This is beginning to sound complicated. Maybe I'll pass until a time when we can plan it far enough in advance that I can more easily get my bike downtown in the evening.
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This is beginning to sound complicated. Maybe I'll pass until a time when we can plan it far enough in advance that I can more easily get my bike downtown in the evening.
we're doing tour du port anyways on Sunday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalidurga
I think kmehrzad is going to be spending a long weekend biking around Rehobeth that weekend, so she may not be able to do Friday the 2nd.
If we really wanted to ride Friday, October 2, I could bring KD's bike home with me Sunday and take it into the office on Friday (I drive on Fridays, and we've got a bike room).
This would be a nice birthday celebration for me. :p:p:p
Ah well, then we almost have to do this. And it'll set a precedent tht we have to celebrate all our birthdays with a bike ride or paddle.
I checked out a bunch of books at the library the other day with bike tours in them... One of them has an 11.7 mile monuments meander. So we could do this, unless someone has something better:
starts an lincoln memorial, on to the tidal basin, then potomac park, hains point, jefferson memorial, burea of engraving/holocaust museum, washington monument, then smithsonian castle & hirshhorn museum up to the c& botanical gardens. then taft memorial, garfield & peace statues. the the former main post office & union station... senate office buildings, supreme court & library of congress... house office building, national gallery of art, national archives, the j edgar hoover building, ford's theater, national history museum... old post office, dc city hall, treasury building, white house & lafayette park... renwick gallery, old executive office building, corcoran gallery of art, organization of american states, and vietnam veterans memorial.
the book's kinda old... I assume the world war II memorial is somewhere along this route but thruthfully I've only been there once and sorta avoid dc as much as possible :)
I could do next Friday. It will spur me on to go get some lights for my new bike, which I keep telling myself I have to do and yet never actually DO. :)
That would work except for the fact that I'm off on Wed, 9/30, and was planning to ride that day. I'll think about it between now and Sunday and decide whether I might want to go out hiking instead on Wednesday. Though if I do the DZ thing on Thursday night, I might not want to hang around downtown two nights in a row.Quote:
Originally Posted by divingbiker
And Possegal's comment reminded me that I have no lights or reflectors on my bike...
Oy, too much to think about right now, this week at work fried my poor li'l pea brain.
Hi Catriona,Quote:
Originally Posted by Catriona
You're right, I can't do the Friday night ride since I'll be in Rehoboth Beach then on a 'biking weekend.' I realize that a Thursday night moonlight ride is a bit untimely perhaps for some, but there'll probably be less traffic at that time than on a weekend. Just my two cents.
Possegal,Quote:
Originally Posted by Possegal
My first ever, brand new bicycle light came in the mail today. I researched lights for under $200 and came up with Busch & Mueller's Ixon IQ from Peter White Cycles in New Hampshire. The Ixon IQ has gotten very good reviews. Total cost of the lights, charger, converter and 4 NiMH batteries plus shipping came to $154. Can't wait to use it.
Check out the beam of light that it throws out: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp
I could scare up an extra headlight and taillight or two...Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalidurga
I can't bring a bike on Metro until after 7pm :rolleyes:
Or before 4. You could come in to my office early and hang out, see a museum, have dinner, then ride.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen
it's not moonlight till after 7 pm. but there should be parking in dc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen
I can scare up lights - they won't be as nice as Kmerzhads, but I have blinkie tail lights & some headlights. i'd just have to find the mounts that matched them all.
Zen, if you wanna bring me a bike on Wednesday - i'll take it to R's house with me, and stash it and bring it to DC on Friday night. You got 4 bikes, you won't miss one.
Kmerzhad, if you look over on cpakayaker, they're having an "upchuck" moonlight paddle & spaghetti feast on Thursday oct 1st - maybe we could do that. Or it's called something like that. cpa can be kinda snobby about the boats they want you to bring to events, so if you wanna borrow a sea kayak, I could bring one for you, I think.
Kali, if you wanna be complicated, I can meet up and grab your bike Wednesday evening. I'll be driving over to Silver spring.
If you look over on cpakayaker, they're having an "upchuck" moonlight paddle & spaghetti feast on Thursday oct 1st - maybe we could do that. Or it's called something like that. cpa can be kinda snobby about the boats they want you to bring to events, so if you wanna borrow a sea kayak, I could bring one for you, I think.
Catriona, I'm very interested. I went to their site and looked at what was posted. Do you think they'd turn their noses up at a Wilderness Systems Rascal? How far do they paddle out into the Potomac and are they paddling past any monuments? Whatever details you might have about this trip, I'd appreciate. You've done this trip before, I'm assuming? Thank you for mentioning it.
Kathy,
I actually haven't done the paddle before - I just saw it listed and had been thinking about it. I hadn't really realized I was gonna be down in Bethesda till I looked at my calendar today. I've been to some of their rolling sessions, but usually haven't paddled with them.
But basically... cpakayaker does not do rec boats - they want sea kayaks with bulkheads. I can grab R's paddle float, bilge pump, spray skirt, etc. and his boat if you wanna go. They actually had a bit of a cantankerous discussion in their forum recently where some guy wanted to be more inclusive of rec boats and beginner trips - with various people pointing out reasons they didn't and the dangers of rec boats in certain situations (open water, etc.) I've never had a rec boat, but found it pretty illuminating.
I can bring the gps, we'll see how fast they paddle or don't - after the dinner they're proposing, I'm guessing it won't be so fast. I have no idea what the route is - but I'm sure around columbia island and there's only so many places to go on the potomac there. and we can take off if they're boring and see some monuments.
Now I'm debating whether I'll fit into the parking deck at nih with kayaks on the roof. ha
Catriona, I just heard from fpharris of the cpa kayakers and this is what they require for gear: Safety equipment required for a CPA paddle is:Quote:
Originally Posted by kmehrzad
- personal flotation device (PFD)
- paddle float
- bilge pump
- spray skirt
- water tight bulkheads or flotation bags (to prevent kayak from sinking when capsized)
Also, at this time of year we paddle well past dark so a light is a must! It can be a kayak light that sits on the kayak deck, flashlight, headlamp, or a "personal locator light" such as a Princeton-Tec Eco Flare or similar. Note: it should be waterproof!
Well, I have the PFD and bilge pump but not all the other gear. It really sounds like it might be a lot of work for you gathering all this gear, if in fact you have two of just about everything. If it's too much, I'll pass on this trip.
Kathy,
It's not a biggie. Most of this stuff has been riding around in my car the last couple weeks since I've been taking my brother out paddling the last couple of weekends. and *cough* if you haven't noticed, I tend to accumulate too much gear for the stuff I like to do. the kayak has built in bulkheads. lights, I actually just use bike lights or headlamps mostly for my kayak, they're waterproof. which is why I can rustle up spare bike lights if people need 'em for friday. i just gotta remember where I stashed the handlebar mounts (not necessary on the kayak)
R's gotta work late next week for some big deadline, so he's not using his gear that night anyways.
Not sure if you noticed that I replied while you were replying up there.
I'll put you in charge of bringing some food to contribute if you want :)
Yep, I saw your reply after I submitted mine. So, your car is the 'catch all' for your gear, eh? That tends to happen, especially if you're using the stuff often. Sounds like I'll be set using Reggie's kayak, your lights, etc. (Thanks for your effort in making this happen.) Bringing food will not be a problem. I'll take a look again at what's needed and let the group know I'll be bringing food for you and me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catriona
If I drove I wouldn't get there until 10.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catriona
I know my way around the Metro, though.
So we're doing this when?
A Thursday?
I have to get up for a busy day of unemployment on Friday.
yay! I should have a funfilled extended weekend next week.
Yeah, the meeting looks like I'll get out at 5:15 - so I'll just head straight over to COlumbia island then - I don't think I'd have time to stop for food and I probably don't want to leave food in the car all day. So it's great if you can do that.
Okay, back to the monument tour - Kali & Zen, let me know if I'm hauling your bikes around. and if someone needs lights, let me know and I'll go try to match lights to mounting brackets.
We're doing it on Friday, Oct 2nd - so you won't have to get up early for your busy day off from unemployment on Saturday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen
I can take one of your bikes from you on Wednesday if you want, or you should go to dc early & hang out with db.
This sounds like the way to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by divingbiker
I can go by Commerce and see my bud.
Sorry.
Can't do Friday evening on the 2nd.
Have fun. Take pix.
Should we either just bike in dc twice or postpone till more people can go?
Well I'm new at this all, so take my thoughts for the 2cents they are worth - I think we should go for it and do this more than once. It seems that organizing everyone in the DC metro area is some times more involved than invading Normandy :) Plus -it's DB's bday, we have to! ;)
This will be my first so, yea. Lets do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Possegal
k. what time & where to meet? shall we get dinner before or after? do we all get to spank db for her birthday?
Actually, my birthday is the first, but close enough. No spanking need be involved.Quote:
Originally Posted by Possegal
Are we going to do Catriona's tour which I think starts at the Lincoln Memorial, or the one we did the last time, which starts at Union Station? I'd say let's just meet at the starting point at, say 6:30. Sunset that day is at 6:49.
You guys fight it out.
Just tell me where to be and when.
catriona just grabbed that tour froma random book, so she's not overly attached to it... if last year's tour was nice, let's do that.
alright - who's coming, where/when are we meeting? is there parking near?
I'm coming.
Where do we start?
If we start at Union Station, there's parking there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catriona
Or I could check today with the parking attendants in my building and see if they'd let an extra car go in after hours, and we could meet there then ride down to the mall and start the actual tour at the Washington Monument (the Ronald Reagan building is a half mile down the street.)
Possegal, are you driving in or taking Metro?
^that gets my vote. It's close to Commerce
I was planning to drive down. I'm sure I can find a place to park, given that it will be easy to then ride over to wherever we start. :) So just let me know where and when!
I'll send y'all a PM and we can nail down details of where and when, cell phone #s, etc.
Lots of bike parking. The new bike station opens tomorrow.Quote:
Originally Posted by divingbiker
Details, plz.
:p
Sounds like a great time.
There may be a postponement...
y'all should go without me if my knee's not up to it.
Happy Birthday, Diving Biker! (11 mins late)
I would be willing (and actually might prefer) to do it another day. It's supposed to be cloudy anyway, and possibly rainy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen
Edit after I've thought about this for a few more minutes: Logistically, this ride is going to be a hassle for me today (have to do some bike maintenance, haul it in to the office, arrange for puppy care or take leave and drive home early to feed/walk, then drive back in, etc, plus I have a 5K early in the morning) so I'd prefer to wait for a nicer day if others are ok with that, or bow out and have you go ahead without me.
Now watch the weather turn out to be beautiful.