hindsight is 20-20... especially when you have a chance to look at a map... I may have mixed some good routes with the worst possible routes in this weekend past Tour de DC Summer Alleycat


the above shot is from the night of the Chris Soda Memorial Ride
Kevin introduced John Dinn and myself to the Francis Case Memorial Bridge
I should have used that expert messenger secret in this weekend past's alleycat 

but no... blood was going to my legs and my lungs
not enough oxygen to my brain to make the right decision


Chris Soda on the Gwadzilla Page
the rise and fall of Chris Soda is a tragic tale
his last years unfolded with more tragic and heart ache than anyone should experience in a lifetime


it is true... hindsight is 20\20
after a glance at a map I see that my Maine Avenue option to get from Hains Point to the skatepark at RFK may have been a little less than direct



as it turns out
the Francis Case Memorial Bridge from Hains to Le Faunt to Independence would have been a better route

on this day I opted for a number of routes that offered less traffic and less stop and go
but these routes may have not been the best selection
lucky for me I took the lead group with me on the trip from Hains to RFK
but really... I should have let them go their way and taken the Kevin Kieff route of Francis Case Memorial Bridge 


Morgan rides through the metal detector

but no... a glance at a map shows that Maine Avenue took us on a gradual push away from RFK
my mental map was not what it should have been
the riders in my group were not proposing better
I thought it best to ride with them then risk falling behind not by riding slower but by choosing an inefficient route
in the end... I stayed close by dragging them down my less than direct route


it is trued that the Southwest Freeway may have been the most direct route
but... the risk to reward ratio had me staying off the highway
Morgan took I-395... I think a few others may have taken the Interstate
to me... there was no consideration
also... there was skitching
skitching is when a person grabs onto a car\truck\whatever and gets pulled along

again... I weigh the risk to reward ratio
I view skitching like running red lights
it is a skill... it is an option... it is fair game
I may run red lights... not blowing through them... but flowing through them
but skitching and Interstate riding? 
no thanks


shamefully I used the Maine Avenue not once... BUT TWICE
later in the game headed from Georgetown to Yards Park I gave up a number of slots by taking the long way instead of the short way
ah... me and my bike path options

my thought of keeping pace instead of fighting traffic cost me a number of spaces
but not entirely
I guess it would be cool to have some actual data on this
because I left Blues Alley as Matt and Dave arrived
both Matt and Dave just beat me to Yards Park
but... I wasted some valuable time looping the stadium trying to find the "tables and chairs by the water at Yards Park"
again... my error... my costly error
lesson learned

but really... without a stop watch... we don't know how long it took me or them to get from Point A to Point B
but there is Strava
but I am not sure if I can get the data I need from this 



great shots of the Awakening at Hains Point
http://gwadzilla.blogspot.com/search?q=awakening