I don't mind the rat race but I could do with a little more cheese.

Aside from some unpleasantness before and during the Bike DC event, Scott and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. I'll start with the bad:

- Waking at an ungodly hour so that we could get to Gravelly Point by 6am to meet our bike club and get registration materials. Seriously, I don't know how you early morning commuters do it. I'm unhappy if I have to get up before 7:30am.

( Starting line crush. )

- The choke points at 50/Meade, all of Marshall, and Washington Blvd/Columbia Pike. The mixture of speedsters and children as the full ride and family ride converged made all of those especially fun.

- And speaking of little kids: eleven miles up and down strenuous hills is really too much for a "family fun ride". If I were supreme ruler, I would have kept the little ones on a downtown course around the Mall or something. More fun, and safer, for everybody.

- Food, or rather lack of choices in the food. There were apples, bananas, water, granola bars, and candy at the two rest stops. I didn't see any food at the beginning -- I would have maimed someone for a bagel with cream cheese -- and the food at the end was bananas, bags of chips, and Jolly Ranchers. I expected maybe something like a cookout atmosphere with burgers and hot dogs at the finish line. My expectations of supported tours has been completely ruined by the fantastic spread that the Backroads Century provides at rest stops and the end, but come on! I can't eat apples, Twizzlers, or Jolly Ranchers because of my braces. I've now eaten enough bananas that I'm sure I'll make a Geiger counter click.

That being said, we did have a good time on the full route. I got to go places and see things I haven't experienced before. I'd never personally seen the front of the White House before. I'd never been on a cycle track. I'd never ridden behind unicyclists.
( Uuuuunicycles. )

I've driven on Rock Creek Parkway less than a handful of times and traveling it via bike was one of the more amazing things I've done. What can I say, I lead a boring life.

( Rock Creek Parkway )

We rode on the GW Parkway of DEATH. I've now seen the Iwo Jima Memorial in person and the Air Force Memorial from the base. I'm still buzzing about riding through the K Street tunnel and up and down car-free DC streets. I do wish, though, that more of the ride had been in the actual DC boundaries. I mean, it was fun riding in Virginia, but DC, man. And now that I think about it, all of the congestion was in the Virginia half of the ride. Coincidence? I think not.

( Iwo Jima. )

We got to ride our bikes on an INTERSTATE HIGHWAY, y'all. Mind, blown.

( 25 miles to home. )

After crossing the finish line and not finding any suitable food, we snagged our T-shirts, purchased a couple of "vintage" ride shirts, and cruised across town back to Virginia on non-car-free streets. I wasn't entirely sure how to get where we needed to go, but I did know that once we hit Constitution, my bearings would return. We rode through the Mall and wound our way past the Vietnam Wall and on to the Lincoln Memorial which I haven't been up close and personal with since my family visited during Spring Break 1990.
( Finish line. )

All in all, and aside from the snafus, we had fun. Unless something more important or pressing comes up next year, we'll probably ride in Bike DC again. I do hope that my girlfriends become stronger and more confident cyclists by then so we can ride together.

A fun point is that I got lots of compliments on the floral basket. So many in fact that Scott was disappointed no one commented on his Hula girl shirt. People eventually noticed his sartorial flair and we wound up about even on comments. One guy even suggested that Scott invest in a dashboard Hula girl to attach to his helmet for the next group ride. We're both pretty keen on that idea.

The coming Sunday is BikeDC and I am super excited about the event. Getting to ride a car-free Rock Creek Parkway and George Washington Parkway? Yes, please! Scott and I are registered for the full 24 mile route, which will actually be about 33 miles when you factor in our bike club's starting and ending point at Gravelly Point Park in Alexandria.

( Route map. )

And thus begins my dilemma. My first thought was that I would ride Lily the Ariel. But after reading Sheryl's two part account and Julie's (albeit unhappy) review of riding their respective single speed bikes in the NYC Five Boro Bike Tour, I'm tempted to ride Kate the Cruiser for this event. Scott's concerned about the hills and reminded me that these ladies are much more used to riding their single speed bikes. I feel like I'm up for the challenge, though. I don't have to make a decision until Saturday night -- I'd say Sunday morning, but considering the hour we're going to have to load up and head out to the meeting point that day, I'm doing all prep work the night before -- and I already have plans to take Kate out for a spin with the girls Saturday afternoon.

So, if you're local and participating in the event, you may see me dolled up in a Life is Good tee and skirt and riding either ( ... )

See you in DC!