Category: Park Meetup News

  • Event Over

    Event Over

    By Andrea Menzies

    The online cycling event is done thanks for the help from the other bikes. I made it to 7 miles and a top rank. To participate in a Garmin event log an activity. Then go to the event link on the phone app. There are three dots in the upper right of the corner press link activity to participate. I used to love the step counter Fitbit, but after Google bought it it went to the pits. Garmin in contrast has step counters with GPS, and my review is it is better for cycling. I have made the switch to Garmin now for the new badges and fun groups with online races.

  • Bike Daniels

    Bike Daniels

    By Andrea Menzies

    Join me on the free to use Garmin app for the virtual event Bike Daniels Park. You do not need to be in the park to participate.

    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/event/7304c110-0fcd-486e-b28f-0e6b93f6cedd

  • Summer Kindle

    By Andrea Menzies

    Summer has rekindled my love for Geocaching scavenger hunt games. Some good new ones are out, so add me to friends with the codes below. I used to love the Wizards Unite game, but it has gone kaput. I am now on Geocaching, Poedaughterz on Mythwalker, Poedaughter7 on Magic Streets, and Pokemon Go at Poedaughter7.

    Poedaughterz at the official Geocaching.
    Mythwalker is that code.

    Magic Streets is that code.

    Can’t go wrong with the classics I am still on Pokemon Go above.
  • Level 2

    Level 2

    By Andrea Menzies

    Woo hoo I made it to level 2 in the F&F bike fitness challenge on the free Sunny Fitness app this week. It is an epic bike riding summer for me.

  • Rain Cycling

    Rain Cycling

    By Andrea Menzies

    Hot and rainy weather but not too rainy for the bicycle. Fourth long bike ride of the week. I met with video game groups in the park to discuss game battles today. People play basketball in the park, volleyball, and now bike to play video games as well.

    Map My Ride

    Garmin Cycling App

    Check out my road cycling activity on Garmin Connect. #beatyesterday https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/19565292386?share_unique_id=9

    Map My Ride App

    https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/8622152024

    Me at the break bench.
  • Bike It Up

    Bike It Up

    By Andrea Menzies

    The good news is I was feeling well enough to bike 4 days this week 3 or more miles. I have been able to practice running errands with the e-bike. Yes the battery helps, but you still have to steer with your arms, balance on two wheels, and many roads are NOT fully made for bikes so you end up walking your bike on the sidewalks or lawns near roads with no bike space. Sunny fitness app even sent me a fitness award wrist band for bike fitness. The bad news is I was super sick a few weeks back so I am still weaker than normal. I was going to many June music concerts, but will have to wait until after this week to get back to going out on weekends. Since all downtown areas now charge a million dollars for close to venue parking spaces you now have to walk and bike to concerts from super far away. The theory is everyone can call Uber or Lyft so making downtown parking impossible is okay. Do they drive people for free, or do they charge nightmare fees? These services are super expensive, are dangerously slow to pick people up, and often lack quality drivers so they are horrible alternatives compared to normal parking. Buses only run a tiny bit of the day in limited areas. Many public parks near my area have pretty much become a pathetic copy of an outdoor nightclub with people dancing with boom boxes in the parking lot at night as downtown has officially become too expensive and con-artist dominated for average people to ever go there. It is not a happy time for art and music fans that happen to love live music unless you have gladiator legs for bike use. I am biking with all my soul to leave forever the nightmare toilet hole that is Virginia.

  • Bashing Call

    Bashing Call

    By Andrea Menzies

    Protesters hearing the call for justice are being bashed down this week. I joined several Feminist Alliance groups online to protest against Trump this week. Unfortunately I had to go to the hospital twice, and protesters were being bashed down super hard so I had to cancel going. Violation of the right of free speech is being tossed around like a frisbee this week in the USA. I got an e-bike because my family worked travel jobs when I was a kid, and I saw people riding bikes and folding e-bikes to clean well funded public transportation in other countries all the time. We have been completely fooled in the United States to think that well funded public transportation, schools, rights, and healthcare must be impossible dreams as poorer countries already have them daily. Meanwhile we have a president that thinks a 400 million dollar fossil fuel using airplane for daily personal use is an okay transport option. 

    Feminist Alliance Protest
    Anti Violence Rally DC
    Freedom Logo
    Deployed to Los Angeles.
    Eating Dogs.
    People have been using e-bikes to get to public transportation that allows bikes on board in Europe and Asia for decades already.
    Uber and Lyft are rip offs compared to real transportation solutions other countries have. Meanwhile our president thinks a 400 million sky airplane for personal use is normal.

    https://bsky.app/profile/petebuttigieg.bsky.social/post/3lrgpulzfls2t

  • Irony Bike

    By Andrea Menzies

    I finally got money for an ebike, and ordered an ebike! I ordered it, but cannot ride it due to being sick. I feel like the man in the Twilight Zone episode with broken glasses that cannot read in a library. I even bought new tail lights, and a bike Garmin and Sunny heart monitor for it. Not only do I want more fitness experience, but the ebike is useful as gas free transportation. Bikes do not cause joint damage like jogging, and studies show bike use prevents cancer and heart disease. I love camping, and it fits in an RV better than a big non-folding bike. Every entertainment district is making car parking costs what feels emotional like 1 million dollars, and a good ebike can cut down on parking and Uber fees so that I can go to music concerts more without using a car near downtown. I have had the picture of this bike on my wall for months. Buying it now helps me avoid nightmare tariffs and fees. At University in New Orleans I used to bus and bike everywhere to see concerts. The bike is so close but so far away!

    Garmin badge I earned testing the bicycle Garmin.
    Bicycle Garmin for tracking app fitness.

    Light for increased bicycle visibility.

    Sunny heart rate monitor to keep fitness from being overwhelming.
  • Happy Bike Month

    Happy Bike Month

    By Andrea Menzies

    Happy National Bike Month! Some day in the next year I will upgrade back to an electric bike. For now I am using non-electrical. To celebrate I am watching Murder She Wrote streaming on the Roku channel because she is on a bicycle so much I am starting to think it was sponsored by bicycle manufacturing. It suggests that is how you survive to become an attractive older woman by being on a bicycle all the time. My review is the show is hilarious.

  • Pre-Party Graduation

    Pre-Party Graduation

    By Andrea Menzies

    I am at a graduation pre-party for Alexandria Menzies in Fredericksburg, VA today. We went to Cracker Barrel and Quality Inn. Cracker Barrel is really giving away free onion fries if you download the app and start an account at dinner. We ate some, and it was great.