W&OD ride from Leesburg to Purcellville [Archive] - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums

Kalidurga

07-10-2007, 03:19 AM

How does Sunday, 8/5 sound? Or do you ladies prefer Saturday? The trail gets very busy, so I'd suggest either early morning or mid- to late-afternoon.

Don't even ask about the nuns.

Why not, don't nuns ride bikes? I think it'd be fun to have them along, though that would probably mean riding on Sunday would be out...

;)

Velobambina

07-10-2007, 03:29 AM

Those nuns are sportin' Madonna cone bras.

Those aren't real sisters! I don't think they are even ladies, if you look closely.

Zen

07-10-2007, 04:27 AM

True on the first but false on the second count.
I won't tell, though.

Eight o'clock? You're killin me here. but I can probably do it.

Kalidurga

07-10-2007, 05:27 AM

Eight o'clock? You're killin me here. but I can probably do it.

8:00am would be rough for me, too, but would certainly beat the crowds. I've also found that starting out around 3-4:00 in the afternoon is good. The ride can start out crowded, but ends up nice and quiet.

F8th, what works for you? Velobambina, interested in heading out that way to join us?

7rider

07-10-2007, 08:31 AM

8 a.m.??

OH...MY..GOSH!!!!
Kalidurga???
Could it be????
Is there a REMOTE chance that you could turn into a ....
cough, cough....

wait for it...

a MORNING PERSON??

Gaaaahhhhh!!!!!! :eek: :D

Kalidurga

07-10-2007, 10:10 AM

Kalidurga???
Could it be????
Is there a REMOTE chance that you could turn into a MORNING PERSON??

Gaaaahhhhh!!!!!! :eek: :D

Bah.

I can ride that early, but I can't guarantee that I'll be coherent, conversational, or speedy ;)

F8th637

07-10-2007, 11:03 AM

Alright, I put you ladies in the calendar. I'm with Kalidurga on this one about being coherent, conversational, and speedy that early. I prefer later but if you guys say 8 am I'll be there.

Kalidurga

07-10-2007, 01:35 PM

Alright, I put you ladies in the calendar. I'm with Kalidurga on this one about being coherent, conversational, and speedy that early. I prefer later but if you guys say 8 am I'll be there.

Would 3:00 or 4:00pm work for everyone? Or is that too close to dinner-time for a 25 mile ride?

Zen

07-10-2007, 03:02 PM

It's been so hot these past few days, 3 or 4 might be too warm.
How about the happy medium of 8:30?

F8th637

07-10-2007, 03:14 PM

I'm more partial to 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM but again I'll meet whenever you all like.

Kalidurga

07-10-2007, 04:04 PM

It's been so hot these past few days, 3 or 4 might be too warm.
How about the happy medium of 8:30?

I'm more partial to 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM but again I'll meet whenever you all like.

Two things to bear in mind: We're planning a ride for a month from now, so there's no telling what the weather will be like. And, most of the W&OD out that way is shaded, so it's a tad cooler along the trail. Maybe we should wait until a bit closer to that weekend to decide on a start time.

Zen

07-11-2007, 04:20 AM

OK
back to bed, everybody.

Zen

07-29-2007, 02:25 PM

Bump!

I still don't know how to get there :(

Kalidurga

07-31-2007, 08:18 AM

It's very easy. You can hop across either White's Ferry or Route 15 and head straight into Leesburg (I think that's where we decided to meet...). Depending on when we decide to meet, perhaps we could meet somewhere and you can follow me.

I guess it's time to re-begin the debate over the meeting time ;) Zen's premonition was right, it is apparently gonna be stinkin' hot this weekend, but to get down to Va by 8:30a.m. is a heck of a stretch for me. I dunno about you ladies, but I hate having to set my alarm clock on my day off. Could we either make it a bit later in the a.m., or do late afternoon instead? The good thing about the heat, though, is that perhaps the trail will be less crowded.

Zen

07-31-2007, 09:24 AM

I dunno about you ladies, but I hate having to set my alarm clock on my day off. Could we either make it a bit later in the a.m., or do late afternoon instead? The good thing about the heat, though, is that perhaps the trail will be less crowded.

Hey Tam- Toughen the eff up!:p
If I don't set my alarm clock I'm in bed until at least 11am, sometimes even if I do set my clock:eek:

I vote for 10 AM

This is a road bike rideable trail, yes?

Kalidurga

07-31-2007, 09:43 AM

Yup, the W&OD is paved. There are a few cracks here and there due to tree roots, but otherwise it's smoooooth.

F8th had voted for 9:00 or 10:00. Maybe 9:30 would be a good compromise?

Anyone else interested in joining us?

divingbiker

07-31-2007, 04:41 PM

Anyone else interested in joining us?

Is the part of the W&OD that you're riding shaded at all? I remember my one ride on that trail as being very hot, since all the trees were cut down to make way for the power lines. Am I remembering right?

If there's shade, I may join you. Otherwise I think I may hit the C&O.

Kalidurga

07-31-2007, 06:23 PM

Is the part of the W&OD that you're riding shaded at all? I remember my one ride on that trail as being very hot, since all the trees were cut down to make way for the power lines.

The section that I suggested, from Leesburg to Purcellville and back, is mostly shaded (though the power companies are trying to get ahold of the right-of-ways and do the same as they've done east of Leesburg). There's one stretch in particular where the trees lining the trail make it feel as if you're riding through a cathedral.

It'd be great if you joined us, Janice! If you want to swing by my place, we could carpool up to meet Zen, then head across to Va and meet F8th.

divingbiker

08-01-2007, 01:39 AM

It'd be great if you joined us, Janice! If you want to swing by my place, we could carpool up to meet Zen, then head across to Va and meet F8th.

This ride is on Sunday, right? If so, I think I'll come along. Tam, could you PM me directions to your house? I can drive to Leesburg since I've got a multi-bike rack on my car.

This will give me a chance to try out my bike with its modifications after the fitting. I'm picking it up on Saturday.

Kalidurga

08-01-2007, 03:09 AM

That should be a great way to test out the fitting adjustments, Janice.

Zen, I didn't see your suggestion of 10 am. That'll work for me, if it works for F8th and Janice. F8th, are you still in?

Zen

08-03-2007, 10:21 AM

I need to know how many cars will be in our gypsy caravan (two, I'm guessing)
and where we plan to meet before I can get parking instructions.

Kalidurga

08-03-2007, 10:43 AM

Well, I'm guessing the caravan will consist of Janice's car and your car, unless we can fit all three bikes on Janice's car and she drives all three of us together. The three of us can meet at Bike Dr to head down to Va. I'm guessing 9:15-ish to be able to get down to Leesburg by 10:00.

I usually get on the W&OD trail in Leesburg where it crosses Harrison St, but I noticed the last time I parked near there that the lot I use is supposed to be only for the Parks Dept so I don't know if we want to try that. If it's just the three of us, we can park on the street or in one of the parking garages in Leesburg and cycle over. If we're meeting your friend, though, she might be able to recommend a better spot to meet/park/start riding.

7rider

08-03-2007, 11:11 AM

Have fun, you guys.
I may be doing the shop ride sunday a.m. More likely, tho', I'll be stripping wallpaper out of our kitchen and doing final prep-work before the contractors come and start deconstructing our kitchen on monday. :eek:
I figure by noon, I'll be halfway to a breakdown!!!

F8th637

08-03-2007, 11:30 AM

Sorry, ladies, I was MIA. Hubby double-booked me and we are now committed to a ride with one of his friends from college. :cool: If it falls through I'll come join you ladies. Sighhhh. . . please keep me posted for future rides.

Zen

08-03-2007, 11:54 AM

That's his friend.
Give them guy time and come with us.

divingbiker

08-03-2007, 12:45 PM

OK, I'm trying the double quote thing from another thread (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=17728) and I can't make it work right. Must keep trying. Zen, what do you mean by a "keeper"?

Well, I'm guessing the caravan will consist of Janice's car and your car, unless we can fit all three bikes on Janice's car and she drives all three of us together.

We can try to fit three bikes on my rack but sometimes the pedals and handlebars don't cooperate. We should probably keep the two-car caravan as a backup plan.

More likely, tho', I'll be stripping wallpaper out of our kitchen and doing final prep-work before the contractors come and start deconstructing our kitchen on monday. :eek:
I figure by noon, I'll be halfway to a breakdown!!!

How exciting, Regina! It's going to be so amazing when it's done. I want to hear what you think of the floor you chose.

(Oh, by the way, Regina, the little boys just looove their story books of the DC trip. They turned out great.)

That's his friend.
Give them guy time and come with us.

Spoken like a single person! For some reason, married folks want to spend time together.:confused:

OK, I figured out a way to do multi quotes. Open another TE window, do a reply with quote, and cut and paste it into the first reply. Not elegant, but it works. OK, now it's time to head home--another hot commute...

Kalidurga

08-03-2007, 12:53 PM

Good luck on the kitchen, Regina, but be careful of your shoulder! Before you start the deconstruct, do you have "before" photos so you can show us "before/after" when it's done?

Zen

08-03-2007, 01:38 PM

Spoken like a single person! For some reason, married folks want to spend time together.:confused:

You're married, not conjoined ;) :D

7rider

08-03-2007, 05:44 PM

How exciting, Regina! It's going to be so amazing when it's done. I want to hear what you think of the floor you chose.

(Oh, by the way, Regina, the little boys just looove their story books of the DC trip. They turned out great.)

Spoken like a single person! For some reason, married folks want to spend time together.:confused:

OK, now it's time to head home--another hot commute...

Thread hijack on:
Glad they liked the storybooks! My wedding one is done and it came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. But I'm such a bad Catholic, I misspelled "altar" throughout (using "alter" instead). Oops. :o I've already corrected the file, but have not ordered a new one for myself. I will order new ones for my mom and DH's mom.
My neighbor, Laura (who was at the party), stopped by to ask me to feed their cats, and we asked her about flooring (we have 6 sample tiles at the house now). She confirmed my selection - Congoleum DuraCeramic Mercer Tile Fired Greige (whew!) -- which is not DH's selection. But given DH's track record in selecting colors -- can you say "Pepto Bismol Pink"?? -- I think I may have to keep a firm stance in the color selections for the floor and paint. :rolleyes:
Okay....thread hijack off..

Have a fun ride.
Oh.... and for the record, as a married person, I'd probably want to hang with the DH and college chum - for lots of reasons I won't bore you with here.

Zen

08-03-2007, 06:17 PM

I misspelled "altar" throughout (using "alter" instead). Oops.

Calling Dr. Freud;)

7rider

08-04-2007, 04:10 AM

Calling Dr. Freud;)

Bah..don't read into it too deeply.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

divingbiker

08-04-2007, 05:27 AM

To continue the hijack--

Regina, I made a mistake in my storybook, too. One of the boys went to a Nationals game with his Uncle Titus, who lives in the area. In the book I said he went with his Uncle Travis. I read all the text to my sister, and she didn't catch it either. I realized the mistake in the middle of the night after I sent it off for printing, and the next morning I called Creative Memories to see if I could send a corrected version, but I was too late.

At first I thought I'd have to order new books, because I thought I'd put in the name of his third Uncle (Troy) who had died a few years ago in a tragic grain bin accident. Luckily that wasn't the case, and he just has to live with the wrong uncle being named in the storybook.:o

hijack over

Kalidurga

08-04-2007, 05:36 AM

To continue the hijack--
...he just has to live with the wrong uncle being named in the storybook.:o

hijack over

Maybe you can convince Titus to change his name to Travis ;)

See you at 8:30am, Janice? See you at 9:15 at Bike Dr, Zen?

And I just realized that I'm gonna be riding with people with very similar names. I'm gonna apologize now for all the times that I'll probably mix you two up. Hopefully, in my early a.m. daze, I won't call either of you Nicole or Regina. Or Travis :rolleyes: ;)

divingbiker

08-04-2007, 05:49 AM

See you at 8:30am, Janice?

8:30--I'll be there with bells on! (God, that makes me sound really old, doesn't it?)

Zen

08-04-2007, 05:58 AM

8:30--I'll be there with bells on! (God, that makes me sound really old, doesn't it?)

That phrase alway makes me think of a creative stripper ensemble.

See you at 8:30am, Janice? See you at 9:15 at Bike Dr, Zen?

Oof. It's 9:45 right now and I'm stilly crusty eyed...but I'll be there.

Kalidurga

08-04-2007, 09:11 AM

Oof. It's 9:45 right now and I'm stilly crusty eyed...but I'll be there.

Seems to me that you were the one who originally suggested 8:30a.m. to begin the ride ;)

And, of course, the other all-important question: Do we want to do lunch afterward?

divingbiker

08-04-2007, 10:53 AM

And, of course, the other all-important question: Do we want to do lunch afterward?

Yes!

Zen

08-04-2007, 02:51 PM

Seems to me that you were the one who originally suggested 8:30a.m. to begin the ride ;)

And, of course, the other all-important question: Do we want to do lunch afterward?

I say stupid things sometimes.

The only way I can have lunch after is if the menu is priced much the same as McDonalds.

divingbiker

08-05-2007, 02:43 PM

Well, Tam, I am thoroughly humiliated by how disgustingly dirty my drive train was. I just spent an hour cleaning it, and I'm sure it won't be truly clean (like yours) until I do it a few more times. Honest to god, there were hunks of crud in the rear derailleur--ick! I did the best I could with the brushes I had (rags weren't going to cut it on their own) but I'm going to have to find a better system. Even after all the cleaning and several rounds of Rock'n'Roll, I was getting lots of black crud off the chain. I think I'm going to have to learn how to remove the chain and give it a good soaking.

I hope I never let it get that dirty again. Thank you for showing me the light.

Kalidurga

08-05-2007, 05:31 PM

*smacks Janice on the forehead with her open palm* "Hallelujah!! Ye have seen the light, and your dirty drivetrain is hee-yald!"

That probably didn't come out as funny in text as it did in my head :rolleyes: Good luck getting that puppy clean. It might take something like Simple Green to get it to the point that the Rock'n'Roll will be effective. If we lived closer together, I'd be happy to come over and help you scrub!

Once it's done, a quick run of the chain through a rag after each ride, and a periodic re-lube, should be all you'll need to keep it that way. And just think-- You'll never have black smudges on your calves (or arms ;) ) again!

On the flipside, though, I'd bet it's easier for me to keep my drivetrain clean since I probably don't put anywhere near as many miles on my bike as you do on yours. I was looking at my BikeJournal log, and I've only had 19 rides so far this year. My bike's clean, but sadly neglected in other ways :(

Zen

08-05-2007, 06:00 PM

*smacks Janice on the forehead with her open palm* "Hallelujah!! Ye have seen the light, and your dirty drivetrain is hee-yald!"

That probably didn't come out as funny in text as it did in my head :rolleyes:

It worked for me:p

Good luck getting that puppy clean.

You're not kidding. It's amazing the gears still function:eek:
that thing was a mess

7rider

08-05-2007, 06:05 PM

Tam, Did you give Janice a hard time about her chain?

But, geez...how was the ride?? Where did you go for lunch?
I logged on to check out the IMPORTANT things. Not gunky derailleurs.
Sheesh people! :rolleyes: :cool: :D

Kalidurga

08-05-2007, 06:12 PM

Tam, Did you give Janice a hard time about her chain?

We'll give you a low-down on our ride, Regina, if you regale us with tales of wallpaper peeling :D

And, yes, I couldn't restrain myself, especially after I rubbed my arm across Janice's chain when we were loading the bikes ;) Nothing that can't be rectified, though, with some degreaser, a whole lotta rags, and a good self-cleaning lube.

Glad you got the joke, Zen. I hate it when my already weird humor falls flat :rolleyes:

Oh, and Janice, I looked up the specs for Zen's bike. According to this (http://trekstorecolumbus.com/itemdetails.cfm?action=specs&ID=2374), her handlebars are a Bontrager FIT VR w/Bzzz Kill. I may have to consider those, too, if I go with the idea of having a new bike made.

Zen

08-05-2007, 07:42 PM

... if I go with the idea of having a new bike made.

What?
What's this?

I have sent an email to the owner of this bike (the Mariposa) it's my size...but that's about all I know so far. Here's the body of her post to the bike club:

I have an old custom-made bike I'd like to sell. I bought it approx 25years ago when high quality off-the-shelf bikes weren't available for small women (Terry started a company, I just bought a bike). It's a Mariposa, made by two Canadian former racers. It has Campy hubs and some other classic components, and is approx a 47cm size frame (about 261/2 inches from the ground to the top tube). The basic design is that of a touring bike; it has skinny tires, touring geometry and custom made fenders. In addition, it has fairly new tires and a Cateye computer (wired). There are also a few dings. It does need some work, new wheels if you're a purist or new spokes if you're not and, at least, a basic "tune up." The frame is steel and is exquisitely put together (really) but is not light weight...(I'm talking myself out of selling this bike :-)... Anyway, I've moved on to an off-the-shelf Trek with tighter geometry that I like a lot. It would be a good deal at $150, but I'll be happy if someone gives me $100 and promises to put it back on the road to be enjoyed. If you get the impression that parting with this bike is like letting go of an old lover, someone whose happiness I still wish for, you've got it about right.

I also have an old Terry that is about the same size. I bought it used a few years ago for $100. and simply don't need it anymore. This one could be had for any reasonable offer.

I may beg borrow or steal $100 for this bike.

Kalidurga

08-06-2007, 03:53 AM

Wow, that's one heck of a deal, Zen!

divingbiker

08-06-2007, 11:10 AM

I think I may have figured out why I'm having difficulty with my handlebars. If you look at the Salsa Pocos, they've got the ergo shape--part of the curve is removed and they angle back more steeply.

3942

With Zen's bars, the Bontrager FIT VR bar, they are curved, so that puts your hands closer to the levers.

3943

I may be totally off base, but that's what it looks like to me. Just musing here.

divingbiker

08-06-2007, 04:49 PM

*smacks Janice on the forehead with her open palm* "Hallelujah!! Ye have seen the light, and your dirty drivetrain is hee-yald!"

You have no idea how much religion I've got now!

Tonight I put the commuting bike and the MTB on my car rack and thoroughly cleaned and lubed them, too. (They weren't nearly so bad as my road bike.) I will never be like you, Tam, sitting on the floor cleaning them for hours, but I am going to try to be better about maintenance.

Thank you for showing me the way, the truth, and the light.;)