Category: cycling

cycling log: 18 january 2010

author randomduck | timestamp 19/01/2010 | categories Comments Off

Activity: road cycling
Location: Dupont Circle > Glen Echo, MD > Seneca, MD > Dupont Circle
Distance: 49.3 mi. (flat to rolling)
Duration: 2:54
Weather: sunny and mild, northwest wind, 45-50 degrees
Climbing: 3,500′
Avg HR: 149 (max 187)
Type: aerobic

Given Monday’s holiday and the lovely, bluebird weather, it seemed like a great opportunity to take another ride on the newly-cleaned bike. The previous day’s rain had washed away much of the remaining snow and road salt, it seemed, and while the roads were damp, the sun was bright.

I rode from home, meeting the PPTC gang at Glen Echo just as they were shoving off on the official club ride. The route was one I know all-too-well, given it’s one of the old reliables when I want to go on an impromptu ride. The pace with the group was a bit fast, as folks who are in better mid-winter shape drove the speed up a tick higher than some of us (okay, namely me) wanted, but that’s fine. I rode with the group until the fork in the road in Seneca, where the others continued to get in their own 50-mile run (as well as a rest stop at mile 25), while I looped back toward DC, sans rest stop. So, aside from a quick stop in Glen Echo (as well as the requisite stop signs and traffic lights, most of which were brief trackstands), it was a non-stop 49.3 mile ride – not bad. And the average pace was decent for mid-January.

The best part? I was home around lunchtime, which meant I got to spend the lovely, sunny DC afternoon with sprite as we wandered around our fair city.

categories cycling, workout

cycling log: 16 january 2010

author randomduck | timestamp 19/01/2010 | categories Comments Off

Activity: road cycling
Location: The Plains, VA > Marshall > Upperville > Airmont > The Plains
Distance: 64.5 mi. (rolling)
Duration: 3:28
Weather: partly cloudy and mild, 44-50 degrees
Climbing: 4,000′
Avg HR: 152 (max 186)
Type: aerobic

The PPTC “Mild-Mannered Meander” ride was one of those rides that was lengthened out of practical necessity. Originally scheduled to be 48 miles, Sunday’s threat of pouring rain made many in the group decide to ride the original, longer version of the cue sheet.

And it was a great ride. There wasn’t a lot of “attack mode” in the group, save for Al, who rode off the front from the beginning and never really looked back. The rest of us rode mostly as a unit, save for the leader, Mark, who made a wrong turn along the way and met us at the rest stop in Upperville (where the BBQ slow-cooking in front of the town store was very inviting).

I was really only in shape for 59-or-so miles, as the group pulled away from me at that point and I didn’t quite have the extra energy to rejoin them. It’s the off-season, so that’s expected. But I only finished about two minutes behind the lot, so it’s not bad at all. I’m happy with how this ride went, for sure – but the cleanup of the bike, with all of the snowmelt and road salt residue, was hellish.

categories cycling, workout

cycling log: 10 january 2010

author randomduck | timestamp 10/01/2010 | categories Comments Off

Activity: road cycling
Location: Bowie, MD > Deale, MD > Bowie
Distance: 38.4 mi. (flat to rolling)
Duration: 2:14
Weather: sunny and cold, northwest wind, 24-29 degrees
Climbing: 2,200′
Avg HR: 150 (max 180)
Type: aerobic

I’ve been taking time off the bike a lot in the past 6 weeks. A lot of it was due to overtraining and burnout during the 2009 season, with the rest due to holiday preparation and other things going on in life. I managed to go riding on New Year’s Day, riding 32 miles in the annual “Circle of Cycles” at Hains Point, but I was nursing a sore leg from a high-speed, high-G recovery while skiing after Christmas.

So this ride today was my first ride in 2010 where I felt more-or-less ready for it (save for the fact that I’m far, far from peak riding shape). I was nursing a bit of shoulder pain, my previously injured left shoulder having been tweaked early on Saturday and the resulting pain remaining ever-present since. But I had to ride: to get out of the house, and I was one of the co-leaders, so off to Bowie I drove.

The weather was quite brisk, as the DC area has been in a cold snap since the end of December. A dusting of snow arrived heading into Friday, and that meant the possibility of some ice on back roads. Fortunately, the ice was minimal, save for an intersection where a spring-fed creek routinely floods the road. In this case, the result was an inch-thick coating of ice. So the seven of us walked carefully across the ice and continued (we’d see this patch twice, the second crossing being easier as some of the ice had melted during our ride).

The ride was done at a moderate pace, nothing crazy in terms of sprints (though I did take the final county line sprint, wanting to stretch my legs a little). Conversation was plentiful, and we made the most of a short-distance, off-season ride. It was a great first “real” ride of the year.

(Note that, as I restart the workout logs, I’m noting the sport in the post title. This is being done partly to make the Twitter links cleaner, partly to make them a bit more specific for folks who read the blog via RSS – all three of you.)

categories cycling, workout

quick tuesday levity: bike safety & muppets

author randomduck | timestamp 24/11/2009 | categories Comments Off

Enjoy these two!

First, a quick film about bicycle safety in the modern era:

(Hat tip to Bike Snob NYC for this gem!)

And next, a classic song in a new video from Muppet Studios:

(Hat tip to @paulandstorm for Muppet goodness.)

categories cycling, music, random

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getting tweedy

author randomduck | timestamp 17/11/2009 | categories 3 Comments

My usual ride reports on this blog are of a more “epic” proportion: long distance, plenty of climbing, tales of extreme endurance.

My ordinary? Alas, no.This is certainly not one of those! Indeed, this is a story about a more leisurely ride that resided entirely within the District of Columbia: the First Semi-Annual Washington DC Tweed Ride, organized by DC’s own “Dandies and Quaintrelles” club.

The basic rules of the day were:

  1. Wear tweed or other retro garb (lycra was verboten).
  2. Ride in a genteel, well-mannered way, obeying the local constabulary and all signed appointments.
  3. Enjoy the ride!

Simple, no?

The organizers of the ride likely had no idea of how popular such a ride would be. It helped that Sunday was a postcard-perfect weather day: clear skies, low humidity, and a high of 72. So when over 250 riders showed up at the appointed starting point (behind a PNC Bank on 8th Street NE), it was a cause of both celebration and (for both organizers and riders) a bit of confusion. As the ride came together so quickly and loosely (with PR largely by word-of-mouth and mentions on local cycling and hipster websites), there wasn’t a formal registration process – something that was clearly evident given the bottleneck to pick up liability release forms and cue sheets.

sprite and I had rolled in from Dupont Circle (scaling our biggest “hill” of the day along the way: the viaduct over the tracks at Union Station), and met up with Michael and his famous borrowed bicycle. We all soaked in the atmosphere: lots of tweed, wool, knickers, frocks, hats, pipes and tea sets were on full display as we awaited our turn to ride.

Around the turn of noon, we were off (dig my knickers, vest and argyle-patterned helmet – thanks to Eric Gilliland of WABA for snapping the shot)!

The route was a meandering path through DC: through the Capitol Hill neighborhood, down to the National Archives and Penn Quarter, then to the White House and up to Dupont Circle, eventually finishing at 14th and U Streets NW at Marvin, a lovely tavern.

Our crewOur spirited group of 25-or-so riders was in good spirits throughout. As I was one of the few who had a cue sheet, I was appointed the “leader” of our pack (though we had the person who cued the ride in our midst, so the likelihood of wandering off track was nil). Our average speed was in the neighborhood of 7 miles per hour, and we caught the eye of many passers by, most of whom were charmed by the sight of so many people, dressed to the nines, enjoying a scenic roll through town.

We smiled and laughed. We conversed. Folks took pictures and filmed the merriment. We waved and smiled at pedestrians, motorists and fellow tweed-free cyclists – as was said many times: this was not a race, but a parade (of sorts). Folks on Segways and street hockey players made way for us, and we thanked them for their courtesy. According to a few reports, Michelle Obama met some of the earlier tweed riders as they passed by the White House – very cool.

A trip through timeThe 6.6 miles of the DC Tweed Ride went by very quickly, even at a deliberately slow pace. We rolled in at Marvin to see a mass of bicycles of all makes, models and vintage, with riders wandering in any out of the tavern. Inside and on the roof deck, gin fizz and good beer was enjoyed by many.

As for us, we picked up lunch around the corner, as we had arrived too late to get brunch at Marvin. Pity, that. And that brings me to the one gripe I had about the ride: it ended at a location that wasn’t made to accommodate such a large group of riders. Perhaps reversing the route, ending at a theatre or a park where a band can play, people can stretch out and more food can be served – that would make the ride even better.

But as it was, the First Semi-Annual Washington DC Tweed Ride was a superb way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I can’t wait for the next installment of the ride come springtime.

In the meantime, the rest of my photos from the event are here, sprite’s are here, and still others are here. Also, be sure to enjoy Michael’s film of the event:

DC Tweed Ride 2009 from Piso Mojado on Vimeo.

categories cycling, random, washington, dc

categories ,

the time, what of the time?

author randomduck | timestamp 07/10/2009 | categories Comments Off

Okay, so I’ve been slacking off here.

It shows, doesn’t it?

Rest assured, I’ve been active. So what have I done since… August 13?!?! Okay, let’s start with August 1, why don’t we?

Riding:

  • On August 1, I rode the Mountain Mama Road Bike Challenge out of Monterey, VA. The drive down there the night before was eventful, as my trusty Subaru decided to blow almost every single oil gasket just outside of Staunton, VA. No fun, and possibly a show-stopper. But thanks to the help of friends, I was able to get a ride for me, my driving companion and our stuff to Monterey. The ride was spectacular, though I felt like ass for the first 80 miles of the ride, having expended a lot of energy the previous night getting the car to a mechanic, waiting for a ride, etc. From miles 80 to 100, though, I was strong, and did quite a bit of good, fast climbing over the final three summits. The car is fine now, after replacement of six gaskets.
  • I also organized a century on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. This was a great ride, loose and fun, and featured a sighting of a black bear sow and two of her roly-poly cubs.
  • My Tuesday night “Downtown Breakaway” club ride slowly ramped down throughout August, wrapping up on September 1 with an unfortunate ending: a crash in the paceline ended up with one rider breaking a hip, another his bike.
  • Rode the Civil War Century in early September. This is a must-do ride, given its location and organization, and a lot of people drive down to Thurmont, MD, for this annual tradition. The day was somewhat misty and damp, but it made for exceptional riding, and I got to hang out with many different friends along the route.
  • The PPTC Historic Back Road Century took place in late September, and while it is a ride that I’m not particularly fond of (the route is somewhat flat and boring), the company I rode with made up for that. I was in a great shape for this, though I left a lot in the tank when riding with my friends.

Travel:

  • My main travel was to Salt Lake City to visit my mom. It wasn’t the best of trips, to say the least, as there was a lot of work to do around her house – some of which was a surprise to sprite and me. And my mom is no fan of having her visiting family do housework while we’re in town, but we really had to do it. Needless to say, I’m now quite versed in cleaning, dismantling, moving, disposing of and installing refrigerators.
  • One bright spot on the Utah trip (perhaps the bright spot) was a lovely evening spent with our old friends, Bethy and Garrett. We drank beers, had some fun conversations and jammed out on guitar, mandolin and piano until late in the night. It brought back a lot of old memories and created lots of lovely new ones.

Anything else? Well, I’ve spent some quality time with our DC friends, though not as much as I’d like due to the craziness that is late summer and early fall in DC. But fall and winter look to be a lot of fun, once the transitional chaos inherent in the seasonal change settles down. I’ll be up in New England this weekend, which will be a bit more of a vacation than was the trip to Utah – can’t wait for that.

categories cycling, outdoors, random, travel

a glutton for punishment

author randomduck | timestamp 18/07/2009 | categories 2 Comments

Cycling is not a cheap sport.

Even when you try to be frugal it can charge “convenience fees” in very sneaky forms.

There are the expendables: tires, chains, chainrings, tubes, and the like. This year, I’ve replaced a chain, both chainrings, a few tubes and three tires. The last bit stings the most, mainly because I really like a tire that’s not the most affordable tire around – the Michelin Pro3 Race – but has such a lovely ride. They’re just not durable: I rode a new P3R threadbare in less than 2,000 miles. Sure, it’s a racing tire, and I rode it through a very wet spring, but that’s a short lifespan for a tire that’s not cheap.

The wet spring and early summer also did in my bottom bracket, a SRAM GXP Team model that was the loudest thing on the planet. Well, not really, but it made my bike awfully loud. That finally got replaced last week, and it’s bliss again.

Then there are the things that aren’t the typical “annual replacement” items – like wheels.

My Pedal Force has Neuvation wheels, and they’ve been great: light, responsive and durable. My rear wheel had a rim crack after 7,000 or so miles and, even though it was out of warranty, the good folks at Neuvation replaced it, no questions asked. I finally got around to transferring my cassette and tire to the new wheel the other day (having borrowed a wheel from a generous MABRA member from Maryland) and it was lovely: tight, true, quiet.

If only I’d been a bit more detail-oriented in setting it up last night, because after 2.1 miles of riding, it’s done for.

Y’see, I didn’t check the alignment of my derailleur to the cogs. Even though this is supposed to be a standard thing, it can vary from wheel to wheel, and I didn’t bother checking. So as I rode home, I managed to downshift to the granny cog in the rear and I overshifted into the spokes.

My chain locked itself into a recess between hub flange, spokes and cassette and was stuck really, really well. I had to have sprite come and pick me up, as there was no way the chain was being freed, and no way for the wheel to spin without causing more damage.

Once home, I removed the chain and cassette to investigate the damage: four spokes in need of replacement, and one hub gouged beyond repair.

Ugh. The upside: at least this happened close to home, rather than on the ride I’m going on this Sunday. That would’ve gone down in the Suck Hall of Fame.

So, if Steve is reading this: I need to borrow your wheel for a few more days. I’ve ordered a replacement wheel (a Campagnolo Record/Mavic Open Pro unit – glad I re-upped my Team Performance membership – though I’ll order another Neuvation later this year, as well), and I’ll be very careful to check my derailleur alignment and limit screw settings before I ride on it.

Penance paid – I’m a glutton for punishment.

categories cycling

trip report: harpoon brewery-to-brewery ride (20 june 2009)

author randomduck | timestamp 29/06/2009 | categories 1 Comment

Activity: road cycling
Location: Boston, MA > Hinsdale, NH > Windsor, VT (Harpoon Brewery-To-Brewery Ride)
Distance: 148.0 miles (mostly rollers, some big, with one challenging climb from miles 91-94)
Duration: 7:41 (8:20 with stops)
Weather: partly sunny in the early hours, mostly cloudy for the remainder, 67-78 degrees
Climbing: 8,125′
Avg HR: 150 (max 188)
Type: aerobic

We ride north along Spofford Lake

This is the big ride of 2009 (at least according to my current schedule), and it comes far earlier than last year’s big ride out in California. This ride differed in two key respects:

1. It was a longer, point-to-point ride with less climbing; and
2. There was a lot of beer involved at the end.

This ride is sponsored by Harpoon Brewery and is a fundraiser for charities near and dear to them (they are highly involved in helping out in New England). The entry fee is steep, but with it you get a cool jersey, great support (including the Mavic neutral tech support cars and motorbikes), and an end-of-ride BBQ featuring a lot of Harpoon beer.

It’s a fine, fine ride.

The morning started off in Cambridge, where sprite and I were staying with our friends, Sam and Alexis. We had to get up early, as I had intended to start the ride at 7:45am and need to be at the brewery at Boston Harbor by 6:45, at the latest (according to the info packet I had). However, even on a sleepy Saturday morning, traffic doesn’t move slowly through downtown Boston due to poorly-timed traffic lights. On the way, we made a quick pit stop at a Dunkin Donuts in downtown (sprite made the fastest stop for coffee, OJ and a bagel I’ve ever seen) and made it to the brewery by…. 6:50.

Most riders had already embarked on the course, as the slowest riders were sent on their way at 5:45am. I was planning on riding with the 20mph group, but decided that maybe the 19mph group was a better fit, given my high level of fluster heading into the ride. It certainly caught sprite off-guard, as I left at 7:35, about 10 minutes earlier than originally planned. But she was sweet to drop me off at the ride start.

I ended up in a group of 20-or-so riders, most of whom either were members of the Team FuelBelt triathlon club or the Monsters In The Basement cycling club. I ended up slotting in with the Monsters, who were a group with a similar personality to my PPTC “wrecking crew” – it was a good and serendipitous teaming, as they invited me in to their group for the duration of the ride.

The route isn’t overly complex, as it basically stays on five major roads: Massachusetts routes 225 and 119 and New Hampshire routes 63, 12 and 12A. Yes, there are many forks in the road and other, smaller roads used, but over 85 percent of the ride features the aforementioned five routes. The entire cue sheet fits in one column on a single side of standard letter paper – that’s how easy the course is, in terms of linear routing.

And the climbing on the ride is fairly mellow. There are many rollers of various size, and a gradual rise into New Hampshire the account for the ride until mile 90. At this point, in Hinsdale, NH, the ride turns north onto NH63 and a climb called “The Leviathan” by the ride organizers. It’s no slouch of a hill, averaging around 4 percent for its duration, with a few stretches of 7-8 percent before its “summit” at mile 94. After this, the rest of the ride is rolling, including a covered bridge crossing of the Connecticut River a mere four miles from the finish.

I must have prepared well for this ride (indeed, I told sprite the previous weekend that I was ready after riding a really strong-yet-controlled pace for two consecutive 65-mile rides): I ate well and hydrated myself just enough. The bike, my Jamis Eclipse, was in great shape, with new tires and a more aggressive riding position that mirrors the Pedal Force (my usual road bike). And I had a good amount of rest.

And it showed on ride day. I was always in good spirits with a lot of energy in the tank. My first rest stop, at mile 52, was a bit longer than I’d like, but it went well, with a lot of free Clif Shot Blocks available (I stuffed my jersey with the things – they’re tasty). At mile 56, we called the Mavic cycle to aid a cyclist whose loaner wheels (from Mavic) weren’t holding air. And the third stop at mile 89 was unplanned, but one of the Monsters met up with his family at this stop. Stopping near the bottom of a climb is usually tough, but we made this stop quick and got on our way.

The Leviathan was tough, but I set into a spin pace and did just fine with it. Our group would reconnect after big features like this, which was for the best and kept folks’ spirits high. The next official stop at mile 97 featured musette bags with goodies and water, but the way it was setup didn’t allow for a smooth, pro-style hand-up, so we stopped to use the loo and refill bottles.

Monsters near the top

At this point, we were rejoined by the FuelBelt triathetes, which was an interesting experience. First, we ended up with a monster-size paceline of 16 riders. And of that group, only the Monsters and a few of the tri-folk were taking pulls (mostly by choice on our part, as we scoped out the FuelBelt riders and found that most weren’t the best paceline riders). It could have been irksome, but two of the FuelBelt riders took great, strong, steady, long pulls for the group. And they happened to be the only two women in the group – and one of them had never been at the lead of a paceline before. It certainly didn’t show, and we averaged almost 24mph for the 26 mile stretch to the final fuel stop of the ride before Vermont.

At this point, a few of the Monsters were shelled from the crazy effort we’d just made, and we all welcomed the cold sodas and fruit and the salty pretzels at the rest stop. Never before had a Pepsi or Mountain Dew tasted so good! We refueled and stretched, and let the FuelBelt crew ride ahead, as our group wished to stay together. And I admit, I got jumpy as we neared Windsor, and jumped ahead of the group until the covered bridge crossing of the Connecticut River, where I stopped to take a picture of the sign over the bridge. Regrouping in downtown Windsor, we rode together for the remainder of the ride to the brewery.

After 148 miles, the journey was complete! And my legs were ready to ride another 30 miles, at least – as I said earlier, I was prepared!

But the lure of a hot shower, a massage, fresh barbeque and cold beer was too much to pass up. It was a fitting end to the ride, and sprite met me a short while after I finished to give me a ride back to her folks’ place in Connecticut.

It was an awesome day and a superb ride – one that I’d happily do again, though I’d want to bring a few more of my PPTC friends to share in the experience.

(Click on any of the pictures to see my full set from the ride. Click here to see a full album from Will Williams of the Monsters – you’ll see more pics of me riding there.)

Me with the Monsters In The Basement crew

I really need to mention the debt of gratitude I owe the Monsters for their overall support of me. Their club support driver, Ian, provided me with water and soda along the way, treating me as a member of the team the whole day. It was really great, and made the whole day much more special. And to Peter, Will, Philip, Dan, Dave and Todd, a tip of the hat to y’all for being so nice to a stranger from the south. C’mon down to this area for a ride sometime: Mountains of Mistery, Mountain Mama, Civil War Century, you name it!

categories cycling, outdoors, travel, workout

trip report: mountains of misery (24 may 2009)

author randomduck | timestamp 29/05/2009 | categories 3 Comments

Activity: road cycling
Location: Newport, VA > New Castle, VA > Newport > Mountain Lake, VA (Mountains of Misery)
Distance: 102.7 (mostly rollers, some big, with two BIG climbs)
Duration: 5:57 (6:17 with stops)
Weather: overcast and mild, a little drizzle, 62-70 degrees
Climbing: 10,240′
Avg HR: 160 (max 191)
Type: aerobic

Year two of the Mountains Of Misery ride, and it went very, very well: 19 minutes faster than last year, without the leg cramp that plagued me in the final 10 miles.

The weather forecast leading into the ride became increasingly unfavorable as the week progressed: partly cloudy morphed into overcast, then into showers and thunderstorms. While Jonathan, Chris, Kelly, Mike, Mark and I were a bit worried, we also kept in mind that weather forecasting involves a lot of chaos theory, and is guaranteed to have a certain measure of inaccuracy.

Luckily, May 24 was one of those days.

Sure, there was some drizzle between miles 10 and 20, which was fine. Our starting wave (third out, four minutes after the first group had departed) settled into a good pace, driven by Jonathan, Chris and James, who would end up having the fastest overall time of the day by “not stopping, save for one quick water fill and two pee breaks.” Chris and I rode past the rest stops at miles 26 and 42, making our first stop at mile 56. This helped keep Chris on track for a sub-7-hour finish time, and me on track to beat my time from last year. The rest of our group rode ahead, which was fine, as I had spent the previous six miles playing catch-up after having to stop and tighten a loose crank arm.

The St. John’s Creek climb at mile 58 was good for me: I placed some distance between Chris and me, while Jonathan was dancing up the climb behind us. I quickly stopped to top off my water bottle at the top, having neglected to do so at the rest stop to save a tiny bit of weight (yup – silly, isn’t it?), and shoved off when Chris pulled in and Jonathan passed me. And just like last year, I quickly caught up with Jonathan on the downhill.

Jonathan and I rode together for the rest of the ride, and were happy to see Chris pull into the rest stop at mile 84 as we were pulling out: it was almost certain that he’d beat his goal! Jonathan and I kept rolling, passing the final pre-climb rest stop and heading toward the final, category 1 obstacle: Doe Creek Road.

This year, Jonathan and I started together on this climb, but he certainly had better form for the climb. I was pushing a higher gear than in 2008 (36/25, as opposed to 34/25), and my lower back was giving me fits. I had to stop to stretch it out a couple times during the climb (20-30 seconds per stop) when it locked up and made my pedal stroke more of a lop-sided lunge. But I still made it up the hill faster than last year, and when I crossed the line at 6 hours, 21 minutes and 15 seconds, I was happy: 19 minutes shaved off my 2008 time! Jonathan cheered me on through the finish, as I did for him last year, and we both hit the massage tables to get the lactic acid worked out of our legs.

As we were on the tables, we listened for Chris’ name to be called by the usually-attentive announcer. However, before we heard his name, along came Chris! He finished in 6:38 (6:34 with the four minute time correction), which totally eclipsed his previous best time of 7:08 – a target smashed, for sure!

Our other group mates fared well, too. Mark shaved almost an hour off his 2008 time. Kelly and Mike – my carpool mates who rode the 124-mile route – finished between 8:30 and 9:00 elapsed time (giving me enough time to fully partake of the free BBQ at the finish, as well as a shower at Mountain Lake Hotel, where Dirty Dancing was filmed).

But the best part was seeing my friend Mariette finish in less than eight hours! Mariette shouldn’t have been at this ride: in early March, she was rear-ended by a motorist while riding her bike in Scottsdale, Arizona. She suffered numerous broken bones (fibula broken in four places, broken pelvis, ribs, vertebrae and nose, lacerations a’plenty) and had only started riding on smooth roads a few weeks ago. Prior to Mountains Of Misery 2009, her longest ride had been 53 miles. Yet here she was, finishing a 102.7 mile ride with insane climbs in a time that is a great feat for most riders. She is an inspiration, and the total embodiment of a tough person – way to go, Mariette!

My goal heading into this ride was to shave 5 minutes from my finishing time, and I managed to do almost four times better. The next big goal is the Harpoon Brewery-To-Brewery ride, only 22 days from today. I think I’m ready, though there’s a lot more prep to do.

categories cycling, travel

dc the fittest? depends on the context.

author randomduck | timestamp 27/05/2009 | categories 2 Comments

This week saw the publication of a study by the American College of Sports Medicine that proclaims Washington, DC, as the “Fittest City in America.”

This had me scratching my head a little bit, as the study seems to weigh infrastructure factors above all others, rather than the general health and well-being of the population. Also, the study included Arlington and Alexandria, VA, in its study, which will skew numbers in favor of the fit.

I posted my thoughts on this subject over on BikeForums [edited for additional context here]:

Yes, the infrastructure is there: plenty of parks, MUPs and such. But do the citizens take full advantage of these? Perhaps those who live in the more affluent areas of the District (Dupont, Georgetown, upper Northwest, Capitol Hill), but there are plenty of less affluent areas in DC where other factors work against fitness (to the detriment of all involved with the cost of healthcare, etc.). If you expand the scope of the study to include Arlington and Alexandria, VA (as this study did), and the surrounding border cities in Maryland, it’s still a stretch to call DC the “fittest city,” though the odds improve in terms of finding fit people.

But [a fellow BikeFoums member] who quipped that the study “must have forgotten the area that isn’t tourist-friendly” really isn’t that far off. What about the east side of the Anacostia River? There’s a high rate of diabetes, obesity and other preventable diseases and conditions in this area which is well off the tourist radar. Same with pockets of Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland, where low-income families have more immediate perceived worries than physical fitness.

It’s as if the study turned a blind eye on Wards 5, 7 and 8, with their comparatively lower income levels and less-developed infrastructure of MUPs, bike lanes and trails. While there are recreation centers in these areas, complete with fields, tennis and basketball courts, and swimming pools, these facilities aren’t always used to their best potential. For example, swimming pools are used most often as a means to cool off and relax in the hot months of summer, rather than as a fitness venue.

I continued with my BikeForums post:

In my neighborhood (Dupont Circle/Kalorama), there are a great number of fit people, many of them younger, almost all fairly affluent in the grand scheme of things. They ride their bikes, run, swim and take advantage of the provided infrastructure, as well as pay-to-play resources like health clubs. But my neighborhood isn’t at all representative of DC, as a whole.

And that’s my beef with this study: it seems to look very fondly upon the more-visited and more gentrified parts of the DC area while turning a blind eye on the poorer areas where fitness levels are lower. Sure, northwest DC (as well as Arlington County) is a veritable treasure trove of fitness infrastructure, and the people who live in these areas take great advantage of the spoils of their location.

However, simply crossing to the east side of the Anacostia River reveals an environment where riding a bike on the streets often puts one in a danger zone: few bike lanes and MUPs, a populace that isn’t used to co-existing with bikes on the roads, fewer public pools and parks. It is good to see any movement toward improvement in this area (e.g. the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center and the Anacostia River Recreation Trail), but the money-rich parts of the District seem to see the better half of free fitness amenities.

As I concluded on BikeForums, I take this ranking with the same grain of salt as Bicycling’s declaration of DC as “America’s Most Improved Cycling City“: it’s all well and good, but there’s a lot of missing context. We have a fitness fanatic mayor (whose favorite outdoor pool is now heated – go fig – and who keep up with his bicycle racing and triathlon schedule with seemingly more excitement than his governing duties) and a section of the city (and surrounding environs) that is chock-full of active, fit citizens. But DC isn’t all pretty, trim people: the District has more than its fair share of poverty, preventable disease and obesity.

Context is everything.

categories cycling, washington, dc

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