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Indeed, you will.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m45frpO8qD1qb57azo1_250.jpg

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I kept forgetting to pull out my camera and wish I had more to show, but here are some:
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Eminva masquerading as Lance’s doctor, she has his test results in her pocket.

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Arlingtonrider with her parrot

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Unknown Blue Man, really fun to watch in the bike pit, a great and enthusiastic rider
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Lining up for the parade

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A view of the bike pit

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Huh. Funny thing is Liz and I were JOKING about posting this. At least I thought we were joking.
I ended up riding back because:
1. The Metro ride in had been *interesting*
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2. I avoided making dinner.
3. How could I pass up the chance to ride home uphill in heels, tights, and a tutu? Who needs water? Water is for the weak.
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4. Next year when Liz and I pull out of Vienna on our way to Tour De Fat, I hope more people will come along in costume for the fun/spectacle/hilarity of it.
5. I found my first recruit.
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Hey Tim! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a real friend instead of an imaginary one?

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Become friends of course.
Isn’t is wonderful to find someone who can match your abilities?
I am so happy for you.
Embrace this person.

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Truth and honesty first. I finally had my bike fitted by Clovis and it made a world of difference.

BUT—

I don’t want people reading this thread to think their bike must fit perfectly or forget about riding. That’s not true at all. Certainly if you commute to work, get your bike fitted, that’s just commonsense. If you’re spending an hour or more going back and forth to work, you deserve a ride that doesn’t hurt.

There’s a difference between a ridable bike and a custom fit. You’ll know when you need your bike tweaked just so because you’ll have an appreciation for an excellent ride. That appreciation develops over hours and hours spent in the saddle. And it is just fine to have a bike that’s safe and in good working order that is not a perfect fit, but rides without major problems.

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This tragedy continues to weigh heavily on me because there are no easy lessons, there is no group to demonize.
We could all call it a day, hunker down in our backyards and never venture off the block. It would be safer.
But pulling weeds and trimming shrubs are activities I try to avoid because I’d rather ride my bike, run on the trails, swim in…oh never mind.
So we go out into the world knowing it’s risky out there.

There are steps we can take to lessen our own risk. We can take the Confident City Biking Classes or other Bike Safety classes. We can invest in bells. We can call out our passes. As runners, joggers, stroller pushers and dog walkers we can stay on the right, not make sudden turns, wear reflective clothing, and be careful with electronic devices.

But despite our best efforts, there is always going to be risk.

In part it comes down to how much speed are you willing to sacrifice? And if you’re not willing to cut your speed back in tight passes where getting around is like threading a needle, why not? Isn’t this the same behavior we detest among impatient drivers who buzz by our left shoulders because our bikes are slowing them down?

Mr. Blacknell wrote a column this week that was well done and well thought out and I wish I could steal it.
http://clarendon.patch.com/articles/sharing-our-trails-revisited

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Rather than contaminate yet another sport, this needs to stop now. He needs to clear himself before taking on the triathlon world.

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Different needs require different solutions.

Whether dedicated bike infrastructure is necessary comes down to several things: the importance of the road as a major throughway, the posted speed limit, and available alternatives.

When I plan out a route I look for the one with the least risk. And sometimes I purposely stay off the MUTs. The longer I ride, the more dangerous they seem. Out in traffic I have a certain level of expectation about what the cars around me are going to do. On a MUT who knows what the little kid learning to ride his two-wheeler is going to do, or the lady with the ten yard leash on her dog, or the joggers moving along three abreast. For me, the MUTs are a real crap shoot this time of year.

But for many people, it’s either the MUT or nothing and I understand that. The MUT is a great place to start, a wonderful place to ride for recreation and I don’t mean at 25 mph leaning on aerobars. It’s a good place to get away from the urban landscape and look at trees, creeks and assorted green stuff (besides what grows in my refrigerator).

On busy thoroughfares where the posted speed limit is over 35 mph, I’d like some physical separation between me and the cars that amounts to something more than paint.

On roads with posted speeds of 35 mph or less, I prefer sharrows over the “Share the Road” or “Bicycle Can Take the Full Lane” signs. As a driver I tune out signs like those while sharrows are harder to ignore. When I ride on sharrows I believe the cars have an immediate visual clue that running me off the road might be a bad idea.

I am a big supporter of road diets where bike lanes are added and the car lanes are narrowed. The car speed comes down significantly and I feel safer on the bike lanes as a consequence.

My commute out here in Fairfax County involves an MUT, residential streets, main thoroughfares, and a bit of sharrows. I would appreciate a separate bike path that runs parallel to Fairfax Blvd but I don’t see that coming anytime soon.

But all of this aside, the more people ride the more accidents we are going to have regardless of the infrastructure. It’s just a matter of numbers. No matter what type of road I’m on the best defense is to scan and anticipate what’s happening around me.

ann

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Because I have a recurring fantasy of waking up to the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen and because I know bikes work better when their engines are well fed, two copies of The Feed Zone will be given away at FABB’s Happy Hour @ The Coyote Grille & Cantina. The Feed Zone has simple recipes developed with professional cyclists in mind. Even if you can’t ride like a pro, you can eat like one.
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Elsewhere on this site the topic of bells has come up. There will be four bells, the nice ones Mark wrote about, given away.
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Oh for heaven’s sake, I drive to bike events all the time and besides Tim Kelley teasing me, I don’t care. There’s plenty of parking for cars at the Coyote Grille because that’s the way it is out here in the suburbs.

The wonderful part about the bike and cycling community is there is room for everyone. And I mean everyone. Bikes don’t care about your age or gender or color. They don’t care if you rode ten miles this week or three hundred. We all ride on the same streets. We all live in this community. Everyone is welcome at a bike happy hour even if and especially if you don’t say the word bike once the entire evening.

ann

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This is a great idea. I will bring it up at the next FABB meeting as well.
ann

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I worked with Bikes for the World last Friday loading bikes onto a container truck for transport to Costa Rica. This shipment is scheduled for delivery to a rural area where people will have the opportunity to purchase a bike with a micro loan.

Right now the former prison gym in Lorton is filled with donated bikes awaiting processing and loading. Have you ever seen 4,000+ bikes in one place?
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It took a group of six of us about 4 hours to come close to loading approximately 400 bikes.
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This shows the second row about halfway finished.
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This is the sixth and seventh row.

And sometimes you find the oddest things.
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Bikes of the World is looking for volunteers on Friday and Saturday mornings to work in Lorton loading bikes and doing some processing.
http://www.bikesfortheworld.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=1

It’s hard, dirty work. And that’s why I like it.

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There are also three weeks of mountain biking camps offered at Wakefield Audrey Moore Recreation Center for children ages 8-14.

First Session: 6/25-6/29 12:30-4:00 pm
Second Session: 7/09-7/13 12:30-4:00 pm
Third Session: 7/23-7/27 12:30-4:00 pm

Each session costs $219

For more information see Fairfax County Parktakes http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks

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As always you are kind and gracious. Thank you very much.
The Coyote Grille is definitely a popular place with an enormous patio area and plenty of room for bikes. I was over there on Friday to look at it.

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