[83b]

@NickBull 108661 wrote:

And … just to reply to the dislike from 83(b). Somehow, I just don’t find it particularly bothersome to know that some anonymous person who hasn’t enough courage to use their own name doesn’t like my post

My name is Ryan. I’m a tax lawyer who lives on Lincoln Park in Capitol Hill. My wife and I keep a Little Free Library out front for the neighbors. In ’07 I replaced my car with an electric cargo bike and I ride it all over town, typically in a suit and tie.^[1] Occasionally I ride it on the local trails, since they’re really the only way to, for example, get from DC to my dentist in Crystal City. You’re welcome to view my Strava profile and judge for yourself if I ride like a jerk. I just got back from a business trip worthy of a Homeric epic, and I sorely missed my bikes and the chance to unwind on my commute. I’m a Virgo, can’t dance to save my life, and suffer from crippling self-doubt that I’m just faking my way through being an “adult.”

To elaborate on my earlier “dislike,” I disagree with your assertion that any electric vehicle with two wheels and a motor is a “motorcycle.” I didn’t see any point in wading into a debate with you though. Ebikes aren’t going away because you don’t like them. And blanket hate for anyone who rides one doesn’t help regarding how best to educate/shame novices/jerks or deal with people who want to build highly-powered setups at home. But you felt threatened by someone and wanted to vent a little online. That’s something I’ve certainly taken to this very forum to do. And I’ve even been a jerk about it a time or two.

^[1] And I don’t believe that I fit the profile of a novice cyclist. I was a shop mechanic for DC-based BikesUSA from age 14 through college and I built my current ebike myself.

[83b]

@scoot 108012 wrote:

Too easy: get rid of it. Yesterday.

This is perhaps the worst of all special-interest preferential tax treatments. Remind me why our society should be encouraging irresponsible debt, inflating real estate bubbles, etc.?

Except the value of the tax preference is already impounded into the price of all of our homes. As someone who recently purchased their first house, I’d be quite cranky to see it’s value fall now by that amount.

Transition issues are always a huge problem in designing tax policy. For example, I’d like to see a national consumption tax enacted to pay for all of our entitlement programs. But that would be a huge whack to the Boomers who had, until I came to power, been paying into the system via income taxes. They’ll now continue to pay into the system in retirement as well (since you generally stop earning substantial income, but continue or even increase consumption, in retirement).

[83b]

I’d be much more willing to side with the “No Trespassing” crowd if drivers weren’t allowed to park illegally en masse all over our neighborhoods every Sunday. Including in bike lanes and, outrageously, blocking crosswalks and curb cuts in front of my wheelchair-bound neighbor’s house. For now, put me on Team No One.

Also, a tax policy argument! Now my favorite procrastination website reads just like my work emails! With respect to the property tax exemption issue, the very second DC’s voter base flips I’m going to float my proposal to (a) eliminate the property tax exemption for churches and (b) grant an offsetting tax deduction/credit from your DC taxes for contributions to a qualified DC religious organization. Then DC’s citizens can stop subsidizing churches patronized principally by nonresidents, which near me are pretty terrible neighbors.

[83b]

Got the little jerk. Though the juvenile justice system in DC is a travesty, so I fully expect he’ll be out and ready to re-offend in literally no time.

[83b]

You: Well-dressed woman *sprinting in heels* from the Covington & Burling building mid-block across Penn Ave and stopping dead in the middle of the westbound bike lane without so much as a glance in my direction.
Oncoming cyclist: Sees emerging conflict, edges over to outside of eastbound lane.
Me: Lays hard on the brakes and narrowly averts disaster by crowding oncoming cyclist.

I should have laid her out. I was wearing a helmet and it was very likely the only chance I’ll ever have to own a Law Firm Partner-sized house in Chevy Chase without having to get hit by a luxury vehicle.

[83b]

I’ve had those MUSA shoe covers for a couple of seasons now. They’re great! I finally stopped killing two sets of (cheap) dress shoes a year!

[83b]

@vvill 101199 wrote:

Yeah. Dayyyyuum.

Yea, that post needs to just mosey on over into the “Covet” thread.

[83b]

Thank you for the pictures. I appropriated them to respond to an aggrieved driver on Twitter. Arlington apparently did show up to ticket every car on the block.

That guys cropping job on his pictures while saying there is “no guidance” on the new parking pattern is the most disingenuous thing I’ve seen in awhile.

[83b]

My spouse seems quite pleased that she can now track me via my iPhone when I’m riding. For commutes she looks at Find My Friends to see where I am and can estimate my time of arrival pretty well. For longer weekend rides she can see when I’ve turned back toward home and can still come up with a pretty good estimate of when to expect me. When I don’t ride with a group, it seems to offer some psychic benefit that makes her less nervous about me going off alone for an indeterminate amount of time for a moderately risky activity.

If folks haven’t tried it, the app comes bundled with your iPhone and is pretty easy to set up. It does require both parties to be on apple devices though.

[83b]

I drove the 23rd St to 15th St stretch of Eads this weekend and it was terrifying without the lane markings. I can’t imagine trying to bike through there right now.

[83b]

@Arlingtonrider 100372 wrote:

How is the car and bike parking at those places? We used Baileys once but I read that it had closed and that the new owners had eliminated the separate room. Does anyone know?

I think Dasgeh’s right re: the underground decks in Crystal City being free and open after 6:00. And bike parking along Crystal Drive is easy. Parking near 23rd street for the Sports Pub means meandering a bit through the neighborhood for an on-street spot, but it’s not usually very hard. There’s also an easily accessible paid lot right behind the Pub. The sidewalks are a bit narrow though, so bikes would probably be best off parked at the meters along 22nd or thereabouts. Still pretty easy all around.

Re: Bailey’s. I moved out of the neighborhood two years ago, so I’m not sure what the deal is there. Decent beer selection aside, I never really cared for them since they have some exception to allow indoor smoking. I’d only ever go there if I knew what I was wearing needed dry-cleaning!

[83b]

@dasgeh 100366 wrote:

Might be worth asking the Crystal City BID. They can be super helpful and have connections in their community. Plus, Crystal City is a bit more central…

The Crystal City Sports Pub has several large rooms that they open to groups. And I recall that the BW3 and Bailey’s also will reserve areas for larger groups.

[83b]

I always keep a full set of rain gear in my saddlebag. In addition to keeping me from getting caught out in a storm, it has saved me on more than one occasion when the temperature dropped suddenly.

The jacket is my favorite part; it’s a Marmot Speedlight.¹ The Gore-Tex is, as you’d expect, great for keeping you dry and ventilated. But the jacket’s hood is what really makes it stand apart from the other outdoor companies’ offerings. It’s roomy enough to accommodate a helmet, has a super useful wide wire brim, and great draw-cords to keep everything snug whether over a helmet or bareheaded.

The rain gear just goes on over my regular work clothes and gets hung on my doors hook once I get in. It’s always dried and ready to go by the time I’m headed home.

Also, I used to chew through at least a pair of dress shoes a year. Then I got a set of Rivendell’s MUSA Splats and my shoes last for MUCH longer. I’m still on the same pair I had during all the unpleasantness last winter! (The thing about riding in a suit and tie is that there are two sides to every coin. On the rainy days you transform from Dapper Biker Guy into Weirdo in Baggy Nylon Cocoon.)

¹Gracious, I just looked it up and it appears that Marmot jacked the price up on this jacket around 2013 when the latest Gore ProShell fabric launched. It used to be the best bargain you could find that used the more durable Gore-Tex. It may not be a bargain anymore, but it’s the jacket that travels with me pretty much everywhere and has proven as good hiking in the summer as it has skiing with a gross winter-mix pouring down. If it ever wears out I’ll be biting the bullet and getting another.

[83b]

@wheels&wings 99614 wrote:

I see that some of us list pick-up trucks among our scariest vehicles. On-the-whole, I’ve found pick-up drivers to be patient and good-natured.

Pickups in and around DC I’ve found to be cool dudes. Pickups back in rural & suburban NC I’ve found to be THE WORST.

[83b]

@hozn 99508 wrote:

I assume you considered the …Surly Straggler,…

I didn’t know the Straggler dropouts could accommodate a belt. That is very interesting information, thank you!

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