Saturday Ride

Last Saturday, Betsy, Sandy, Josh and I went for a long, and very pleasant, bike ride. We met in Georgetown at 9:30 for coffee and my mom's favorite breakfast burritos. I hadn't seen my parents since before we left for Florida (since June, I guess), so it was great to catch up. We talked a lot about bike plans and laughed at some scandalous(ish) stories of my dad's. We eventually got on our bikes, rode across the key bridge, and headed for our destination. In a hurry to get to our favorite (read: only one we've ever been to) bar in Old Town and watch the third place Women's World Cup match between France and Sweden, we stopped very little. We got there just in time and watched intently, drank beers, and ate food.

 

At half time, my dad and I took a quick ride across the Wilson Bridge and back. That is always a cool experience and, this time, I imagined what it'd be like to run over the thing. Probably just as cool and, obviously, much more difficult. We raced to get back and still missed the first twenty minutes of the second half. But it was worth it, in spite of the scrape I got on my arm (which Hadley tells me resembles Harry Potter's lightning bolt) from trying to ride in the "shade" of the concrete guard rail and scraping up against it as my dad and I got lost in conversation. Josh, on his own field trip at half-time, took this picture of the Bridge. I'll pretend that it was planned, and that we are some tiny little dots in the picture...

 

France lost which was a bummer but it wasn't enough to dampen our spirits on this beautiful day. We went for some ice cream and froyo and then took our time getting out of town. We stopped to watch a guy play what Josh has coined "wine glass music". It was awesome and very impressive.

We then rode alongside this guy, slowly moving along on his Penny Farthing, and laughed with him about all the people, including me, gawking and taking his picture.

On the way home, we stopped for a while at Gravelly Point, where Josh got a bunch of cool pictures. Every time I bike through here, I say that I want to come back sometime with this as my destination. To play frisbee or soccer or to picnic here would be so fun. So that is a new goal of mine. In 2011, before it is too cold, I will make a trip out of riding to and hanging out at Gravelly Point. Participants welcome...

We stopped in Georgetown to say our goodbyes and then Josh and I made the mistake of deciding to ride through town instead of on the Rock Creek Trail. After a long and super fun ride we rode hill after hill after hill in Georgetown, Glover Park, and on Reno Road. But really, it only made us stronger and it justified my drinking four beers later that night in celebration.

Besides making me happy, tan, and sweaty, this ride made me really miss biking. I do plenty of riding around the city but it is all for commuting. And commuting is great but I want to start reeeally riding more. I want to do a century with my dad and I want to ride to Mount Vernon. I also want to feel confident that I can successfully ride a bike 3,000 some miles across this country.

BikeShare Email and Riding

You may remember an e-mail that I sent to Capital Bikeshare a few weeks ago asking what their policy is for riders who go over their allotted 30 minutes of free riding because they arrive at a station and all the docks are full. Before I left for Florida, I received a very nice response from a customer service representative informing me that if one goes over their allotted 30 minutes for no fault of their own, they will not be charged.

Then, I got another e-mail a few weeks later with my updated account information. I logged in for the first time since I activated my account and saw that I have only used a bikeshare bike fourteen times since my first ride on April 27. That is an average of 1.3 times per week and I know I can do better than that! Fourteen busrides would have cost me $21 and fourteen metro rides would have cost $31.10 (at the very least!) so I've almost already gotten my money's worth. But it's not about the money, it's about the riding! I hereby challenge myself to up my average to at least two trips via bikeshare a week. I will check back in a month or so with my progress.

So for all you commuters in this city, be comforted in knowing that customer service at Capital Bikeshare is quick in responding to your inquiries and that they will not charge you if you get stuck with nowhere to dock. I hope that you're sharing a bike more than 1.3 times a week and, if you're not sharing at all, I hope you'll consider joining. It is a really cool thing!

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Kid at Heart Shoes

Last week, we went to the Nike outlet and I did this to my shoes.

They were ugly already so I thought, why not at least give them a little character? Kinda reminds me of junior year of high school when I wore strawberry shortcake and rainbow gay pride shoelaces in my chucks.

It's good to still be a kid at heart. Nike has these laces in all kinds of crazy colors and I highly recommend them if you're looking to spice up your life. Or simply to add character to your running shoes.

Cross Country Planning: Who wants to go?

The possibility of riding across America is very real. We wouldn't depart for at least 11 months but it seems that planning must begin soon. The first thing to do is to confirm who is going and for how long. I, no doubt, will be riding the whole way. And I will not be riding alone so my ability to pursue this is wholly dependent on the interest of others. Here is the potential crew:

Joyce: My best friend from college, who currently resides in Boulder, CO, where she is working on her masters in Environmental Engineering. We decided we wanted to bike across America together and that we would do it in 2012. We're still on track to make that happen. She will graduate in late May but prefers to start later in the summer so that we won't be doing the whole thing during the hottest part of the year.

Sandy: My dad, the original bike commuter in our family. He has [imaginary] experience riding across America, Europe, and Africa. He is retired but will be the chair of the board at our church next year so the timing is not ideal for him.

Betsy: My mom, the slow and steady bicyclist of the family who was the first to ride Ragbrai and the one to get us all back into it in 2007. She will still have a job next summer so will need to see about working pat-time from the road for a few months. She is the most organized person I know and loves to plan these things. So having her along would be a logistical dream.

Nathan: My brother. He is not into long distance cycling. He rides a fixie around Baltimore and he is pretty good shape given all the cigarettes he smokes. His role would be to drive the sag wagon and carry all of our stuff. And maybe bike some. At this point, he is probably the least committed. He may start grad school in the Fall of 2012 so his availability would be something like June-August.

Ingrid: My other best friend who currently lives in DC. She has a lot going on right now, including working a full time job and going to school to become a nutritionist so she wouldn't be able to ride the whole time but wants to do one or more sections of it.

Joshua: My boyfriend. There is no way in hell he is going to take 3 months off work and ride his bike 3,000+ miles across the country. He wants to continue his career, needs to hold down the fort in DC, and simply doesn't like biking enough. The big draw for him is the scenery and the photographer's heaven we would be exploring. So he may be interested in flying out and joining us for a week or several on a bike or in the car.

And there is me, of course. I need to see about taking a leave of absence from work but it is way too early for that now. I have no idea if this is even a possibility. I need to save enough money to pay rent for three months. And to pay for all the expenses along the way.

Right now, that is all. And I don't think we want it to be too big. Nor do we want it to be too small. Everything is up in the air but it's exciting that way... the possibilities are endless.

Time to Run

Ah, what a beautiful thing a vacation is. I have managed to run 5 out of 6 days that we've been in Florida. I haven't run that much... probably ever. Yesterday, running 3 miles of circles around Josh's mom's gigantic apartment complex, switching between road, sidewalk, curb (which I hear is good for your butt), and grass, I hurt my left ankle. I think the curb running is probably to blame. It still hurts this morning so I may have to take today off.

These runs have not yielded much writing material. They have consisted mostly of running on sidewalks alongside walls surrounding neighborhoods. They are pretty monotonous, especially when compared to the aesthetically pleasing routes I'm used to running in DC. They are also extremely HOT. Monday, not expecting Josh's step-mom to make a big brunch, I timed my run poorly and did a sweltering 5.2 miles beginning at 11:45 am. It was not something I looked forward to doing again. So Tuesday, despite dressing in my running clothes at 10, I procrastinated until noon when I convinced Josh to bike alongside me as I ran. DUH! I don't know why this has never occurred to me before. Not that it's something I'd request often because I realize that it is pretty ridiculous. But on a vacation, with plenty of time to kill, in a place where I don't know my way around very well, seemed the perfect time for Josh to prove how much he loves me by riding a little BMX bike 5.6 miles at a measly 10'03" minute mile pace. I know, this is horribly slower than normal but I blame the heat and humidity and I'm ok with it. And, running at 5 pm yesterday, I ran an average 8'59" mile so all is not lost.

5.6 very slow miles on this little thing.

Running alongside walls like this. Trying to keep up with boy on bike.

Hopefully my ankle pain will subside quickly and I'll be back on my feet today or tomorrow. And, though I don't want the vacation to end, it will be nice to be back on a bike soon as well.

Swamp Running

On a sweltering Saturday in late August, 2007, Betsy Shaw and I set out on a road trip from Raleigh, North Charolina to Gainesville, FL. We were driving my new car down so I could be there to move into my new apartment and start my junior year of college in the fall. I had been away from my beloved Joshua for two and a half months and I was so so anxious to see him.

This past Saturday, doing the exact same drive, I had a similar anxiousness but it wasn't for any particular person- I had Josh sitting next to me the whole way. I was anxious to see my town- to get back to this place that I called home for so long, that I'd been away from for an astounding nineteen months. I knew I'd feel pangs of nostalgia and I was certainly right about that. I actually teared up on the drive as Josh and I talked about our friends and our first memories of moving to Gainesville. We spent pretty much the whole night smiling, eating our favorite Gainesville food, and reminiscing about just about everything. It was wonderful.

But don't be fooled, I couldn't return to this place without doing some exercise, especially after the nine hours I'd spent in a car. So, not at all spontaneously, Josh and I went straight to the swamp (football stadium... ahem, the best, most wild of football stadiums) with camera and running shoes in tow. I have never written about "stadiums" on this blog and that is a shame. Because, for four years of my life, they really were my favorite form of exercise. I'm sure you get it but to run the stadium simply means running around the stadium by going up the stairs in one section, over to the next, down those stairs, over to the next, and so on. They are quite challenging and provide a great workout. But there really is nothing better, especially after so long away, because there is some sort of energy you get from just being in that place, from feeling that sense of camraderie, love, excitement, and craze that every true gator must feel in the swamp. Even when it's empty, when there is no football team to cheer for on the field, you just feel at home there. And sometimes, if your names are Carrie and Nicole circa 2009, you may get to have a private viewing of Tim Tebow and John Brantly practicing on the empty field. You may forego running stadiums to sit there forever and gawk at those heros of yours.

On Saturday I didn't see any football stars. But I felt that familiar energy. I also felt extremely nostalgic and happy and sad at the same time. Josh and I contemplated what we looked like to these people. Did we look like college students? Freshman there for preview? Or did we look like alumnae? Parents? Strangers? I felt truly old when we saw students (hopefully Freshmen) and observed how young they seemed. But young or old, student or alum, I will always be able to do that run. I did two laps around and it was rough. I then did two "gator mountains", running from the bottome to the top, 90 rows above the field, all at once. I thought I'd be in such great shape from all my long runs in DC but this was a whole different ballgame. I am gladly very sore so I have something to remember it by. Josh opted out of the running and took lots of photos of the stadium and of me in it. Here are some of the good ones.

There she is.

Tiny little Carrie running around.

This is where the magic happens.

Mountain #1

Almost done...

Can these legs get me up another time?

going

going

gone.

And see ya. I'm never coming back down.

I should also note that this kind of running is not at all conducive to running applications like mine,

Nike Run Pro. I was curious to see how many miles it is to run stadiums but, only four minutes in, I discovered this was a bad idea. 

It had me running only .25 miles in over four minutes at 17 minutes and 14 seconds a mile. This was going to seriously bring down my average speed so I stopped. And here is how it mapped my run:

So I stopped the app. I didn't need it anyway. I would kick it old school and have the time of my life! Go gators!

*Photos courtesy of Josh Bassett

America

When I was a kid, we had a neighborhood parade every year on the Fourth of July, in which we'd all congregate to decorate our bikes with streamers and shiny things, bike around the neighborhood, and end at the local park with food and games. Then we'd go to the capitol to see the concert and fireworks, or to a family friend's law firm's rooftop.

Though I do love our Nation's Capital, and it seems a very appropriate place to celebrate this holiday, Josh and I got out of town this year for a simpler celebration in his home state of Florida. Yesterday, we went to Busch Gardens for fireworks and today, after eating brunch and working out, we are going to my best friend Nicole's house for her family barbeque and pool party. Afterward, we'll cookout and play with bright explosives with Josh's family. I will miss the bike rides of my childhood but look forward to a relaxing and food-filled red, white, and blue afternoon!

Happy Fourth of July! May your day be sunny, tourist-free, and complete with a fancy bike ride!