Whoo Hoooo! What a great day to get out and ride to work. I camped out as a Bike Ambassador in Adams Morgan for a great turnout. Hope everyone had a safe ride to work today and every day!
$1 Dogs, Peanuts, Corn, and Tickets!
Seriously?
Granted the $1 tickets sold out and were likely in the upper deck where you likely needed binoculars to see anything, but I was surprised to see at some popular food items were very reasonable.
Being my first and sadly probably only Nats game due to the cost of good tickets (was able to snag 2nd row home dugout tickets on stub hub for about half price plus close to 50% fees) and knowing the cost of food and beverage at concerts, parks, and sporting events, had a burger at home before heading out to the Navy Yark for the game last night.
$1 Dogs
Upon entering we discovered signs for $1 snacks. I saw “While Supplies Last” and thought to myself, hmm…I bet the first 1o dogs of the night were $1, but 5 innings later, was able to snag them. If there was not a limit of 2 per trip, I am sure we could have organized a hot dog eating contest! Popcorn and peanuts were also offered at $1 which included the tax. Just needed cracker jacks and you could have had been “taken out to the ball game” for just $3 with a ticket!
Great Seats!
I was a bit worried with the rain since I was guessing the tickets I bought online were indeed season tickets from some ticket holder who happened to either hate the Pirates or was out of town and would not be able to exchange them for the same seats anyway. The guys next to us were surprised by the location so I am guessing they were not “regulars” either to ask them.
While it was hard to tell if the ball was too far inside or outside, we were basically at eye level with catcher, batter and umpire to see if it could be a strike. From the view we had…..let’s just be thankful that the cheer girls were not wearing skirts 🙂
Costco Watch out!?
If you are a Costco shopper, you have likely been lured over to the cafeteria. I think the best deal up there is a huge kosher hot dog and fountain drink with refills for just $1.50. For just a $1 you can get a dog at the Nats on special nights, but if you were to add say a bottled 20 oz Coke, you will be paying a whopping $5.50! Costco is safe 🙂
Nats Win!
Off to a slow start, some home runs made the game more exciting and a win for the “home team” and cooperating weather and surprisingly good metro service made it a great night!
And just to prove it….here is a photo of me holding a dollar dog from my seat 🙂
Disk Brakes in a Flash Flood
Granted, if I did not have a baseball game to attend last night I likely would not have left work in a flash flood. While my shoes were sloshing with water, it was thankfully not very cold out and was actually quite a refreshing ride.
I brought my modified Cyclocross bike with me which has a fender attached because the forecast looked to be ominous. While disk brakes are now legal in the sport, my bike originally had cantilever style brakes on it. Perfect for Cyclocross, these brakes shed mud, but don’t really stop you quickly. After my fork was recalled by Felt, and a replacement back ordered, I decided to invest in a new disk brake compatible one. I forgot that that meant I needed a new wheel too which set me back a bit of cash. Needless to say, I was so happy with the disk brake and only wished I could have one on the back too. Recently I replaced the rear brake with a V-Brake which has much better stopping power. I needed to add a “travel agent,” cable pull doubler, to make the brake work with the road style brake levers, but am so much happier now. In fact, I have to be careful that I don’t lock up the brake and skid, now that it actually works!
Back to the story….so on the way home I used the brakes as I normally would with the front disk brake humming a bit with the water, but stopping as quickly as ever. I decided to try to test my theory that rim style brakes don’t work well in the rain and require much greater distances to stop. So, at the next intersection, I only appled the back brake. I expected a little noise and after the water dried off the rims, the brakes to work. Not at all! My rear brake, which I was applying decent pressure, did not do a thing to slow me down! I honestly could not tell a difference when the brake was not applied.
The moral of the story…..if you have the option to get disk brakes, or at least a front one, do it! It is much cheaper if you get a bike that has them already (you can always change out the cheap ones for nice ones later) since you have the required frame and fork mount attachments. In fact, some bikes with V-brakes have the mounts for the disks which probably come on a more expensive model. While they do weigh more, they require less maintenance and will stop you in all kinds of weather.