"My ride would be better if"

[KelOnWheels]

@acc 20810 wrote:

Go ahead and shift into whatever gear it takes to get yourself up that hill.

I don’t think I have that gear. I looked.

(I just need to keep reminding myself I’ve gone from riding 0 miles a year to riding 20 miles in a day, I can’t expect to have secret stores of extra leg power to call on to get me up hills yet. Especially not after fighting that wind yesterday – I couldn’t even get up off the saddle to mash the pedals going up The Hill of Doom. And after battling up that, I was DONE. Slight inclines were mocking me. )

[vvill]

@Subby 20619 wrote:

McLean is pretty bad for bike commuting. Unless you have direct access to Westmoreland (which has nice bike lanes), you are putting yourself in serious danger every time you bike commute.

I come home on Old Glebe to Kirby and both have sections with about as much shoulder as 123 coming up from the river does. It is very scary.

Old Dominion would be a great commuting option, but it also has little to no shoulder or sidewalk and during rush hour I would get pancaked.

So, luckily, I have access to Westmoreland. But going the same way each way every day gets boring – and it takes me about 2 milles out of the way.

Anyway. its all much better (just not safer) than driving.

Agreed. McLean sucks for cycling. The police don’t care either and they give the old favourite response of “cycling is getting more dangerous around here”, even though I’m pretty sure there are more and more cyclists and more bike lanes/sharrows.

Actually even Westmoreland isn’t the safest, especially south of Haycock towards the W&OD. At that point it has some serious potholes, no sharrows or bike lanes, and even north of Haycock there’s the middle school which means lots of impatient parent drivers, and school buses. I almost got left hooked there about a week ago (I had to brake suddenly). Some mornings I’ll actually take the sidewalk there.

If you’re worried about boredom and don’t mind hills, there are backstreet routes southwest of Old Dominion you can take (e.g. Valley Wood / Williamsburg / George Mason). Although I’ve almost been left hooked getting from there to the Custis as well (going downhill on Yorktown – where there is a bike lane but the paint has almost completely faded, and also going downhill on Lee Hwy where there is a clearly marked bike lane). Both times I had to brake suddenly enough that my rear tire came off the pavement; both times the driver sped past me on the left to turn right into a sidestreet in front of me, forcing me to react or crash.

I’m planning to experiment with a new route in June that takes me through the backstreets east of Westmoreland… Google Street View seems to indicate an option that’ll maybe be safer. I’ve had enough close calls that I’m now willing to take backstreets to the W&OD, even though a more direct commute via Old Dominion/Custis can get me to my office in under 9 miles (which I do on Friday mornings occasionally). Taking the W&OD makes my commute closer to 12 miles.

The McLean BTWD convoy used to go Kirby > Chesterbrook > Albemarle > N Glebe (120) > Old Dominion (309) > Lee Hwy > Quincy and then Custis to Roosevelt Bridge. That’s not too bad but if I was going to deal with Chesterbrook and climb Albemarle I’d rather go left on N Glebe and go up Old Glebe and cross Chain Bridge to go to the CCT.

[creadinger]

Aside from the ubiquitous glass, the only part of my commute that I am growing to despise is the crazy intersection of Pennsylvania Ave with 295 in Southeast. The pedestrian infrastructure there is old and there aren’t any curb cuts for wheeled vehicles. Then there’s the traffic. All the drivers get a bit angry because of the daily backups.

I also wish the Douglass Bridge sidewalks were wider and it was easier to cross Minnesota Ave at Randle Circle heading east.

[Dirt]

I wish my ride route was lined with almost naked men and women running and walking. D’OH! It already is. Nevermind.

[Certifried]

My ride would be better… if us FWC didn’t get bashed so much

:p I follow all the rules, signs, ring my ding-a-ling, etc. I’m just too scared of thunder-n-lightning to ride in bad weather!

[KLizotte]

@Certifried 20976 wrote:

My ride would be better… if us FWC didn’t get bashed so much

:p I follow all the rules, signs, ring my ding-a-ling, etc. I’m just too scared of thunder-n-lightning to ride in bad weather!

Don’t listen to the crazy ones. Every group has them.

Now if you start going over to the dark side…..

Of course the car commuters think we’re all crazy…..

[mrkenny83]

@Dirt 20863 wrote:

I wish my ride route was lined with almost naked men and women running and walking. D’OH! It already is. Nevermind.

W&OD is THE place for this.

[Certifried]

@KLizotte 20979 wrote:

Don’t listen to the crazy ones. Every group has them.

Now if you start going over to the dark side…..

Of course the car commuters think we’re all crazy…..

actually, I’m just about to post a request for a list of essentials for commuting in all-weather I’m doing my due diligence first and searching for one, haven’t found it yet. So, I am planning on going to the dark side, if by that you mean riding in all weather. If you mean dark side as in “bash everyone”, no, I won’t do that (well, ok I will, but only the ones who blatantly violate all the laws!)

[KLizotte]

@Certifried 20981 wrote:

actually, I’m just about to post a request for a list of essentials for commuting in all-weather I’m doing my due diligence first and searching for one, haven’t found it yet. So, I am planning on going to the dark side, if by that you mean riding in all weather. If you mean dark side as in “bash everyone”, no, I won’t do that (well, ok I will, but only the ones who blatantly violate all the laws!)

I meant the folks who bike in all types of weather, stormy or otherwise. Lightning scares me so I hide indoors.

Other than Moose Mitts, a helmet rain cover, winter riding tights, winter riding gloves, and a winter cycling jacket I haven’t needed any specialized clothing beyond every day jerseys, bike shorts, and windbreaker to pedal year round. Anything else I might need I’ve dug out of “civilian” clothing.

I did break down and buy an IKEA bureau to store all of my cycling, gym, and swim clothes though. Makes getting out of the house much faster having everything in one place.

[consularrider]

@KLizotte 20982 wrote:

I meant the folks who bike in all types of weather, stormy or otherwise. Lightning scares me so I hide indoors…

Tomorrow afternoon’s commute may be a wash out with severe weather according to the Washington Post.

[rcannon100]

Now if you start going over to the dark side…..

Resistance is futile.

Essential equipment? Weather radar! Shoot the gaps in the storms! (look like the good employee working extra hours, earning credit hours, all while waiting for that red line of clouds to cross over the potomac)

Like that IKEA idea. I spend way too much time in the morning fussing. Need to figur out some way of getting out the door fast (without checking the tires, oiling the chain, deciding which glasses to wear, putting on the right shoes, checking to see if there is water in the bottle, packing the bag, adjusting the seat height, adjusting the shoe clear…..)

[rcannon100]

@consularrider 20983 wrote:

Tomorrow afternoon’s commute may be a wash out with severe weather according to the Washington Post.

Not for someone with 1473 points! :rolleyes:

[Certifried]

@KLizotte 20982 wrote:

Lightning scares me so I hide indoors.

hah! I’m seriously scared shitless of lightning! I was in the Army for 10 years, handled all kinds of weapons that go boom, but I see even 1 little tiny flash of lightning and I am sprinting for indoors!

[dasgeh]

@KLizotte 20982 wrote:

I did break down and buy an IKEA bureau though to store all of my cycling, gym, and swim clothes though. Makes getting out of the house much faster having everything in one place.

We have an Elfa drawer thingy in the closet. It’s great because you can get a mix of shallow a deep drawers (and order them however you want), and you can get mesh, which is easy to see through.

[MV Clyde]

@Dirt 20587 wrote:

That would be soooooooo awesome! We were talking about the number of vacant buildings in Crystal City. I might buy one of those, build a ramp and switchbacks between floors and get some vert there. Just detour the MVT into one end of the building and then out the other end. Maybe I’ll buy more than one.

Oh yeah!! I’d hit this climb at the end of my commute. I’d like to start my afternoon commute from the top. Maybe put a locker room and showers up there.

[Author]

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