My Morning Commute

[Tim Kelley]

@jrenaut 63200 wrote:

I’ve been thinking about that – it would be a fun game to take bikes from the Hains Point CaBi station and race them around the point. It’s about five miles, you could certainly do it in 30 minutes.

There’s been talk of a CB HP TT for a couple years!!

[MattAune]

@Tim Kelley 63219 wrote:

There’s been talk of a CB HP TT for a couple years!!

This needs to happen. I will totally show up in a skinsuit and aero helmet.

[vvill]

Why a TT? It’d be more fun having people in a paceline on CaBis (passing others).

[consularrider]

@vvill 63223 wrote:

Why a TT? It’d be more fun having people in a paceline on CaBis (passing others).

Where’s your DC metro area spirit of “I’m only in this for me!”? … work together, no way!

[consularrider]

… was great! Reasonable temperture, low humidity, and best of all, I got to bike commute part way with my wife for the first time in three years!

[OneEighth]

Would noon or afternoon on a Friday work for most folks? Warm-up lap in a pace line followed by individual starts with 20″ between. Cycling attire left to the participants’ discretion.

[jrenaut]

@OneEighth 63231 wrote:

Would noon or afternoon on a Friday work for most folks? Warm-up lap in a pace line followed by individual starts with 20″ between. Cycling attire left to the participants’ discretion.

I made a new thread.

[Dickie]

After a great FCCII with a record turn out, and JimK not seeing me again I finally stopped to meet the work-out man on the W&OD next to Railroad Ave. I am sure you have all spotted him “working out”, and “Lady Watching” next to his 86′ Monte Carlo. Turns out his name is JJ, a 70 yr. old ex-boxer/trainer. Lots of colorful stories, some questionable, but still a nice guy. It just felt wrong passing him every day and not saying “Hi”. I look forward to hearing him yell “Dickie” from now on!

[ronwalf]

Beautiful morning.

After dropping off the kid at school, I stopped top help a guy with his flat. I carry many tools on my bike, but a breaker bar isn’t one of them, so we stood around looking forlorn for a minute or two.

Then I got into work, and noticed my VO saddle was a little wonky.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3643[/ATTACH]
Turns out the tension bolt sheared off somewhere. Argh. That saddle took 500 miles to break in. I don’t want to start again!

[americancyclo]

The PA bike lanes were totally crazy this morning

http://www.dancersamongus.com/

[hozn]

@Dickie 63345 wrote:

After a great FCCII with a record turn out, and JimK not seeing me again I finally stopped to meet the work-out man on the W&OD next to Railroad Ave. I am sure you have all spotted him “working out”, and “Lady Watching” next to his 86′ Monte Carlo. Turns out his name is JJ, a 70 yr. old ex-boxer/trainer. Lots of colorful stories, some questionable, but still a nice guy. It just felt wrong passing him every day and not saying “Hi”. I look forward to hearing him yell “Dickie” from now on!

Thanks for taking the time to stop; I have been wondering about his story for ages now but just never got found the wherewithal to stop myself. That is awesome — I wondered about the shadow boxing. Awesome.

[JimK]

Dickie: I was deep in thought when I rode by you, a rarity for me. You relieved me of that burden when you said hello. Thanks for the info about JJ. I see him almost everyday but never stopped to talk.

[consularrider]

@americancyclo 63365 wrote:

The PA bike lanes were totally crazy this morning

http://www.dancersamongus.com/

There was a little wind, but really?

[CPTJohnC]

Not exactly a commuting post, but close enough I think: After riding a century on Saturday, I wasn’t really in the mood to ride all the way to and from work this morning, and I couldn’t work out my logistics for any ‘partial’ bike commutes, so I drove and used Metro to get to work.

But then I wound up running late for a meeting at our main office, which had me scrambling for a quick way to go a little over a mile. Enter my first ride on CaBi.

My personal scoring:

Convenience: 8.5 — a station at the end of my block, and another on the plaza at the HQ bldg meant quick transitions, and about the best I could hope for in terms of minimizing travel by other means (walking). The only reason it isn’t a 10 is I started perusing the maps and there are some holes I need them to fill for ~my~ personal convenience.

Comfort: 7 — which rose from a 5.5 when I figured out the seat adjustment. I’m not really cut out for the sit up and beg riding position. I think if I were a more relaxed rider, I could enjoy it, but… I prefer to be bent over. This more or less solves another dilemma for me: I suspect I’d be equally turned off by riding a Harley or other cruiser. I can now ‘officially’ limit my window shopping to sport, sport tourer and sporty standard bikes.

Simplicity: 8 — the only challenge was it took me almost 2 minutes to figure out that one enters the 5 digit code using the almost invisible number buttons next to each bike. Almost too subtle. Other than that? It couldn’t be easier.

Style: 4 –Not really the bike’s fault, but I think I looked faintly ridiculous, as my slacks-and-tie wearing self, with my messenger bag, tried to remember how to ride a bike that has platform pedals.

Rideability: 6 — They will never replace my bikes. Slow, heavy and sluggish doesn’t really match my personal riding profile. Also: I had a hard time remembering to stop with opposite foot up (or remembering to pull the pedals around) I’ve been riding clipless or clips/straps way too long. Top gear is way too short! I would ‘seat-of-the-pants’ it somewhere around my middle ring and 2d or 3d cog–I spun out way too soon. The super simple grip shifters sort of confuse me – I went the ‘wrong way’ a few times– probably in my vain hope for some taller gearing.

Overall: 7 — I’m really thinking about doing the ‘daily key’ thing, and see how it goes. I suspect, though, if I had the membership, I’d find ways to use it. Getting my ride out of the garage, and having to change into cycling shoes can be a bit of a deterrent to riding to do errands during the day. CaBi would solve that. So far, the main thing holding me back is that there’s no station at Ft. Totten, which is where I park when I drive. I suppose I could find another place to park…

[ebubar]

Good and bad commute today. Bad = bike not shifting right. I’m wondering if the chain and cassette are possibly worn after 2000 miles for the year. Definitely need to get that checked out.

Good = lots of responsible cyclists on the CCT. While it slowed me down to be in a long line of riders that I couldn’t safely pass with all the traffic on the trail, pretty everyone in the line had a bell and rang for all the people we were passing. Combine all those bells and it must have sounded like an ice cream truck was cruising down the trail! Hmmm…ice cream bike on trails during commute times…

[Author]

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