Catching Up: Beach cruising in Florida, winter riding and commuting

Rainy day rider

I'm recently back from the warm breezes of southwest Florida (see wildlife photos here: jlarrygolferphotography.blogspot.com) only to face the cold of the DC area. Riding a balloon-tired beach cruiser for five days along the beaches, back streets and wildlife trails around Fort Myers Beach with my granddaughter made for a different kind of riding that took some effort but helped minimize the effect of all those chicken tenders, french fries and ice cream cones.

Despite the cold, some intrepid riders out there will brave all kinds of weather. For myself, I will ride on a cold day with appropriate clothing for head, hands and body warmth and moisture ventilation (see below), but I no longer go out when it's colder than 40 degrees, and never when there is a forecast for precipitation greater than 30 percent. I got caught out earlier this year in a downpour on a chilly spring day on the way back from the office in Old Town and was thoroughly drenched and shivering by the time I arrived at the Caribou Coffee in Shirlington to try to dry off and warm up with hot chocolate. I decided I shouldn't go any further so I called my emergency rescue service, Carole, to gather me up. Lesson learned: carry a rain jacket when there is even a slight chance of rain.

That's not me in the photo above, but another rider that I photographed from the warm comfort of my car a couple of years ago on a similar day on the Mount Vernon Trail near Daingerfield Island.

REI posted an article about winter riding on their website earlier this year. It is full of details and good ideas for both commuters and recreational riders:
http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/winter-bicycling.html

For myself, on those crisp, sunny cold days that I do decide to ride, this is generally my clothing:
-- Close fitting base top and bottom layers of silk, polypropylene, or other moisture wicking material
-- Lined bike tights, sometimes under nylon pants (although the legs seem to suffer least from cold)
-- Fleece zip top with a high neck, sometimes with an additional jersey top under
-- Outer wind shell
-- Tight cap under the helmet, or,
-- Balaclava (I have two: one of thin material, and one with a fleece neck)
-- Glove liners with outer bike gloves or even ski gloves for more warmth
-- One pair of sock liners and one pair of wool socks
-- Neoprene booties

Of course, I adjust this list depending on the temperature and the wind.

Three other pieces of gear I don't leave home without:
-- Rear view mirror: I have been using the 3rd Eye brand of eyeglass mirror forever, and if you wear glasses I highly recommend it. Available at most bike shops. Description is here: http://www.3rd-eye.com/(05).htm  It attaches to the temple piece on your eyeglass frame, as shown below. It won't work with very thin frames, unfortunately. In that case, there are many alternatives that attach to helmets and handlebars, available at the local bike shops.

Note the "3rd eye"

-- Rear blinking light: Planet Bike Blinky Superflash Tail Light. This is the "best and brightest." Available at bike shops and online. You will defintely be seen at a distance with this bright blinker.

-- Headlamp: I don't often ride in the dark, but if I'm late and get caught after sunset, I have the NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless LED Headlight to guide me through the dark. This light is amazingly bright, rechargeable, and I use it as a pocket flash on night walks as well. It's really as bright as a car headlamp. This model is now harder to find. There is a 650 lumen version and a less expensive 500 lumen version. It ain't cheap ($89-$120), but if you want to be seen and to be able to see as well, this is the one to get. Many bike headlamps allow you to be seen, but barely light up the path or road in front of you, so if there is a hazard such as a stick or pothole or whatever, you won't see it unless you have a really good headlamp.

Today's Washington Post has a story on commuting via Chain Bridge that discusses the risks for bike commuters, at least in that part of town. Here's the link:
http://wapo.st/VQHogt

Too many injuries and fatalities are being reported between motor vehicles and cyclists.  One case was reported nearby in November as a female cyclist was hit and killed by a pickup truck as she was crossing Columbia Pike from the northbound side at Ashwood Place, across from Harris Teeter. It was unclear how it happened but it was an unmarked intersection. See this screenshot from the news video, with my annotations. Very unfortunate.

So to all who commute or ride for recreation in the winter, stay warm, and year-round, be careful and be wary of your surroundings.

Watch your email if you want to join me, weather permitting, for short notice rides. I'll start up the planning for larger group rides when we get a warming trend going. Spring less than three months away!

Discovering a New Trail: Ride to Del Ray

Bill Cook and I took an afternoon ride today, Wednesday,  to the funky, artsy community of Del Ray. Del Ray is just west of Old Town Alexandria. We had a great little lunch at a very cool little restaurant called the Caboose Cafe, on the corner of East Uhler  and Mount Vernon Avenues in Del Ray. Quiches, soups, sandwiches, good coffee, and surprisingly, a complete menu of Ethiopian dishes.

Caboose Cafe, Mount Vernon Avenue, Del Ray

The new route was off the well-known Four Mile Run Trail approaching Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria. There is a strip mall with a Giant Food and a Gold's Gym to the left on S. Glebe Road as you travel south on the trail. Instead of staying on that trail to go south, we got off the trail at S. Lang street to the left, crossed Mount Vernon and turned right to pick up the "Four Mile Run PARK Trail" again, to the left. I had not previously heard of this trail. It runs for not quite a mile through ball fields and woods and takes you to Commonwealth Avenue, a lightly travelled tree-lined street with a clearly-marked bike lane. Left at the Library on Uhler Street leads straight to the Caboose Cafe.

Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria, VA (photo courtesy Google Maps)

If you're interested in more details about this route, email me or give me a call.

Happy biking!

Larry

Ride to Vienna, VA: Caffee Amouri and Bikes@Vienna Demo

The Lake Barcroft Bike Club travelled the 16.6 mile round trip ride to Vienna, Virginia on a crisp, early fall Saturday morning, October 6, 2012. Six members of our group gathered at the Bluemont Park parking lot for an 830 am departure. A few of us met at the Potterton Bridge a bit earlier for the 6 mile (3 miles each way) additional round trip journey over to the meeting spot.

Here's a few folks from our  group getting ready for the ride:

 

Lucie and Ted Seward 

Marcelle Miles

The parking lot at Bluemont was jammed with cars and runners for Arlington's 1st Annual "Mind Your Health 5K Run/Walk to benefit Mental Health America" so for the first couple minutes, our group wound its way through the crowd and headed over to the W&OD Trail for the  ride to the first of our destinations, Caffe Amouri, a local independent coffee shop and bakery on Church Street in Vienna. Coincidentally, we were greeted by the street closing and lots of tents being set up on Church Street for Vienna's annual Octoberfest.

After coffee and treats, we headed over to Bikes at Vienna, where we were given an extensive demonstration of their many folding bikes, probably the most complete set of folding bikes offered in the entire metropolitan DC area. This visit was a great suggestion made by group member Bill Cook, who didn't make this ride as he was riding the Seagull 100 over on the Eastern Shore.  

Bikes of Vienna staffperson demonstrating the features of a folding bike.

We saw a number of these bikes from lightweight 12 and 16 inch wheel versions to near full size folding bikes. These bikes are very well engineered and include top quality components that belie their small size and weight and make riding them great fun. The store offers the following brands. Click on the links to see more details of each. (Information below courtesy of the store's website at www.bikesatvienna.com )

• Breezer distributes the Zig7, Ziggy, and Zag 8 aluminum folding bikes
• Dahon makes a wide range of folding bikes from entry level to higher performance.
• Brompton folding bikes are made by hand in the UK. They fold fast and small and are fun to ride.
• Bike Friday produces small collapsible including a tandem and triplet. They are best known for "travel" bikes that can be checked as regular luggage with the suitcase converting to a trailer using the optional trailer package. They accept custom orders.
• Mezzo - Developed in the UK, and distributed by Marin Bikes USA, the Mezzo achieves a new level of performance and practicality with unrivalled handling for its compact size.
• Tern - Sharp looking, well built, and fun to ride.

Several of us tested some of these bikes and were pleasantly surprised at how easy and fun they were to ride.

 

Nomi on the Tern "Link" model

Marcelle on the Tern "Link" too!

Allan on the Tern "Verge X10"

This Dahon IOS9 was my favorite and the one I tested. Sorry no photo of me on the bike!

Our Bikes@Vienna demo lady got a bit long-winded when we got to the high end Brompton line of folding bikes, so we politely thanked her at an appropriate break and headed back to our starting points at Bluemont and Potterton. 

Ted, Lucie and Nomi waiting at the light at Glen Carlin and Leesburg Pike.

It was great ride for our small group. Here's a photo of our intrepid riders:

Lucie, Ted, Allan, Marcelle, Nomi and Larry

Hopefully, we can get in a few more rides before the cold weather sets in. 

A couple of final notes: Loaner bikes

Allan Mostoff, one of our riders and a former LB resident now residing at the Crescent Apartments at Lee Highway and Washington Boulevard (right on the W&OD Trail) has informed me that his building offers loaner bikes to residents, and he offered to arrange for anyone in the LB Bike Club who doesn't have a bike to borrow one of the loaner bikes. Contact Allan directly at mostoff@aol.com or contact me to arrange this at larrygol@yahoo.com or by phone at 703-658-8658, mobile 703-626-0801.

Weekday rides

Finally, there are a number of us that would like to ride during the week, so my suggestion is that those who are interested in weekday rides send me an email, and I'll set up a informal email subgroup of the LB Bike Club for these weekday rides, similar to what I do with an informal group of kayakers. The kayakers just send out a same day email to members of that group along the lines of "Anyone who wants to join me at 6pm this evening, let's meet up at Beach 3." Whoever is interested and available just meets up at the arranged location. 

For our weekday riders, I think we need a bit more advance notice, so anyone going out would send out an email the evening or day before with a time and starting place -- something like this: "I'm going out for a ride tomorrow morning at 11 for an hour. Anyone who'd like to join me meet me at Stoneybrae and Crosswoods or let me know where you'll be. I'm riding around the lake via Beachway to Blair to Columbia Pike to Aqua Terrace to Lakeview. Here's my mobile number:  703-626-0801." We could also plan for longer rides during the week this way as well with a few more days notice. 

The weekend rides will stlll be planned in advance with at least 4-5 days advance notice if not more.

If anyone has any other suggestions, comments, etc., about the club, the rides, etc., please let me know. 

See you next time.

Larry

  

Great Day for a Ride

Saturday, September 15, 2012--What could be better on a crisp, blue sky morning than riding a bike with friends, sharing coffee and stories about biking, and at the same time, initiating an ongoing fun social activity for fellow bicyclists living in the Lake Barcroft community?

Yesterday, with fourteen fellow riders, the Lake Barcroft Bike Club had it's first group ride. The weather couldn't have been any better. Riders gathered at Bluemont Park, either transporting bikes there by vehicle, or riding directly from the Lake. Bill Cook made a terrific video of the ride that you can watch here: http://vimeo.com/49546361

The route was from Bluemont Park, a short leg and over the bridge to the Washington and Old Dominion Trail (W&OD). From there we took the Four Mile Run Trail, around the loop at Reagan Airport and south on the Mount Vernon Trail, past beautiful views of the Potomac River, through the cool trees, over the wooden trail and marsh at Daingerfield Island, and over to the Buzz Bakery on Slater's Lane in Alexandria.

Here we are on  Four Mile Run Trail.  That's Allan Mostoff in red, with Jay Grossman in white to the left.

Bill Cook helps Ken Kosztarab with a flat

Phil Kemelor and David Starr chat with Jay Grossman over coffee.

 Time for a group photo. Here I am, getting caught by my camera's self timer too soon.

The group at the termination of the ride: Starting from the left: Elizabeth Berry, Phil Kemelor, David Starr, Jay Grossman, Nomi Taslitt, Larry Golfer, Ken Kastner, Eva Kosztarab, Newt Simmons, Bill Cook (not pictured: Alicia Agnese, Marcelle Miles, Allan Mostoff, and Janet Mascia).

A great fun morning for all!

Stay tuned for the announcement of our next ride. I will try to arrange for similar weather. ;-)

Moving house.... BY BIKE?!?

Recent article in the Post and a short video about using bikes to move. Forget the moving van -- get a bike trailer and a bunch of locking tie down straps.

http://tinyurl.com/9nctd3g

Interesting.

Larry

Fleeting fame

Just learned from a friend that a photo of my granddaughter Shayna and myself (taken by ?) is on the cover of the Alexandria Bikeways bike map. That's me in the red bike shirt. I could tell because Shayna has that sweatshirt and uses that exact skateboarding helmet, and I wear that shirt, use that side mirror and on close examination, there is a unique yellow reflector that I have on my helmet.

Who knew?

Hot, hot, and more hot! Waiting for a break.

This hot weather is relentless, although there will be a slight break this weekend, we are then back to high 80's and into the 90's+ with scattered rain/storms thoughout the week.  Needless to say, I haven't been out on the bike.

We have a new member: Allan Mostoff,  a long time (46 years) but former resident of Lake Barcroft. The Mostoffs are spending their time between their apartment at the Crescent (on the WO&D trail at Rt. 66 & Lee Hwy) and their home in Florida, but Allan liked the idea of our bike club and would like to join us on upcoming rides.He's also volunteered to lead group rides for the beginners and those wanting shorter rides. Stay tuned.

So, during the heat interlude, I thought I'd share what I've been doing. 

I was away for a week away with Carole at the Augusta Heritage Center Cajun/Creole music camp, at Davis and Elkins College, in the mountains of West Virginia, enjoying the cool evening air and temperate daytime temperatures.


We stayed in a fine old renovated inn called "Graceland."

Graceland Interior

Carole took guitar classes, I'm taking fiddle classes, and we both took a harmony singing class, all with the sounds of French traditional, old-time country, and virtuoso guitar playing ringing in our ears throughout the day and night.

My fiddle class

Carole and I performing the Linda Ronstadt/Anne Savoy tune "Parlez-moi d'amour" at the Student Showcase talent show.

Carole in performance with her guitar class.

Together with lessons and jamming on the porch of old Halleyhurst Hall, we attended afternoon and evening concerts and nightly dances to the sounds of many well-known recording artists in their respective genres. Click on the links here to see more about these musicians and listen to samples of their work: Cajun fiddlers David Greely of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Jo-El Savoy, and Al Berard,  accordionists Walter Mouton, Ed Pouillard and Jesse Lege, country singer Ginny Hawker and musician husband Tracy Schwartz, guitar masters Bill Kirchen (remember Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen? Hot Rod Lincoln?), Wayne Henderson and Jack Williams, and many more traditional musicians. It was a great week.

Back to biking

Let's return to biking: for those of you still venturing out in the heat, here are some tips, below, courtesy of Bike Arlington. I'll be back with more about biking and group riding with the club soon.

Larry


Summer Biking Checklist:

• Water Bottles
• Sunscreen
• Shorts/other loose fitting or moisture wicking clothing
• Plan for extra time

Hot Weather Tips

• Drink up. Fluid intake keeps you cool from the inside and replaces what you lose in perspiration and breathing. Sip throughout the day and take in extra fluids during and after your ride. If your ride is short, water is best, but if you ride longer than 30 minutes, reach for a drink containing electrolytes, such as a sports drink or coconut water.
• Dress light. Wearing shorts, short sleeves and light wicking clothing will help. If you happen to be wearing long pants, try rolling up the pant leg a few inches. For button down shirts, roll up the sleeves and unfasten a top button or two.
• Take a load off. Get that bag off your back and use a basket or rear panniers. Your ride will be easier and your back and shoulder area will catch more breeze.
• Take your time. Slow down and keep your exertion level low, especially on uphills where effort can be high and breeze can be low. You will get there in almost the same time – just drier!
• Allow time for cooling off. Perspiration continues even after you finish your bike trip, in fact it can be even worse without the natural breeze of biking . After your ride, find a cool place and take it easy for a few minutes. That will help the sweating subside.
• Pat down. Use paper towels in the bathroom or take a small towel along to pat yourself down and dry off with after your ride.

Since we know everyone loves infographics, and because we want to make remembering our hot weather biking tips as easy as possible, we have teamed up with goDCgo to create this bright infographic with our advice on keeping cool on your bike during those scorching days.

(click to enlarge)