[Alcova cyclist]

I think I saw this somewhere waaay upthread, but what’s the general consensus on kids (of the teenaged sort) participating? My 15yo is starting to get into cycling, but since he doesn’t bike to school, he’d realistically be unlikely to ride more than a few times a week for 5-15 mile a go. Could we ask to be on the same team so we could try to do team rides together?

[Alcova cyclist]

I’m in too – it’ll be my first forum event since I seem to be unable to make any of the 57,000 coffee clubs despite my best intentions.

Looking forward to BAFS!

[Alcova cyclist]

I will admit to being initially confused by “cycletrack” as noob around here (though not really a noob to cycling). As someone mentioned upthread, “cycletrack” gave me a vision of a banked & looped facility with crazed MAMILs going flat out on carbon fiber road bikes. I did not sound to me like something I wanted to ride on — or could get me from A to B.

Now that I have all of ten or so posts to my name, I feel much more hip to lingo as the kids don’t say. Still, I guess the average person who’s not all that invested in cycling infrastructure would not likely have a good sense of what a cycletrack is just hearing the term — and those who might be in favor of a “protected bike lane” or “bikeway” might think a “cycletrack” sounds like a waste of money and space.

[Alcova cyclist]

I was torn about getting a helmet light (this thread was started by me: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?7726-Not-another-lighting-thread!!-This-time-it-s-helmet-mounts), but got the L&M 360 and first started using it about 10 days ago (paired with an old NightRider handlebar mount). I love it. The beam is steadier than a handlebar mount and points exactly where I want it with zero effort. I can see ahead on a dark trail with a sharp turn. The biggest benefit in my mind is that when I am on the road and a traffic ramp comes in from the side I can turn my head and have a reasonable expectation the driver will see me. Those types of intersections always scared me a bit at night because the car’s headlights aren’t pointing at me, and my lights weren’t pointing at them. Now they are.

As far as politeness, it’s much easier to turn my head slightly to keep the beam out of an approaching rider’s eyes than it is adjusting my handlebar mount. I am also able to keep my handlebar light pointed much lower since I am using the helmet light to scan ahead. I ride with it flashing on roads (including daytime) and steady on trails – low if possible, but sometimes I need the brighter light (still only 120 lumens)

FWIW, I got the 360 and not the 360+. The headlight is plenty bright for me (I think the “plus” has twice the lumens). The “plus” also lets you turn off the rear flasher separately from the headlight – not worth the extra $80 or so to me.

[Alcova cyclist]

@baiskeli 99353 wrote:

Most ridiculous car ad ever, and that’s saying alot. Audi drivers are pinnacles of virtue? Right. At least that ad acknowledges that luxury car drivers in general can be jerks. But it’s like those car ads that argue that a car can make a driver not care about traffic congestion. Car ads are the most transparently desperate ads there are.

Never said Audi drivers were pinnacles of virtue, just thought the ad was funny. Maybe there’s just fewer Audis on the road to be observed being jackasses. And the most ridiculous car ad ever is the one where the commuters jump a ramp and onto the top of a train to avoid being stuck in traffic (Actual disclaimer: “Fantasy. Do not attempt”)

As for BMWs… At some point, a given car develops a reputation, and often people who buy that type of car do so explicitly because that’s the persona they have or wish to project. When that reputation/persona is “entitled asshole who doesn’t give a s*** what anyone else thinks” it isn’t surprising to see drivers of that particular vehicle acting like entitled assholes who don’t give a s*** what anyone else thinks. Which in turn leads to jokes like this:

Q: What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?
A: The porcupine has the pricks on the outside.

Or maybe I just have a chip on my shoulder about BMWs.

[Alcova cyclist]

For aggressiveness and general douchebaggery, it’s the Mercedes/BMW crowd. (There’s actually a great Audi commercial that plays on this)

For cluelessness, I find Subaru Foresters to be far worse than Priuses (Prii?).

[Alcova cyclist]

I think there’s a very natural human instinct –particularly when stuck in a queue/traffic jam– to react negatively to people who seem to be gaming the system to get ahead of everyone else. You see this car vs car at every merge, lane closure, exit-only lane, etc. (I know the closest I’ve gotten to road rage incidents while driving has been directed at the jackasses who cruise down the Washington Blvd exit only lane on 66W and then try to merge back into traffic). While it doesn’t make objective sense, I think this drives a significant part of the aggression directed at cyclists in city/commuter traffic. “That smug SOB is just cruising down the side of the road, then through the cross-walk, then scoots through the stop sign that I have to stop at…. while I have to sit here waiting. If bikes really want to be treated like vehicles, then they should be stuck here in this jam with the rest of us.”

[Alcova cyclist]

@dasgeh 98485 wrote:

Some ladies on the Women & Bicycles FB group were reporting that they could bike through the Wright Gate past 6pm without a military ID.

That doesn’t particularly surprise me – I supposed it’s really more visitor motor vehicles they prohibit since I think they have to search them and I guess after 6pm they close down the vehicle inspection point that’s just inside the gate. I use a mil ID when I bike through there, so while I’ve been through the gate after 6pm, my experience doesn’t shed any light for those without a mil ID.

Chris

[Alcova cyclist]

@chris_s 98281 wrote:

Southgate Road >> Ft Meyer >> 2nd street and then taking the neighborhood streets down to the W&OD is far, far, far, far superior if you don’t mind the security checkpoint.

I wrote a long reply, but then realized it was just a wordy way of saying exactly what chris_s said.

FWIW, so far I’ve had no trouble at any of the Myer gates w/ a Fed or military ID. The two gates on this route (Gate 1 and Hatfield) are open 24/7. Wright Gate (the one you take to go around to the north side of the cemetery) is open 5 am to 6pm for visitors and till 11pm for military.

Some useful links:
Ft Myer/Henderson Hall map: http://www.jbmhh.army.mil/web/jbmhh/JBMHH%20Maps%20&%20Directions/myermapMAR14.pdf
Ft Myer/HH access info: http://www.jbmhh.army.mil/web/jbmhh/JBMHH%20Maps%20&%20Directions/JBMHHMapsDirections.html

[Alcova cyclist]

I think a large part of the perception divide is that so few drivers cycle at all. Cyclists are absolutely “other.” Many drivers just can’t imagine themselves being cyclists and so don’t spend a lot of energy thinking about how cyclists see things or how drivers’ individual and group actions negatively impact cyclists. Sadly, I think empathy dissolves pretty quickly when someone can’t imagine ever being under the circumstances of the “other.”

I also think jrenaut is spot-on that many drivers actually understand the environmental and personal impact of driving so much in SOVs but don’t have better choices. People get defensive about this sort of thing and are instantly put off by others ostentatiously claiming the moral high ground — terms like the “moral weightlessness of cyclists” reinforce the image of the cyclist as that smug, self-satisfied jerk who reminds you of where you are lacking.

There also seems to be a bizarre (to me anyway) political aspect to cyclist-driver debates. As the left-right divide seems to grow more rancorous each year, even issues that seem non-partisan become polarized through the left-right lens. Since cycling in general, and cycle commuting in particular, is viewed as something people concerned about the environment do, it’s perceived as a “lefty” activity, and therefore fair game for abuse/trolling/invective from the RW fringe.

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