random cycling notes

Where have I been?

On the bike, that’s where!

On Saturday, Nuzzo and I squeezed in a ride early in the day. We met at Heller’s Bakery in Mt. Pleasant (a wonderful place, with yummy baked goods that can break a training diet rather quickly), and set out for 34-or-so miles out through the northwest suburbs. It was warm and sticky, and we were both riding with leaden legs, but we managed to finish before some rather wet afternoon storms.

On Sunday I really wanted to see some of the CSC Invitational criterium race, so Joyce and I planned on an early-departure ride of 70-ish miles. We had such a great time riding, however, that we ended up riding a full century for the day! I didn’t do any special prep, so my nutrition wasn’t what it could be, but I did fine, and the end of the men’s pro race was exciting (the picture is from that race).

Yesterday all the talk was about the attempts by Montgomery County, MD, to impart a 15 mph speed limit on the Capital Crescent Trail, a popular multi-use path (MUP) used by cyclists, runners, skaters and walkers. As usual, the cyclists get the bum rap, with the most restrictions placed on their activities. But cyclists aren’t the only party at fault: what about the runners who tune out the world with their MP3 players, or the moms with their double- and triple-wide strollers who walk across the entire width of the trail? There’s much left to discuss and solve.

My $0.02: if you plan on going over 15 mph on a MUP, you should really be on the roads!

Yesterday, the PPTC “Downtown Breakaway” ride went out in humid, unstable air that opened up to severe thunderstorms 16 miles into the ride. After mumbling for the first minute as we got soaked, those of us on the ride soldiered on, soaked “straight through to the skin” (to quote Paul McCartney from HELP!), and managed to make out way through the damp back to DC – a 17 mile slog. Nobody got hurt, thankfully, and everybody made it home OK (though the DC Parking Ticketronâ„¢ left white-and-pink slips on 3 PPTC riders’ cars – grrr).

Today, on the way to work, I was almost broadsided by an uppity mother driving her child to dance school in a Honda minivan. She ran a stop sign, came within 6 inches of hitting me, then chewed me out for being on the streets with my “toy” (i.e. my commuter bike). As I screeched to a stop, I broke a spoke on my rear wheel (it’s 11 years old – not entirely unexpected), and she drove away, shouting expletives at me and flipping me off. I followed her to a nearby stoplight, where I told her she could’ve killed me, then told her terrified-looking daughter to “make sure mommy obeys the stop signs” (the girl smiled at that).

I also called in the woman to the DC Police, which infuriated the woman even further. She threatened to make me “pay” if she ever encounters me again. I smiled, waved, and wished her a nice day as I finished my commute to work.

(As a follow-up: the DCPD called me later in the morning to report that the woman was cited with running a stop sign and reckless endangerment only a few blocks from where I encountered her, my earlier report upping the citation and giving her a couple of points on her driving record. There is payback, it seems.)