RIDES ARE CANCELLED
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
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PEDALERS! LEND US YOUR STORIES!
We'd like to keep rolling with items in the "good news" column for Pedal Patter, so if you have a story about cycling that you'd like to share with everyone, now's definitely the time! Want to tip everyone off to an awesome cycling trip experience? Have you had a great encounter on the road with another rider? Have an embarrassing cycling story you'd like to get out of your head once and for all? Send these stories to
[email protected]
, with the subject Pedal Patter Good News, and we'll feature your story in the upcoming issue.
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by
Anne C. M. Hyman
— President PPTC
It’s a new month, Pedalers.
I hope you have been staying safe and well. I know that it’s only been a few days since my last letter to all of you, and once again the world has changed rapidly and in heartbreaking ways. It’s difficult to talk about cycling right now, especially with so many other things have taken priority in our lives. Amid the chaos, we’ve been working on planning for when we can all ride together again, and what that will look like and mean for PPTC for the rest of the season. If you’ve looked at the website lately, you’ve seen the two big things for June. First, a continuation of our group ride hiatus, and this will stay in place until further notice until enough federal and local guidance have shown us that we can ALL ride together safely again. Second, you may have noticed the Save the Date for the Back Roads Century has been replaced with guidance from the USA Cycling and US Olympic Committee on how to safely ride right now.
I have participated in several meetings with USA Cycling and their chief medical officers, and I have been in contact with Shepherd University and other supporting agencies in the surrounding region, seeking guidance for if and how to successfully host our club’s largest event. They have all said that an event with more than a thousand people of unknown health status gathering in a small town in West Virginia in September, in the same manner that we have hosted in years past, would not be feasible at best, and unlikely to happen at worst. I’ve tossed around the idea of paring down our offering to cyclists, and I’ve turned down the idea of letting it ride and forging ahead with our planning, to potentially have our event canceled altogether and risk losing critical revenue for the club. Tossing and turning, and losing out on sleep, looking for a solution.
It was at 3:06am, on the morning of last month’s ExCom meeting, when it hit me:
Instead of a Back Roads Century this year, let’s have a Back
Yards
Century.
The BRC is going virtual this year, and is temporarily becoming the BYC, with the directive to BYOC. BYOC stands for Bring Your Own Course, Camaraderie, Creativity, Cheer, and Charitable spirit. We will miss the country roads of West Virginia, but they will take us home in safer, healthier times for us and for their community. But we’re not going to let our September slip away from us- I for one will not be sitting home moping on the weekend of the Century, instead I will sitting on my saddle, cheering on all of us as we ride through our own neighborhoods, explore our limits, and raise money for a worthy cause.
Registration for the Back Yards Century will be going live soon, and you will have several options for the BYC, just as you’d have for the BRC:
- Several distance challenges ranging from a 15 mile family ride to the full Century distance, at your own pace and on your own timetable, from September 12th-27th. We'll provide some suggestions for routes, but we're also looking forward to seeing where you choose to ride.
- Options to purchase a BYC jersey and other swag.
- An invitation to register for the BYC Zoom Happy Hour on Friday, September 25th to connect with other BYC riders.
- A pledge to raise funds for our partner charity, which operates to donate bicycles and cycling services to people in underserved and high-risk areas. A portion of every registration fee will also be contributed to this charity.
- And, introducing something new this year: The BYC Scavenger Hunt Challenge. Photos can be posted on social media with the hashtag #PPTCbackyardscentury or sent to [email protected] for a wide range of scavenger hunt photo items and challenges for points, including setting up your own rest stop, getting your bike tuned up before the weekend, and many more. The person with the highest number of points wins a prize.
You don’t need me to remind you anymore that this has been one of the strangest and difficult years that we’ve ever faced together, but I know that we can all experience some joy doing what we love in the spirit of our beloved Century, even if we can’t be together in person. I hope that you encourage everyone you know that has even considered a cycling event to join us with other fellow cyclists from our region, nation, and even international cycling community, as we celebrate the best way we know how in September.
Be safe, ride well, Allez
Anne
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Status of DC Area Local Bike Shops During COVID-19
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This is the list of all currently open bike shops in the region and what services they are offering. Click the Button below to see the full list.
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Andrew Galbraith, co-owner, M3 Bike
Andrew Galbraith co-owns M3 Bike with his wife Alison. M3, a specialty triathlon store located on the W&OD trail, is in the heart of Vienna, near the iconic caboose.
Tell us a little more about yourself.
I was born and raised in the UK, and Alison is from Chicago. We met at a birthday party for a colleague. Vienna became our home, and here, we had our three kids, Jack, Darby and Ella. As with so many in the area, there was a mid-career move. For the five of us, it was to California, but we couldn’t wait to get back to Vienna and the D.C. area. We lasted four years. We’ve been here 12 years now.
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My background is in commercial real estate, and M3 is one of three businesses I have running. I co-own a coworking space in Alexandria with two other partners, and I do real estate consulting. My wife Alison works for Machine Aquatics, as a Team Administrator. Our ties to the area run very deep.
What would you say makes M3 Bike unique? Because of where we are on the trail and the proximity to downtown Vienna, people can park, pick up nuturition, pump up a tire, they can get something checked before they head out or when they finish. In addition to sales and good customer service, we built an indoor trainer studio, which has state of the art software. This means we can cycle 12 months a year.
What made you want to start a store in Vienna, which has two established bike stores?
M3 is originally a tri-team, actually and that’s where the name of the store comes from. We started the team with one youth and 2 adult athletes. It was a niche in the area at the time, so from there, I built a coaching program for kids, and eventually one for adults back in 2013 and I loved it. After 23 years doing commercial real estate with the same company, I decided to take a sabbatical and fully launch the coaching business. That’s how we began to partner with Machine Aquatics.
We also had a partnership with Bonzai sports in Falls Church, who were looking to move. With my commercial real estate knowledge, I recommended that they move here to Vienna, and then my tri-team would use it as a base to grow the business. Eventually, one thing led to another and the owner of Bonzai moved, and Alison and I took the business over. It was a natural progression from the coaching business. Connectivity to the trail was a draw. So was the parking lot, which is great for testing bikes, and then the connection to Machine Aquatics made it especially appealing. The location in Vienna is ideal, and while there are indeed two other bike stores, we all serve a niche.
How did you choose your bike manufacturers?
The tri community is unique and we wanted to have an inclusive environment with no differentiation between skill sets, gender, etc. All would be welcome. So with that spirit in mind, we looked for ranges that did tri and road bikes. We made an incredible connection with Argon 18 bikes, who helped support us as we brought in the bikes that were needed. They’ve been a good partner. The other partner is Quintana Roo, who do tri bikes. It’s all they do and they’ve been a big part of the triathlon community for 25 years. These two makes complement each other really well.
Being so close to the W&OD trail, what do you observe?
What I find interesting is the amount of local traffic here, so we get lots of people who live in town. But Vienna also seems to be everyone’s turnaround point on the trail. I think of it as an urban park, with the added benefit of good local businesses that give it a nice community feel. People come out of their way for that. We get customers from Ashburn, Leesburg, Herndon and beyond. People from further away even drive here to use Vienna as a starting point.
How have you been adjusting to meet customer needs during the pandemic?
We’ve added pickup and delivery, wearing masks and sanitizing high-touch areas. Mostly we want people to know that you can come here no matter what kind of bike you have, and we can turn things around fast. One family I helped this week, I got all six of their bikes, serviced them in 48 hours and returned them. Not many shops can do that.
We also took a risk and brought in different kinds of bikes -- gravel and hybrid bikes, and that worked out really well. We’re going to continue offering those, and hope to bring more people in as triathletes! We’ll also continue to do the pickup and dropoff services, even once the pandemic passes. While we can’t use the indoor studio right now, we’ve been renting out the kickers for people to use at home so they can train. Adjusting in the pandemic has been about connection, anticipating needs and responding quickly.
How else have you been connecting to the community?
We’ve lived in Vienna for more than a decade. Our three kids have grown up here. Their connections and their education are all here. They grew up playing sports, little league, and having been a part of that deepens our ties. And because of our own interests in athletics, and our ties to Alexandria and DC, we’re personally connected in so many ways.
PPTC members are welcome to use M3’s trainer room and to host group rides. Contact Andrew and Allison Galbraith for information.
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Pedal Patter is collecting member's cycling stories to share.
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Wonderful Memories!
I have so many wonderful cycling memories over the years but my fondest is from July 2018 when I had the honor of cycling part of the way across America with a group of twelve Eagle Scouts making the journey from Seattle, WA to Fredericksburg, VA (4000 miles in 2 months)! To support them, adults joined the trek along the way. My segment was a 900-mile mountainous leg from Yellowstone National Park to Sioux Falls, IA! On my very first day, cycling through Yellowstone, the scouts spotted a grizzly bear and stopped to watch along with hundreds of other tourists. We traversed the Bighorn Mountains, which included a 6-mile uphill segment and an, even scarier, 15-mile downhill! Our longest day was the 115 miles from Sheridan to Gillette in Wyoming. We were pelted by rain but greeted by a double rainbow at the end. We stopped at Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park, the Devils Tower National Monument, and saw a rodeo in Cody, WY. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done is leave those scouts in good hands in Sioux Falls. I’m proud to say that all 12 of them made it the whole way! Their story was later featured in
Boys' Life
magazine!
Yvonne Mizusawa
McLean, VA
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Color-Coordinated
I lived in Rome, Italy, 2012-2017 and of course, bought a nice Italian bike (Colnago). Italians love cycling and although a non-trivial minority are crazy drivers, Italians real pay attention and give bikers a wide space, so I always felt safe there. Anyway, the first months I wore what I always wear in the US: old bike shorts and silly t-shirts (of course, bike helmet, gloves, & bike shoes). Well, EVERY time I stopped to talk to an Italian bike rider the first thing they asked me was if I an American, even before I opened my mouth with my mediocre Italian! I finally figured out that Italians wore not just any “spandex,” but color-coordinated outfits, including shoes and helmets! So I got with the program and bought myself similar gear. Then the first questions were about the bike, where was I riding, etc., and only later where was I from. Apparently, Americans are known for wearing such mismatched outfits.
Now that I’m back in the US, I’ve started wearing mismatched outfits again.
Reuben Snipper
Takoma Park, MD
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My First Ride
My first PPTC ride was led by Fred Robbins who lucky for me was an absolutely great ride leader. I was a bicycle commuter vice club rider when more than 30 years ago I showed up for my first club ride. I had no idea about the letter valuations for rides and barely knew how to ride in a group. Fred, who was a skilled cyclist, recognized immediately that I was out of my depth. We became close riding buddies soon afterward and I learned how to be a ride leader from him and others—leading rides, being a ride coordinator, and ultimately becoming PPTC Chair. And throughout the years I kept track of Fred and others like him who were the essential component of the club—caring leaders. A few years after my first ride with Fred, he and I went together for a ride with him driving to the start in his beloved pick-up truck. We liked to do some distance in those days so we were out for a bit and as we rode back to the start we noticed his truck was gone. This was something new for both of us, at this point experienced ride leaders—it was at first hard to process. But in some way I got to return the favor to Fred for his first ride with me. I called my wife to pick us up and we returned safely home many hours later. Months later Fred’s stolen vehicle was recovered. Ever since, as a ride leader, I try to remember to remind participants to lock their cars! Fred had locked his but our ride start was remote and out of sight, easy prey for someone with some skill at auto theft. In my experience PPTC riders are self supporting but also mutually reinforcing, qualities that have served us well earlier and in the current circumstances.
John Zebatto
Editor's note: Please send your cycling stories and pictures to
[email protected]
so we can get to know each other!
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DC Bike Ride Will now be postponed due to Covid-19.
DC Bike Ride's new date will be on
Saturday, November 21st.
Same 20 miles of car-free roads, monumental views, great music, and delicious cuisine. Join thousands of riders in a unique experience through the nation's capitol. Register today with promo code
POTOMACPEDALERSBIKE
fora special discount at
register.dcbikeride.com
.
Interested in winning a FREE entry?! Follow both
@PotomacPedalers
and
@DCBikeRide
on social media- Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and post any ride of you and your friends on these social media platforms using the hashtags
#PotomacPedalers
and
#BRDC
in the caption.
One lucky poster will get the chance to ride for free! Winners announced in two weeks.
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