Where did all the Cat 5s go?

Background

The flame war on the D20 and VAcycling email lists about why category 5s don't show up to race motivated me to publish at least some preliminary results of a USAC member retention analysis I've done on several occasions over the years.

Since 2008 I've downloaded a weekly snapshot of the USAcycling member database. I  also have individual snapshots back to 2006. Before 2006, I only have data for the Mid-Atlantic. This trove of data makes it possible to follow the progression of an individual rider, and perhaps put some solid numbers into the discussion of why riders stay in the sport.

Methodology

I should probably do this as a Sweave document, in support of Reproducible Research, but it's Sunday evening, and this is blog. So there. Contact me if you want a custom analysis or if you want me to email you the script. Then you can see what a crappy R coder I am. 

Here's what I did

1. Read in the USAC rider database closest to the end of each calendar year, since all licensed riders appear in the late December snapshot.  Each database snapshot is about 50000 records of twenty or so variables, including age, category, gender, and city/state.
2. Exploit the fact that USAC issues licenses in numerical order to identify which licensees are new for each year.  (A more rigorous approach could specifically identify which licenses don't appear in previous years.) 
3. For each First Year of License (2006-2012) identify the "freshman class" of racers. 
4. For each subsequent year for that class, find the subset of racers from the first year class who are still licensed and add these to the master dataframe (using "rbind"). 
5. Iterate on that dataframe to produce some summary statistics. (I'm sure I could have used some tapply mojo here, but maybe I'm really a fortran programmer at heart...) 

Limitations

• This method will specifically catch someone who misses a few years and the relicenses.
• The analysis is for the whole USA, and not the MidAtlantic, though that analysis is also possible. 

Results

First lets look at the total number of new racers per year

The top red curve shows that USAC has issued about 9000 new licenses each year since 2006. For some reason 2010 was a banner year for new licenses, that ended a  four-year decline. The lower curves on the plot below show the number of those racers who are still licensed in subsequent years. Since 2012 just ended, there is no year 1 data for 2012. The takeaway is that about 45%  of the first-year racers do not renew their licenses for a subsequent season. 

We can look at the fractions instead of absolute counts as well.

The plot above shows the "lifetime" of a racer. I've overplotted the data by year of first license, but the differences don't look significant to me. In other words, 2012 new racers are just like new racers from 2006. After only a year, 45% of the racers have quit the sport. By the end of the third year, only 36% of the racers remain, and after six years, only 20% remain. 

Finally, we can also look at the category progression for those racers. 

The plot above is a little complicated. The individual panels break out by road category (1-5). Some trends are interesting (to me at least). 

• Amazingly, after six years, 15% of the cadre are still category 5. Who are these people? Mountain bike racers who reflexively take out a road license each year and never use it? 
• About 30% of the new licensees upgrade from Category 5 in the first year. 
• About 0.16% of new licensees make it all the way to Category 1 in the first year. 

Conclusions

• "Infant mortality" is significant for new bicycle racers. About 45% don't come back for a second season.
• The progression of riders through the sport is relatively unchanged over the past six years. 

Solutions to the infant mortality problem (if it is indeed a problem) are left to the reader. If solutions are even necessary. I could argue that it's better to let in 100 people and have 45 of them quit, than to only have 65 people, but keep them all. 

Flite and Fizik saddles compared.

In 26 years of racing, I've used only three different saddles:

1. Selle Italia Turbo 1987-1990 (debuted in 1980)
2. Selle Italia Flite 1990-2013 (debuted in 1990)
3. San Marco Rolls (debuted in 1980) 

I switched to the Flite in 1990 because I thought it would be a geometrically similar but lighter version of the Turbo. As is well known, I fear change. I've only ever used the Rolls on my cyclocross and commuter bikes. It's a great saddle, even if it is outrageously heavy. The stated weight is well over 380 g, compared with 200g  for  modern saddles. But it cannot be eclipsed for comfort. It's also rumored to be the widest saddle made.

I've flirted with other saddles, but never found one that provides the same level of "don't realize that it's there" comfort of  the Flite. Most notably, in 2009 I rode a Fizik Arione for about two months. It always felt like I was sitting on the corners of the saddle, and I was always sore. I went back to the Flite. 

My new Cannondale came with a Fizik Antares, which has the same duck shape as the Arione, which gave me the opportunity to geometrically compare the two saddles.  First a side-by-side visual comparison.

They are almost the same length. And they weigh about the same:

Fizik claimed:  189 g ; actual: 210 g
Flite  claimed:  230 g ; actual: 232 g (wow!)

The big difference is in the actual profile. I traced the outline of the two saddles from the photographs and overlaid them.

The Flite is about 10 mm wider, but the major difference is the region where the saddle is widest. In the illustration above, I've shifted the Fizik backwards to put its widest point at the point where my pelvic bones contact the Flite. Whereas the Flite has about 40 mm of fore-aft position at nearly constant width, the Fizik basically has one spot that's wide enough for me. So there's the answer. What will I do if Selle Italia drops the Flite from its "Vintage" line?

Speculation

I wonder if the shape of the Fizik lets normally proportioned racers get a "pro-looking" setup," with the saddle slammed all the way back, even though they lack the freakishly long femurs of the pros. On my setup, the Fizik would be visually nearly 50 mm aft compared to the Flite.

Links

• History of the San Marco saddle in pictures: http://www.sellesanmarco.it/storia-collezione.html
• History of Selle Italia saddles in pictures: http://www.selleitalia.com/se_it3/azienda/storia/

Geotagged road-thong sightings

For many years I've stopped on rides to pick up lost items on the side of the road. I've found calendar organizers, checkbooks, about $120 in cash, thirteen working mobile phones (four returned), a policeman's badge, over 900 individual tools (including enough sockets to make up a complete US and metric set), and dozens of tie-down straps. Around 2008 I began noticing women's undergarments on the roadside. This post is a collection of photographs that document the condition and locations. I have never brought any of these home, though I have poked several with sticks. 

Leading the charge with our banner!

Observations

• Early in the count, I didn't track men's undergarments. In 2022, I spotted more pairs of boxers and briefs than thongs and panties. 
• Initially, the sightings clustered outside the summer months, even though the total miles I ride is probably higher in the summer, which would lead to more frequent sightings. Over time the distribution has become more uniform. 
• Bra sightings have increased (though they are still uncommon) since 2018.
• 2018 was the new International Year of the Road Thong, but..
• 2019 outstripped all previous years by a large margin!
• 2023 blows all of them away. 
• I rode fewer miles in 2020 to 2022, so there was less opportunity for sightings.
• 2023 shows that we're out of the pandemic!

Note: plot (finally) updated through 2024-06-25!

The collection

• A google map that shows the locations and dates of the sightings follows the image collection.
• A full size map is here Thong Map 
• A collection of other photographs submitted by the members of the Cooperative Road Thong Network is here.

The Images

2024-10-26  #142 Ethika brand workout shorts (a bit nasty on the inside). Porter County 200W at C Damon Creek GPS: 41.559792, -87.104919

2024-10-03 #140 and #141. Atlantic Blvd in Dulles . Reebok.  GPS: 39.022361 -77.424736

2024-08-02 #139 Idylwood @ Shreve Hill. No brand info . GPS: 38.89271525655122, -77.22005486988537

2024-06-25 #138 Herndon Parkway N of Summerfield. Pink brand, Size M.  Almost directly across the street from #135. GPS: 38.971369, -77.406456

2024-05-29 #137 2546 Military Rd, Arlington. Weird tableau with road bra and shattered mirror.  Bra sighting number six of all time. GPS: 38.90486, -77.10909

2024-04-21 #136. Prosperity Rd, Fairfax. Single lacy stocking. 

2024-04-20 #135 Herndon Parkway north of Summerfield. No brand information. GPS: 38.971522, -77.406175 

2024-03-26 #134 Five Oaks @ Blake Lane Vienna. Fruit of the Loom and pretty nasty. GPS: 38.8738, -77.2814

2024-03-17 #133 Bull Run Postoffice Rd, near Naylor, in a sad tableau of Christmas decorations and furniture all dumped by the side of the road. GPS: 38.823178, -77.486722

2024-02-26 #132 Campbell St @ Grove St, Valparaiso, In. I was on a walk because my back hurt so much. GPS: 41.475447, -87.065833

2024-02-14 #131 Old State Rd 2 in Porter County, Indiana. GPS: 41.508861 -86.950856

2024-01-08 #130. Ravensworth at Little River Turnpike. Ravensworth at Little River. I had missed the light so I got up on the sidewalk to get out of the left turn lane and spotted it. GPS: 38.83043,−77.196713

2024-01-08 #129 Ravensworth Rd @ Heritage. When I doubled back to check it out (I thought it was a bandana because it was next to two gloves, I found $0.36. GPS: 38.815693,−77.207244

2024-01-08 #128 Guinea Rd @ Burnetta Rhonda Shear brand. Plus some other lingerie.  GPS: 38.81517,−77.265664

2023-12-31 #127 Glade Rd, Reston Pink brand.   GPS: 38.932128,−77.358069

2023-12-11 #126 New Orleans airport, American Airlines check-in.  Despite three days of wandering the decadent French Quarter, it was the airport that delivered.

2023-11-27 #125  Braddock Rd (N side) at Accotink Creek. Size XXXL, but no manufacturer information.

2023-11-25 #124 Porter St, Merrifield. About 20 m N of #123. Pink brand.

2023-11-25 #123 Porter St, Merrifield. Manufacturer info not captured

2023-10-11 #122 Cedar Lane, Vienna. Size S

2023-09-21 #121 Hummer Rd @ Marshall, Annandale. Size 5XL "Expressions." 

2023-09-11 #120 Wakefield Chapel N of Glen Park Rd, Annadale. Lace-trimmed sports bra. No manufacturer information

2023-08-23 #119 Near 938 Vermont Rt 114 in East Haven Vt.

2023-07-09 #115 through #118. About 300 yards south of #111 through #114 on Prosperity Rd. The long sightlines made it possible to safely record them in their native habitat. It appears that someone had a laundry day disaster!

2023-07-09 #111 through #114, on Prosperity Rd. I admit that I restaged this shot in the interest of safety after moving them from the centerline, because they were on a blind turn. 

2023-07-01 #110 near the top of Coxey Brown Rd, just before Gambrill Park Rd. I was going about 4 mph at 45 rpm, but still looped back to get the shot.

2023-05-24 #109 Uncommon sports-bra sighting. Guinea Rd down the hill and N of Braddock. 

2023-05-24 #108 Festive color. Guinea Rd down the hill and N of Braddock

2023-04-06 #107. Only counting this one as a single, even though at least four are in the shot. The sad tableaux included some kids clothing and an abandoned car seat, obviously all dumped from a vehicle. River Rd W of Partnership Rd. 

2023-03-30 #106. It's pretty big. Annandale Rd, Falls Church

2023-03-23 #104 and #105 XXXXL (that's a lot of Xs!) negligee set Prosperity Rd S of Rt 50.

2023-03-05 #103 Maidenform size M at Guinea Rd @ ElJames

2023-01-28 #102 on Lime Kiln Rd, near Oatlands plantation.

2023-01-11 #101 4600 block Backlick Rd, Springfield

2022-09-22 #100 Muddy Branch at Great Seneca Highway

2022-07-26 #99 Campbell Rd, Valparaiso, Indiana

2022-07-26 # 98 250@ in Valparaiso, In, near the 3-way railroad crossing. First of a two-in-one-ride day.

2022-03-14 #97 Sunrise Valley Reston

2022-02-21 #96 relatively rare bra top

2022-01-31 #95  4812 Ravensworth Rd, Annadale, VA

2021-09-15 #94 Edsall Rd near Cather St. Also found a tumbleweave just around the corner: GPS: 38.8070944 -77.1785306

2021-08-23 #93 Pimmit Hills GPS: 38.91610299 -77.19483097

2021-08-11 #92 On my "there's no power at home" walk. GPS: 38.89565853131864, -77.19210890891235

2021-07-04 #91 On my way from the liquor store to the Giant for 7/4 supplies. Had to dodge some traffic, so the photo and data quality suffered. GPS: 38.89565853131864, -77.19210890891235

2021-06-07 #90 Cooley Rd Parksville, NY Catskills Bike Trip. GPS: 41.858705, -74.75565

2021-04-20 #89 Gap body brand, W&OD path Falls Church. GPS: 38.89094326, -77.1799278

2021-02-25 #88 Braddock Rd W of Wakefield Park GPS: 38.81151, -77.22555

2021-01-13 #87 Woodfield School Rd GPS 39.2575, -77.18792

2021-01-13 #86 Woodfield School Rd GPS 39.2564083, -77.1892778

2020-12-12 #85 Van Buren St W of Dulles Toll Rd, Victoria's Secret GPS: 38.9492833,-77.3914111

2020-111-21 #84 Sam Fred Rd, Middleburg. GPS: 38.97800013, -77.72195283

2020-10-03 #83 Montevideo Rd, Montgomery County GPS: 39.08712, -77.34551

2020-09-15 #82 Rt 115 Mountain Mission, WV. GPS not recorded. On my ride back from the gravel tour shakedown mini-trip.

2020-08-27 #81 Game Preserve Rd, Gaithersburg, Md. GPS: 39.16147, -77.23074

#80 2020-08-19 Charles St, near Rt 7 Seven Corners. GPS: 38.852086 -77.136529

#79 2020-06-01 Fairview park over Rt 50    GPS: 38.86602 -77.213626

2020-05-18 #78. Pink brand. Size indeterminate. Westbranch @ Westpark, Tysons Corner. GPS: 38.92663, -77.22228 (corrected from image header)

2020-04-19 #77 Man's "banana hammock" Manufacturer indeterminate. Odricks Corner (Springhill Rd @ Turning Leaf). GPS: 38.9360083 -77.2316222

2020-04-12 #76 Corona Virus edition #3 of three in one day! Victoria's Secret size 34B. Shreve Rd near Pioneer Lane. GPS: 38.8816889 -77.2198778

2020-04-12 #75 Corona Virus edition #2 of three in one day! Indeterminate brand and size (too faded) Braddock Rd near Inverchapel Rd. GPS: 38.811625 -77.22705

2020-04-12 #74 Corona virus edition #1 of three in one day! Indeterminate brand and size. Rt 7 near Carlyn Springs GPS: 38.8599333 -77.1469139

2020-02-09 #71 Felina Brand, size M. Atlantic Blvd, Dulles

2020-01-25: Doc Johnson brand silicone dildo. Reston. 38.93299 -77.358844 Interestingly, almost exactly two years from the previous sex-toy sighting.

#70 2020-01-22 Gallows Rd Size S/M Calvin Klein; GPS: 38.9103056 -77.2233194

#69 2019-12-28 Great Falls St @ Hutchison; Size M Victoria's Secret Dream Angels GPS: 38.905675 -77.181925

#68 2019-12-18 Travilah, just north of Glen. Size L "Man Power" sexy man's jockstrap. this is the first ornamental man's undergarment I've ever found.  GPS: 39.071166, -77.260828

#67 2019-11-26 Georgetown Pike at Old Dominion. Size S Victoria's Secret. GPS: 38.9818083, -77.25715

#66 2019-10-06 Pioneer Apartments, Valparaiso. Coming home from Fluid Coffee. GPS: 41.4698778 -87.0595833

#65 2019-07-23 Millenium Park Valparaiso. While getting coffee on the way to Intelligentsia Cup.  GPS: 41.467458, -87.063594

#64 Persimmon Tree north of MacArthur. Too destroyed for any information. GPS: 38.9763889,-77.1691667

#63 2019-06-26 River Rd near Muddy Branch. Only spotted it when I circled around to check out a possible road tool. "Art Class"  (A Target swimsuit line)  Size 14/16. GPS: 39.0630556, -77.2958333

#62 2019-06-22 Hunter Mill just south of Crowell at the Reston Presbyterian Church. Worse for the wear, after passage through a lawnmower.  GPS: 38.9517083 -77.311925

#61 Whole Foods Tysons parking lot on the way to lunch. Was originally wrapped in the sandwich wrapper. Aerie brand (American Eagle). No size info--someone said "Quit poking at that." 

#60 2019-04-02 On Rt 28 at the intersection with Norman Dr. Marilyn Monroe Brand, size M. Coincidence? Marilyn was married to Norman Mailer at one point... GPS 39.1154944,-77.2649278.

#5 9 2019-03-24 On Alt 40 near the summit. Some kind of onesy.
GPS: 39.4778861, -77.6102444

#58 2019-03-20, while riding over to Tom S' to pick up some emergency tubes for the ride home on 28 near Riffleford. Took me a long time to figure out what it was--kind of a camisole/underwear lingerie. GPS: 39.1182389 -77.2596806

#57, near Rogers Lakewood Pk, on Meridian Rd. Victoria's Secret Brand. GPS: 41.5190056 -87.0658611

#56 2019-03-02 On the way home from the PoCo Historical society museum on Monroe near College: Pink brand. GPS: 41.4657722, -87.0541806

#55 2019-03-02 Locust (?) just S of Lincolnway in Valpo, while Mark and I were walking to the PoCo Historical Society.  Pretty big, no manufacturer info. GPS: 41.467619 -87.053811

#54 2019-02-28 700N Valparaiso, just east of Camp Lawrence. GPS: 41.535215 -87.046592

#53 2019-02-24 on the Whites Ferry Ride on Elmer School Rd, with my magic charm, Michelle N.  GPS: 39.14688 -77.483633 (approximate--no exif tag in image)

#52

#51 2019-01-08 Algonkian Parkway near Lowes Island Blvd. Double sighting. One Hanes brand. One unbranded. Very large.

# 50 2019-01-04 Lawyers Rd at Kedge Dr. No brand or size info. Kind of dangerous getting the photo. GPS: 38.909567, -77.284726

2018-12-28 Calumet Rd North of Bullseye Lake Rd, Valparaiso, IN.  It was still there when I rode by on 2019-03-02

2018-12-13, Piney Meetinghouse Rd. "Pink" brand. No size info. GPS 39.0647694,-77.2291056

2018-10-15 Quince Orchard Rd just south of the NIST C gate. Had to circle back around and stop for light. No manufacturer or size information. Quince Orchard is a busy, stick-free road. GPS coordinates: 39.1351667, -77.2234083

2018-08-30, Schaeffer Rd, just south of the soccerplex roundabout. "Just Be" brand in size 8/XL

2018-08-16, Seneca Rd south of MD Rt 28. No manufacturer information.

2018-08-12 Algonkian Parkway just west of the Sugarland Run bridge, Sterling. While bunnyhopping the median to check out a possible sighting from the day before, I found this one right under my front wheel. Warner Brand, size info was worn off. 

2018-07-22. Corner of West and Broad St, Falls Church, while walking back from getting coffee. Tag cut out--no size or manufacturer information. Who knows how far it drifted during yesterday's flash-flood.

2018-06-10. Marshall, VA Park-n-Ride, after an absolutely delightful 60 miles of gravel. Size XS, no manufacturer information.

2018-05-15. Assignment is tentative. I struggled to decide if this was just a re-sighting of the 9/28/17 thong. But I went back to confirm manufacturer information on 2018-05-30 and found no label. Also I almost missed finding it, because it was so buried and filthy. I do not believe that it could have survived the entire winter and stayed in the condition I saw it on 2018-05-15, given the degradation that occurred in only two weeks between sighting and verification.

2018-03-27 while riding to work, on Stonebridge Dr, North Potomac. A pretty big pair of Hanes Comfortsoft. If it's from the Walk of Shame, it was a pretty shameful evening...

2018-03-06, Marshall, VA. Another tentative sighting--really more of a"loungewear/pajama bottom"  Second sighting in a row on a ride with Michelle N. 

2018-01-27 On Business Rt 15 in Leesburg, VA. The expressions of the people driving by as I was photographing were priceless. Just couldn't pass it up, even though it's slightly off-topic.

2017-12-19. Old Calumet Ave just south of US 6, Valparaiso, In. Cacique brand (A Lane Bryant marque, which explains the size). 

2017-11-27. Seneca Rd. No manufacturer or size info, but kind of Christmassy--those are tiny reindeer. GPS: 39.081, -77.318.  Found later in the ride after heading out Riffle Ford to try to self-spot the Friday CRTN sighting by Rob Laybourn. Also found and returned an iPhone today.

2017-10-19 Ed Garvey Memorial Shelter, Appalachian Trail (sports bra)

2017-09-28. Schaeffer Rd at Little Seneca Creek. "Best fitting panty" (a Walmart brand) in size 2XL9. Tom Snyder photo credit.

2017-08-16 Quince Orchard by NIST C gate. Does it really count?--It's really more of sports-bra top. No manufacturer information 

2017-08-10 MD 28 @ Riffleford. I had stopped to pick up a penny in the intersection, and Colleen spotted it. No manufacturer or size information.

2017-06-13. S Glen Road near the one-lane bridge. No size or brand data--looks to have been lawn-mowed.

2017-04-05 Query Mill Rd, Darnestown on our lunch ride. No size or manufacturer information.

2017-04-01. Reddish Knob, Va Elevation 4397' 11:37AM. I admit that I scouted the parking lot, because I knew that this was a "romantic" location. Fruit of the Loom, size 5. Early in our epic 100 mile day.

2016-11-26. After a false alarm yesterday when I spotted what looked like a winner, but turned out to be from "Baby Gap," I spotted this one today under a car at the parking lot at the local Giant. No data on sizes or makes, for obvious reasons. 

2016-08-21. On my way to Starbucks, behind the Indian Spices store adjacent to the W&OD path. Some kind of bizarre name, like "Modern Confluence." Super clean.

2016-05-21 Sharp Park on Williamsburg in Arlington, VA. Had to get all "CSI Arlington" to even partially identify. The victim seems to have had an unfortunate interaction with a lawnmower.  I immediately instituted a grid search of the area, and located two more parts, but neither of them had any identifying label. Assignment is not 100% certain due to damage.

2016-03-21 (First day of Spring!) a "Best Fitting Panty" (A Walmart brand) in size L/7. Just outside the NIST C-gate.

2016-1-15 on Burdette Lane adjacent to the South Germantown Soccerplex. A "Steve" brand (Nordstrom?) in size XL

2015-12-24. From some kind of "Sexy Holly Hobby" outfit. Washington Blvd in Arlington S&L brand, size 14.

2015-12-22 Christmas Miracle Edition. Warner Size 6 (M) on Old Bucklodge Rd in Boyds, MD. 

2015-10-06 at the NIST main gate

Terrible picture, but my phone died after shooting one image. On Clopper Rd at the NIST main gate. Labels were too worn to identify the model. Then it got caught on my shoe when I went to ride away.

2015-08-11 Sunday in NW Indiana just north of US Rt 6 on 200W. Looks like it had an unfortunate interaction with a lawnmower.

2015-07-12 CVS @ Falls Plaza getting coffee with Sandra

I went for coffee with Sandra on her last day as a woman of leisure. We walked to the ATM to get money, and there it was!

2015-06-08 Quince Orchard Rd south of QOHS

Led there by Tom Snyder (again!) who spotted on his way to our lunch ride. The most "buttflossy" of all the sightings. No brand information.

2015-05-11 Bucklodge Rd with Tom Snyder. No logo.

Tag says "Remove B4Uplay" but doesn't have any brand information.  It's really probably a swimsuit bottom or that garment that cheerleaders wear under their skirts. 

2015-03-24. Quince Orchard Rd, Gaithersburg, near the NIST "C" gate.

Xhileration brand (apparently another Target house brand). I didn't have my phone with me, so I had to go back later in the car after securing the item with a rock to keep it from blowing away. I was certain that the NIST police would swoop down on me while I was standing next to the fence photographing something. 

2015-03-03 White Ground Rd, Boyds Md

H&M black thong, European size 36. Spotted on a miserable day with ice pellets raining down on us. A fine reward to complement my feeling that I was a Belgian hardman. Almost a year to the day after the "first day of meteorological spring" sighting in 2014!

2015-02-11. Spring Meadows Drive Darnestown Md

More data! A Gilligan and O'Malley Intimates. (This appears to be the Target house brand.). Actually taken there by Tom Snyder, who had spotted it on his ride earlier in the week. Only about 250m from the 2015-01-19 monster-bra sighting, though this one is much too small to be from the same person. 

Conversation during the documentation:

Me: "Hey,  I need a stick!"

TKS: "Of course you do..."

2015-01-19 Special Sugarloaf ride, MLK-Day Giant Bra sighting. Didn't have the proper tools to determine the size, but it looked biiiig. First photo with the new GoPro.

2014-12-21 Christmas miracle. On the NCVC ride on Bradley Blvd near Hillsmead. Luckily I caught back on at the regrouping point. 

2014-09-03. Completely fortuitous. After dropping Tom off from our noon ride, I circled back to check out a North Face bag in the gutter. This jaunty pair was next to it--didn't notice it all on the first pass.

2014-08-14. Spotted while riding home from work. Actually saw a pair of (very rare) boxer shorts later on River Rd. Kind of made up for having my phone eject from my backpack and get destroyed while riding to work. And then I found a combination 12mm/14mm box wrench a little later in the ride. Interesting coincidence with the 2014-03-01 sighting.

2014-05-25 Ballston, (Arlington) Virginia

2014-05-25. Sighted while picking up Tom Godfrey on our way to the MABRA criterium championships. As I was loading his bike, Tom mentioned "check out my sidewalk--it's an omen!" And it was a very good omen. Tom was 2nd and I got the last paying place. Some have pointed out that it's not technically a thong, of course.

2014-04-18. During my spring bike trip in the middle of the road just after the bridge over the Dry Fork in Jenningston, WV. This sighting was almost exactly a year after the Spring Trip 2013 WV sighting in Dolly Sods (below) . This incident represents the second WV occurrence. 

2014-03-01. Discovered on a solo ride out to Sugarloaf and back from NIST. Because I had stopped to photograph the view from the summit, my phone died when I took the first thong picture. I drove back out to the site, parked in a driveway, ran up the road, and repeated the photograph. Technically not a "winter" sighting: March 1 is the first day of "meteorological spring." On the same ride I also found a nickel and a 7/16" 1/4-inch drive socket. Score!
link: Google Map Location

2013-12-18 on Muddy Branch by the sewage dumping station. Really more of workout/sporty underwear. Very clean!

2013-10-01 near 18600 River Rd in Poolesville, Md On our post-furlough mid-day ride. Not technically a thong, of course. 

2013-04-13. On FR 75 in the Dolly Sods Wilderness at elevation 4000' Actually discovered by Jim Keenihan at the  end of our lunch stop. Label states "Tuesday." Weirdly, I had stopped about 1/2 way up the climb for another possibility, which turned out to be only a lacy workout top. 

2013-03-05 on the W&OD path near the Italian Store. I almost missed the Tuesday ride because I stopped for photo-documentation.

2012-12-10 On Muddy Branch. in Gaithersburg. Slightly out of focus because I had to run into the road to photograph it. Also, not technically a "thong" but more of a "boy short." 

2012-11-01 on Quince Orchard adjacent to the NIST campus.

2012-02-20 on Howellsville Rd near Front Royal , Va. Photographed while on a solo tour of the Blue Ridger Ride It was an awfully cold day for flinging undergarments.

2010-11-13 on Quince Orchard Rd south of Great Seneca Highway. The motherlode. One of the few bra sightings. 

Sightings without photodocumentation

I was not careful about backing up my old phone (a Treo 700), and I deleted the pre-2009 images by accident. 

• 2009: Corner of Offutt and Mount Nebo in Poolesville, Md. Two thongs spotted during a recon of the Poolesville Road Race course. Probably the original sighting that triggered this collection. 

Geo-tagged locations

The map below documents the locations of each sighting. You may need to zoom out to locate all the locations.

View Thong Map in a larger map

Other road-side collections of personal products

Below are some links to even more horrific road-side sightings of intimate products. 

• follow the #tumbleweave hashtag on Instagram
• My shared folder of #tumbleweaves: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XziNQ2vXXZpZYdmL7
• Philly Tumbleweaves. I think these are perhaps even more disgusting. (and apparently collected by cyclists
• Tumbleweaves.org (the whole domain name!) Sadly, no longer active.
• And it can be art too, and command a high price: https://news.artnet.com/market/jonathas-de-andrade-armory-show-2360188