

I have heard that if the government shuts down because congress cannot get their act together, that metro will run on a reduced weekend like schedule.  Please don’t be the Sunday one!  Do you really want to wait 20 minutes for a train?  Try taking a bike to work :)

Livingsocial.com is offering 50% off an annual or monthly membership for the Capital Bikeshare in DC.  This is a 2 year old initiative in DC. Maryland, and Virginia to provide on demand bike rentals much like Zipcar does with cars.

How Capital Bikeshare works…..

1. You must have a membership.  $5 a day, $25 a month or $75 for the year.  Right now you can save 50% on them!!!
2. Your membership includes 30 minutes each trip between stations.  After that you pay $12 / hour.
3. Tip:  Before your 30 minutes are up, dock your CaBi at a nearby station and rent another one :)
4. BYOH: Bring your own helmet.  They are not provided or required if you are over 16 in most states, but please be responsible :)

Car Free DC!

Let’s cut out emissions from all those cars, decrease congestion, decrease deaths from vehicular accidents, and decrease the noise of our beautiful communities by selling your car and taking public transit, or a shiny red CaBi to work and for your errands :)

Livingsocial.com

So….Hop on over to Livingsocial ASAP to snag one or a few for family and friends at 50% off before they are gone!

8132 Memberships Sold!!!

• Sold: 8,132
• Value: $75.00
• Discount: 51%
• Savings: $38.00

Cost for shipping

Normally I am a die hard Amazon.com Free Super Saver Shipper, making sure my order totals $25 to get free shipping, but normally unless it is a really good deal, I will buy from a local retail store instead of paying for shipping.  Firstly you can get the item immediately and usually any savings from shopping online are gobbled up in the shipping.

Bonktown.com

When first collecting biking stuff I checked out chainlove.com and bonktown.com.  Similar to woot.com which offers one, usually electronic, item at a time at a substantial discount,  these biking sites offer old model year clothing and gear at 50% or more off the retail price from their regular priced online stores.  Since I last ordered, they announced new “combined shipping” which saves you around $6 per item ordered based on the shipping cost.  When you place an order you basically have the option to hold your order for 7 days I think during which time, any more items you purchase are added for just $.98 shipping.  So…since my friend was in the market for biking gear I decided to check out the site and started buying things.

Clothes Shopping Every 3 years

So I normally don’t go shopping for clothes that often unless my clothes wear out.  I am not needing to have the newest ripped jeans for $100.  I had not gone bike clothes shopping since I first got my bike and was needing clothes to wear and spend much money at bonktown on clothes and shipping.  So…I went on a spree this time and saved on shipping.  I bought a jersey, matching bib shorts, wind coat, jacket, and rain coat.  Now that my combined shipping has ended, I will hold off for a while, but I did get my shipping $ worth :)

Cyclists are truly Natural Gas Powered :)

Get involved in the “Car Free Movement.”  Not only fun and good for you, cycling is a great way to get around town or to work and saves you money, and the environment green house gasses.

Contact a local biking advocacy group in your area for details and to learn about courses designed to keep you safe as you travel the roadways with motor vehicles.

Unlike a car, when you have  blowout, there are not 3 other wheels.  While the more dangerous one for both a car and bike are the wheels that do the steering, it is still very scary and shocking when a wheel blows much like the surprise you get when a balloon pops, only you are riding on the balloon!

Getting replacement parts

Normally I am a bargain shopper, getting the best product I can find at the best price.  This normally means online retailers with free shipping and no tax as opposed to retail stores with retail pricing and tax on top.  I usually can wait a few days or a week since I plan ahead and usually have spares on hand.  In this case I could not wait and did not have a spare on hand.  With anything rubber and flexible, you don’t want to store it and then expect it to be in perfect condition unless you can keep it from the air in a vacuum.  A good example would be expiration dates on those little “safe” devices us grownups use :)  Though they are sealed..perhaps that is a gimmick in itself.

I trotted down to the local bike shop, there are many in a big city which is nice, trying to find a specific tire.  No such luck, but definitely many choices and leave it to an expert to help me choose.  I ended up with a Continental Grand Prix 4000s.  I had heard about these and after recommendations, took the plunge and spent the $60, minus WABA member discount on it.  My plan was to order another when I got home for the front wheel which was not in nearly as bad shape, but my bike was dangerous to ride.

While I was at it..

While I was taking apart my bike, I decided to do a few more things which made me feel like I was giving my bike a good overhaul, though I really did not replace many of the parts at all.

• Replaced Tire
• Saved the thorn proof tube and installed a lighter one for speed :)
• Cleaned the bike since I had the wheels off.
• Lubed the drive chain (Well “waxed” with White Lightening)
• Replaced the rear brake pads, since I had the wheel off and I use them more than I should, I have been told.
• Replaced the sweaty nasty padding in my helmet.  Mine came with an extra set.
• Picked up my gloves that were special ordered for me. I had lost a glove about 3 weeks ago and they finally came in to the local shop.

So…when I rode in to work it was nice having a comfy helmet, 2 gloves, a near silent drive train, and a new tire which was not going to blow out on me at any moment.

No manuals

As you can see, the things I did were totally based on my riding and would be different for everyone.  I would recommend checking your breaks and certainly your tires.  If you leave your bike outside, there are quite a few things you need to check.  It is better that you don’t leave it outside if possible and definitely not when it’s raining to prolong the life of your bike components.

• Tires for Sun Rot
• Chain and Drive Train for Rust and Binding.  You will want to lube your chain often.

Happy Riding!