Bike To Work Day & Mosey Monday

Hey kids, it’s two, two posts in one!

Last Friday was Bike to Work Day or as I affectionately name it, “Take Advantage of Bike to Work Day Promotions Day” (TAB2WDPD).  That’s exactly what we did, and it wasn’t easy to coordinate!

The email chain showed how complicated pulling this off would be.  We decided to meet at the usual time (5:45 am) at the Rusty Bridge … at least some of us did.  Our numbers were quite low for a Friendly Fixie Friday Ride, but we continually picked up riders along the route.  The goal was to meet first at Big Bean in Severna Park to take advantage of their free small coffee for bike riders.  Big Bean opens at 6:30 am.  I planned an easy ride, and as it turned out, rode with someone who needed a slower than usual pace, especially on the hills on Old County Road.  I was on the Fixie and didn’t mind this slower pace.  We had a good chat, and arrived at Big Bean by about 6:20.  By the time we pulled off helmets and gloves and had the cleat covers on, the shop opened and in we went.  About 5 minutes later, a whole squad of SPP riders arrived, filling the place and increasing the noise level considerably.  I had a macademia & coconut coffee along with a breakfast cookie.  By 6:50 we were pushing off to the next stop on TAB2WDPD, the official event at the City Dock in Annapolis.

The ride was easy, again riding with a number of people who are not regulars on the early morning ride.  I achieved a speed just short of my record on the descent to the Naval Academy Bridge (35.5 mph or 167 rpm).  Soon enough we were pulling into the crowd for Bike to Work Day, with a dozen SPP riders already there.  Whole Foods provided bananas, water, and bagels.  We got our free t-shirt.  There were whistles and hand sanitizer trinkets.  A local coffee roaster was there so I had my second cup-o-joe for the morning.  We registered for the drawing of a mountain bike and a bike rack (no SPP members won either of these).  At 8:00 we listened to a couple of speeches and then Mike B, Sebastian and I headed up to the airport where they had to go to work.

When I finished riding for the day, I had nearly 53 miles.  I went home, mowed the lawn and did some other around the house chores.

This Ride: 52.6 miles

Mosey Monday (this morning) was quite interesting.  Five of us met at the Rusty Bridge (but our ranks would eventually swell to 9 riders).  It had rained overnight and the forecast was for scattered rain through the day.  Every one of us had consulted the radar and concluded that we would stay dry on our ride.  Of the 9 riders, only one had a rain jacket.  We had an easy ride south.  We entered Round Bay and I climbed the hill on the fixie.  Just after the hill, the rain came.  It was raining hard enough that it was dripping off everything, nose, elbows, feet, chin, ears, etc.  It stopped a short time later.  I don’t quite know how it happened, but after the rain started, the pace picked up and eventually split our group with four of us content to ride a Mosey Monday pace, and the rest not really pushing it but keeping it faster than we were.

The post-rain ride routine was again played out on the front porch.  Strip off the wet garments, use the broom to de-debris the legs, and try not to drip through the house as I enter.  Newspaper goes into the shoes to help dry them out.  Clothing hits the washing machine to rinse out all the road grime that collects.

But you know, it was a pleasant ride.

This Ride: 24.3 miles
Month: 533 miles
2012: 2130.8 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 15,984.4 miles