Congratulations to all of the participants of the Washington Area Bike Forum’s Freezing Saddles Winter Riding Competition!  This was a grassroots competition, put together by volunteers made up of local riders for no purpose other than to encourage each other to continue to ride through the bad weather months. From January 1st to March 20th (the first day of Spring) 98 riders, on 10 teams, rode a cumulative of of 8,152 rides for a total of 83,722 miles. Between these riders, they racked up a total of 6,912 hours ridden, with 1,793 of those hours ridden below freezing, 429 of those hours ridden in the rain, and 283 of those hours ridden while it was snowing!

We love this quote from forum user dkel: "I wasn’t riding at all this time last year. I did make a deal with myself in September when I got into the commuting routine, that I would try to ride through the winter, and BAFS [BikeArlington Freezing Saddles] has not only helped me to realize that goal, but also to exceed my own expectations thoroughly: I’ve ridden every day this calendar year, often in conditions I would have likely avoided otherwise, and I’ve had no problems and enjoyed myself tremendously. My average mileage is 130% what I estimated it would be, and I’m having so much fun, and I’ve learned so much about cycling, that it will no doubt stay that way or increase after winter is over. Thanks, BAFS, and thanks, bikearlingtonforum!"

Check out the final stats, and more fun figures, on the FreezingSaddles.com and view more from the forum on Freezing Saddles here.  We hope you’ll join next winter!