Blossom Ride 2013

As much as DC residents cry foul over the tourism invasion during Cherry Blossom season, I’m having a good time this year.  It is kind of fun to see these crowds of hundreds staggering around the National Mall, and to remember that I could have been one of them only a few years ago.

With temperatures reaching into the 90′s today I left work a little early, met up with Kate, and went for a ride around blossom central – Hains Point at East Potomac Park.  We ran into Justin as we were leaving, then into Dave as we stopped for a dinner salad on Penn Ave SE.  What a great time.

Fall don’t leave us yet

Hains Point - 11/8/11

Monumental D.C. – The Cuban Friendship Urn

Monumental DC – A series where I’ll be documenting the many memorials in DC that we pass by frequently, but rarely seem to stop and pay notice to. Follow on twitter with #monumentalDC

What: Cuban Friendship Urn

When: Thursday October 6, 2011

Where: East Potomac Park

I happened to find myself on my bike for much of Thursday (don’t let work know!) and took a long trip to the Maryland DOT headquaters near BWI.  On my way I rode around East Potomac Park and Georgetown, then onwards Capital Crescent Trail, Northwest Branch Trail and some not-so-fun narrow rural roads. I also stopped for a moment to admire two nautical themed monuments.

Right next to the 14th Street Bridge is a piece with an interesting story – the Cuban Friendship Urn was authorized and installed in 1928 after itwas presented to President Calvin Coolidge by Cuban President Gerardo Machado.

The Urn was initially constructed to honor the lives of the 261 men lost when the battleship USS Maine (ACR-1) mysteriously exploded and sunk in Havana Harbor in February 15 1898, less than 3 years after she was commissioned.  The ship cost over $4 million dollars when it was built, and was 328 ft long with a displacement of nearly 6800 tons.  It was a big and important ship!  The sinking of the USS Maine played a large part in igniting the Spanish-American War.

The memorial once stood atop a column in Havana, but was knocked over in a hurricane in 1926, and later sent to the US as a gift.  It first stood outside the Cuban Embassy but dissappeared sometime during the early years of the Castro regime and the Cuban Missle Crisis.  The National Park Service reportedly rediscovered the urn in its warehouse in 1992 and moved to its current location  however a 1996 article in the Washington City Paper reported that  the urn had recently been found by the park service abandoned in Rock Creek Park “lying on its side”.

An inscription on the urn reads:

The memory of the Maine will last forever through the centuries as will the bonds of friendship between the homeland of Cuba and the homeland of the United States of North America.

 

Sources: Wikipedia, DCmemorials.com

FatCyclist.com 100 Miles of Nowhere

 Below is a recap from my 100 MON ride last saturday.  The 100 MON is a great ride organized by FatCyclist.com to benefit LiveStrong and other great causes.  This was my first century ride, and I can’t wait to do more – the feeling of accomplishment after finishing 100 miles is so great.

 

East Potomac Park, DC Winner

In my limited experience, proper training and diet are keys to sucessful long-distance riding. Being my first ever century, the months leading up to the 2011 100 MON should have been filled with more than a few longer training rides and a firm commitment to eat healthier.

Instead I went to the Outer Banks for a Bachelor party (lots of beer), got engaged (bring on some fancy fattening dinners), and visited New Orleans for Jazzfest (so many po’ boys). I also realized that running 3-4 miles twice a week to prepare for my first ever half-marathon in late June wasn’t going to cut it – so the bike was put aside and I slowly, sorta, kinda ramped up my running distance to 8-9 mile runs.

Surly LHT

Long story short, between April 1 and June 4 I rode for exactly 25.4 miles. The night before the 100 MON my dinner consisted of 2 New Belgium Fat Tires (smuggled home from the Outer Banks), some really tasty blue brie cheese and 2 veggie burgers (no bun, just avacado and red onion).

Dinner

I convinced myself that this ride should be no problem! I was prepared!

 

At the same time I am secretly realizing that this is likely going to be a problem.On the morning of the ride I was a little nervous, but I loaded up the wonderful Acorn Boxy Rando Bag on my Surly LHT with sunscreen, almonds, cliff bars and a few other goodies and set out to complete 30 laps around East Potomac Park. With the exception of a small detour to Arlington National Cemetery due to the huge amounts of street closures to keep the walkers safe for a Susan G. Komen Walk (can you really get upset at that…no), the first 20 miles went by in a flash.And I felt good.

Like really good.

By the 50 mile mark at noon the heat was picking up and I quickly realized that every single water fountain in the park was out of service. Then, somewhere near lap 16 I noticed a small sign, a sign of salvation… a simple fork and knife with an arrow pointing towards the golf course. Could it be… they have a concession stand?

As choirs of angels sang out from above, I rode up and realized it wasn’t just a concession stand – it was air conditioned, they served real food, had bathrooms, even some really good beer on tap! This was going to make the ride really bearable, maybe even fun! I loaded up on some water, gatorade and a snickers bar and set back off. Miles 50-80 were mentally tough, but at least I was keeping a nice consistent speed all morning and afternoon – finishing in a pretty decent time seemed realistic! Again at about mile 85 I was starting to drag butt a bit when my lovely fiancee showed up with a sandwich from DC’s best South-Philly style Italian deli – Taylor Gourmet. Usually when I eat there I feel horrible afterwards – but thats mostly because I get through one of their delicious 12″ subs before I take a breath. Luckily this was a mere 6″ bundle of carbs and protein… enough to power through the last 15 miles.

Taylor Gourmet

 

Miles 85-93 felt ok, the mental exhaustion of riding the same loops was really taking a toll… and by mile 93 I finally felt like my legs were about finished. Then it began to rain… only slightly. A brief pause to talk with another LHT rider at a stop sign refreshed my batteried, a nice fellow from Baltimore. I started to feel good…. Maybe I can do this. I left the park and began the ride home through he city streets. While the rest at stoplights felt good, I could also tell the burst of energy required to get going again every time I stopped was becoming harder and harder to find (And seriously taking a toll on my average speed numbers).The final results… 102.48 miles in 7 hours, 1 minute and 30 seconds for an average of about 14.6 mph.Not too bad! Enough for a spot at the top of the podium, and a well deserved dinner feast, and some sexy glove tan lines.

Thanks Fatty – I’ll be riding again next year!