My Evening Commute

[Dickie]

Was not my finest. It started OK as I stopped off at Bikenetic to see Dirt and talk new cross/commuter tires as mine are completely shot and flatting all the time. Dirt was not around but Jan was glad to help out. I left informed but without new rubber for now. Back on the WOD and being careful to elude the dreaded FCPD I slowed at the Grove St. crossing only to be passed by a dude with absolutely no regard for the stop sign. He flew through the intersection just as I was getting clipped in without even a look. He then pulled the ultimate DB move, passing (and nearly clipping) two woman with strollers as they crossed paths with a gentleman walking towards them… yep, four abreast with him at speed. The gentleman yelled and put his hands out for protection and the ladies screamed. I slowed, apologized for his behavior and chased the scum down. As I got next to him (and gestured for him to remove his headphones) I became possessed by a sudden calmness (weird). I decided to politely explain what I had just witnessed and suggested better methods for future situations… he tolerated my intrusion and then I flatted. DANG IT! Luckily it was directly in front of the “Free Air” station on the WOD so I rolled my bike to the station, leaned my steed against the air machine (you can see where this is going), started taking off my back pack when I watched my bike slowly roll forward and fall against the pole…. result:

Needless to say, wasn’t a great ride home.

Topic

[Tania]

Warm weather + holiday week + DC tourist sites = TOTAL CF.

[huskerdont]

..was mostly good. Still trying to remember to do this Strava thing. Usually fine in the mornings but forget in the eves. Also, because of an Achilles problem, I’m sort of relearning to pedal, trying to use these easy gears I keep hearing so much about rather than mashing. The one bike actually has a triple; the only time that little ring had ever been used before was when I overshot the middle ring or when cleaning, but it turns out it works–except for all that effing tedious fast spinning. The single speed is right out for now and I miss it. Anyway, after decades of riding, still finding ways to do it differently, some by choice, some not.

[KLizotte]

Well, I discovered one advantage of using a smart trainer tonight. I climbed a 25% grade hill at a whopping 1.3 mph and didn’t have to worry about falling over! Whoohoo!

I also passed a camel farm – in Germany! :confused:

[rcannon100]

@KLizotte 150975 wrote:

I also passed a camel farm – in Germany! :confused:

Did you see ConsularRider??

What service are you using?

[consularrider]

@rcannon100 150979 wrote:

Did you see ConsularRider??

What service are you using?

If it is the one at Rotfelden it is way south of me.

[KLizotte]

@consularrider 150985 wrote:

If it is the one at Rotfelden it is way south of me.

I googled camel farm + Germany last night and was rather shocked to find out that the one your cite experienced a horrific barn fire three years ago. The camels there had been used for charitable purposes so it was particularly sad. That farm is located SW of Stuttgart.

This particular farm is located SE of Munich. I highly recommend biking in that area; is absolutely beautiful.

[KLizotte]

@rcannon100 150979 wrote:

Did you see ConsularRider??

What service are you using?

No, but I am jealous that ConsularRider has access to such amazing areas to ride. There is some really good biking infrastructure in Germany and some amazing scenery in the southern part of the country.

I am a subscriber to CycleOps Virtual Trainer. They offer uploaded videos from other subscribers as well as professionally done videos of rides around the world. The speed of the video slows down/speeds up based on the rider’s speed and since I have a smart trainer the resistance adjusts automatically based on the gradient profile. The videos vary greatly in quality so I do a quick preview before riding. Right now I’m getting a better workout than I would if I just relied on my short commute. Like all VT products out there, they also offer targeted training programs and there are real time races as well (though not nearly as often or as sophisticated as Zwift). I want to try Bkool next since they seem to offer a combo of Zwift and CycleOps features.

Anyway, I’m enjoying traveling the world from my living room (and making vacation plans). I’ve been to Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, South Africa, parts of the U.S., etc. I’ve found a video that shows cherry blossoms in Japan and who knew Taiwan was hilly!? I was really hoping to be able to “ride” through Australia and see some kangaroos but there are only three videos from Australia and didn’t show what I wanted. Sad face.

I also really like the videos from this company: https://veloreality.com/ but their software doesn’t control the resistance on my trainer so it will only record watts/speed (because the manufacturer of my trainer won’t play nice with them).

Between the software and the smart trainer, my indoor riding is way more engaging than using the dumb trainer and watching movies. That said, I’m still greatly looking forward to warm weather and getting outdoors.

[lordofthemark]

I would just like to say (with apologies to those who must now travel further for their big macs, fries, and mcshakes) that the closing of the McDonald’s at the corner of S Capital and Eye Street SE has made that block much nicer to bike through – no more cars turning (sometimes recklessly) into and out of the drive through. In not too long that will become a construction site, and we will likely have construction equipment blocking the bike lane and other annoyances, but for now its an improvement.

[huskerdont]

My evening commute actually happened. This is a v. good thing because when I went out to the bike, I found I had never locked it. I blame Strava. Too much fiddling around for someone with such a small brain.

[Sunyata]

@huskerdont 151047 wrote:

My evening commute actually happened. This is a v. good thing because when I went out to the bike, I found I had never locked it. I blame Strava. Too much fiddling around for someone with such a small brain.

Yesterday evening I locked up at the grocery store, but left the key in the lock… I was also very happy to find that my bike was still there when I came out. 😮

[cvcalhoun]

Yesterday night I was biking up the CCT after midnight. At that hour, I don’t expect to see anyone but the deer. I heard someone ringing his bell behind me, so I pulled to the right to let him pass, expecting him to swiftly disappear in the distance the way everyone else does. (I’m a very slow cyclist!) As he came up level with me, I wished him a good evening. Instead of passing, he just kept level with me, and started chatting. We ended up riding together all the way up to Fletcher’s Lock, where he peeled off to go over Chain Bridge to Arlington. It was a nice change to have some company.

[Judd]

Liked, but considering a dislike if your work day is getting you home after midnight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cvcalhoun]

WTOP reports weapons, ammunition discovered along C&O Canal:

http://wtop.com/dc/2017/01/police-investigate-discovery-weapons-ammunition-along-canal-road/

Edit: Paths reopened, according to https://twitter.com/SegravesNBC4/status/816759630592360456

[Drewdane]

My evening commute was cut short by a nagging slow leak in my rear tire that refuses to go away. I’m just glad someone was at home to come pick me up, because I was in absolutely no mood for a frame pump workout every few hundred meters.

So far I have replaced tube, rim tape and tire to no avail. I’ve conducted a quick eyeball inspection of the rim for foreign objects or splintered metal, but it looks like I’m going to have to get out a bright light and magnifying glass for one last close inspection. If I don’t find anything, then I will be officially at a loss.

[Vicegrip]

hard to find leaks are the worst….
Pop the bead on the tire and remove the tube but not all the way. Leave the stem in the rim and the tire on the rim. Inflate the tube and find the hole. Mark the hole with a ball point, deflate the tube and reline up the tube to the tire and wheel. Look on the rim and tire where the hole lines up real well. Sometimes you have to remove the tire, turn it inside out and bend it to find stuff.

[Author]

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