My Morning Commute

[Crickey7]

@ian74 109308 wrote:

I could possibly make it to DC going worththeweb’s route, but then going up the Capital Crescent is also a pain when it’s not cleared very well.

The CCT is passable, though not great. I’d be a little reluctant to try it on skinny slicks or in the dark. Anything slightly knobby, or 32 or wider, is probably okay.

[GB]

@hozn 109310 wrote:

Was the W&OD from Reston east ok with slicks?

Negative. I think you’d have a really unpleasant ride on slicks between Vienna and Arlington. I was fine on 40mm studs. It was generally rough enough that regular knobies would probably be fine to for most of it, but there were a couple of glare ice patches.

Overall, similar but a little worse than Fridays conditions.

[dkel]

@GB 109317 wrote:

Negative. I think you’d have a really unpleasant ride on slicks between Vienna and Arlington. I was fine on 40mm studs. It was generally rough enough that regular knobies would probably be fine to for most of it, but there were a couple of glare ice patches.

Agreed. I rode studs, and I managed fine, except that I was a sweaty, sore mess when I finished jack-hammering over that icy crud. I’m not going that way this afternoon. (I’ll take Cottage St. and get back on the trail at Gallows. I get off in Falls Church, and that portion of the trail is very easy.)

[hozn]

The jackhammering yesterday did make me think that the 40mm tires (or whatever the larger A10 tires measure) might be nicer vs the 32mm. But it was not too bad, so I will probably just go that way tomorrow. When I have the studded tires mounted, I want to maximize their usefulness / justify their presence!

The couple miles I ride this AM were super comfy with 2.3″ tires.

[dkel]

@hozn 109320 wrote:

The jackhammering yesterday did make me think that the 40mm tires (or whatever the larger A10 tires measure) might be nicer vs the 32mm. But it was not too bad, so I will probably just go that way tomorrow. When I have the studded tires mounted, I want to maximize their usefulness / justify their presence!

The couple miles I ride this AM were super comfy with 2.3″ tires.

I had the pressure up a little on my 40mm studs because I rode streets to McLean yesterday on them. I almost stopped to lower the pressure, but then decided I would just go another way to get home, so I left them up near 60psi. They would have been nicer at about 40psi!

[hozn]

Yeah, my 32mm are at 60psi. My 2.3″ were at ~20psi!

[DismalScientist]

@worktheweb 109305 wrote:

Anyone else finding that things aren’t as cold as they seemed to be in the past?

It seems warmer now than in my childhood. Of course, I grew up in Wisconsin.:rolleyes:

[jrenaut]

I was later than usual because I met a DDOT rep from Safe Routes to School at my kids school so we could observe drop-off. It was enlightening. As I waited at the red light 7th and O NW to go left on 7th, a driver pulled up behind me. I put out my arm to let him know I was turning left. He gave me a short honk, which I ignored. He then pulled up next to me and rolled down the window.

“Let me ask you something. I’m in a car. You’re on a bike. Why don’t you just go?”
“It’s a red light.”
“Look. They just passed a law about weed. You think they give a [expletive deleted] about you [running the red light]?”

At this point the light had turned, so I laughed and told him to have a nice day. He said the same and drove off.

[Terpfan]

Cars were actually nice to me today giving me plenty of space and waving me through at stop-signs. I guess they recognize how much ice sucks. The downsides to my commute were my horrible decision to try the MVT, which resulted in me walking a mile in my bike shoes from the marina south of OT to the condo buildings. Then picking out the subsequent packed ice from my cleats. From there, the on-road adventures made it doable and really not too bad. Plus, I passed tons of backed up traffic on Mass Ave (dump truck broke down in the middle of the road) and that always makes me feel better about myself–ha, yes, the misery of others in their cars.

[notlost]

Rode 100 yards on the Custis and gave up. This was the first day that necessitated taking the roads over the trail. Roads weren’t too bad, so long as one stayed out of the bike lanes!

[Phatboing]

I learned today that 42×16 is shockingly tall (but surprisingly not deadly) gearing if you’re dragging 38/40mm studded tires around.

[Terpfan]

My bikes are locked in my shed behind my house that’s on my deck. Getting to it requires traversing steps or talking a walkway down to it. Both were glazed over pretty heavily. I tried, but I couldn’t even get 1/3 of the way to it and had to give up and drive instead.

Stupid ice. This winter is more annoyingly than one’s past (save maybe 2010 with all that snow) because nothing seems to ever melt. When it finally melts and i can take a combo of streets to work, then it ices over. Count me as ready for spring.

[Greenbelt]

Lots of activity in the DC bike lanes this morning!

Here some PEPCO workers enjoying tasty breakfast sandwiches from the Harris Teeter on M St between the Met Branch trail the 1st Street cycletrack.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]7975[/ATTACH]

Here a couple pickups with VA tags conferring on the PA Ave median bike lanes in front of the FBI
[ATTACH=CONFIG]7976[/ATTACH]

[mstone]

@Terpfan 109822 wrote:

This winter is more annoyingly than one’s past (save maybe 2010 with all that snow) because nothing seems to ever melt. When it finally melts and i can take a combo of streets to work, then it ices over. Count me as ready for spring.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/02/march-outlook-colder-and-snowier-than-normal-weather-favored/

[vern]

@Terpfan 109822 wrote:

My bikes are locked in my shed behind my house that’s on my deck. Getting to it requires traversing steps or talking a walkway down to it. Both were glazed over pretty heavily. I tried, but I couldn’t even get 1/3 of the way to it and had to give up and drive instead.

Stupid ice. This winter is more annoyingly than one’s past (save maybe 2010 with all that snow) because nothing seems to ever melt. When it finally melts and i can take a combo of streets to work, then it ices over. Count me as ready for spring.

Crampons…

[Author]

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