# Anyone here doing the 50 states ride in DC on the 25th?



## Jawchops (Aug 20, 2010)

Anyone? Or anyone done it before who could lend some sage advice?


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## drawerfixer (Aug 4, 2005)

If the weather looks half decent, I'll be doing the 50 States ride.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

We have done it a few times.

It is a very urban ride.

I suspect it helps to decide before the ride starts if you intend to run lights or not.

If not it can be a very cool ride. 

If yes what is the point of doing the ride........?


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## goat000 (Sep 7, 2010)

This seemed like a nice idea to me until I thought about how much time I'd spend waiting at intersections. Sounds like a better way to see the city than, say, driving the same route, but I thought better of this one.


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## nealric (Jul 5, 2007)

I did the ride yesterday. Despite the waiting at intersections, I thought it was a blast. There were many parts of DC on the ride I never knew existed. Who knew there was 30 foot high chair by the side of the road in Anacostia? 

The hill climbing was pretty brutal- the nature of tagging all the states necessitated a lot of hill repeats. Did the whole ride on my fixie- which in retrospect was a not-nice thing to do to my knees. 

Definitely recommend next year's ride to those who are interested.


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## goat000 (Sep 7, 2010)

Glad it was a good time. Maybe I'll give it a shot next year. How was the turnout? Did you ride in groups or did they just hand out maps and send everyone on their way?


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## nealric (Jul 5, 2007)

> Glad it was a good time. Maybe I'll give it a shot next year. How was the turnout? Did you ride in groups or did they just hand out maps and send everyone on their way?


I'm guessing there were 200 or so at the start. They started people all at once, so it was kind of a big cluster at the beginning. As the event went on people started to segregate into quicker and slower groups.


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## Jawchops (Aug 20, 2010)

Wow, you did the ride on a fixie? That must have been tough on some of those hills, particularly the three climbs right in a row after the AU rest stop.

The ride was a blast but I should have known it was going to be a long day, with all the turns and lights. The heat did not help matters either. It was an awesome way to see the city - definitely saw places I never knew about, and some pretty roughed up parts of the city. It was an eye-opener.

I don't think I saw any solo riders - I linked up with another solo rider right at the beginning and we rode the whole way, stops and all, to the end, and we were often with other people.


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## nealric (Jul 5, 2007)

> Wow, you did the ride on a fixie? That must have been tough on some of those hills, particularly the three climbs right in a row after the AU rest stop.


The worst was missing the turn on Hawaii- that street was steep enough that I could barely turn the crank even when pulling down on the handlebars with all my strength. 

The climbs after AU were OK because the low traffic meant I could switchback.


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