Fairfax County Police GET STUFF DONE!!! Thanks!

Every time it snows this person, who I love and respect, parks his Mercedes in the crosswalk that blocks the W&OD trail and makes it dangerous for people to cross the street.  They are forced to walk in traffic. 

Here's the guy.

I called Fairfax Police.  I got the number from 411 and asked for the non-emergency Fairfax Police phone number.  The dispatcher asked for my name, phone number, location and a description of the car.  She thanked me and was SUPER nice.  It took less than 2 minutes to report the guy.  (I later found out that 411 connected me to the emergency dispatch line... but that didn't seem to matter.)

We rode back past an hour later and VOILA!  The car had been moved!

It is now MUCH safer to ride, walk and ski on the trail.  Thank you Fairfax County Police!  You have proved yourself AWESOME again!

When you see something like this, please take a few moments to take action.  You'll make the world a better place... even if it is just a small corner of the world.

Love,

Pete

Dairy Queen Errandonneuring Metric Century

The Nonsense:

Dairy Queen:  This comes from the DQ abbreviation for “disqualification”.  

I tend to do ride challenges in a very different way in which they were intended… thus I’m often “Dairy Queened” on them.  Who can forget Coffeeneuring from a few years back?  The challenge was to include a lovely coffee stop on your weekend endurance rides and document them with photos and blog entries.  I took a bit of editorial license and changed it to “CatFood-enneuring”.  I did a series of endurance rides in which I stopped in some lovely, small town in the hinterlands to buy cat food.   I never published the results because I figured it might be interpreted as mocking what I actually thought was a lovely challenge worthy of serious effort.  



The Not-Nonsense
The Challenge at Hand:  Errandonneuring.  Here’s how Gypsibug designed for the randonneuring community: http://chasingmailboxes.com/2014/03/04/winter-challenge-the-errandonnee-2014-edition/

Basically it motivates people to do errands by bike.  Awesome and beautiful quest!  This year I decided to take the challenge a bit seriously.  I had a busy day and decided to document all of my errands.  I went out of my way to do a few extras in my day on the bike to see what I could actually complete.   

1)  Coffee: (Coffee or Dessert Control) at SoHo near Dupont Circle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12982200084/


2) National Bike Summit Congressional Ride (Community Meeting Control) near the capitol. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981840315

3) Hair Cut (Personal Hygiene Control) in Falls Church, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981774845

4) Lunch (Breakfast or Lunch Control) Celebrity Delly in Falls Church, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12982222194

5) Mountain Bike Advocacy Meeting (Community Meeting) Falls Church, VA:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12982218994

6) Grocery Store (Grocery Shopping) Falls Church, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12982215884

7) Library to return books (Library or reading Control) Fairfax, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981794345

8) Cat food shopping (Misc Shopping (Not Groceries)) Falls Church, VA : http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981792215

9) Bike Shop for tubes and CO2 (Bike Shop Control) Falls Church, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981930843

10) Are shorts in stock? (Misc Shopping (Not Groceries)) Arlington, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12982203964

10b) Cat Toy Shopping (No control — I already have 2 Misc Shopping Controls)  Arlington, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12982192694

11) Commute to work (Work Control) Adams Morgan, DC:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981914463

12) Dinner (Dinner Control) Adams Morgan, DC:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981913723

12b) Banking (No Control.  I’ve already done 3 Misc Shopping Controls) Falls Church, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981912893

13) Frozen Yogurt (Coffee or Dessert Control) Falls Church, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12982190074

14) I need WINE after a day like this (Grocery Shopping Control) Falls Church, VA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/12981769705


Sooooo... After all of that, why am I Dairy Queen on this challenge?????  It doesn't start until tomorrow.  D'OH!


I really just wanted to show what is possible. :D   Here's the route: http://www.strava.com/activities/118344857


Enjoy this challenge.  It is wonderful!  Go ride your bike!


Pete