[anomad]

Snowmachine trails make good fat bike riding if the snow isn’t too soft. Dog sled trails are the best. I haven’t found a lot of either around the DC metro area for some reason? My fat bike has been idle since I have been here except for a couple mountain bike trails.

[anomad]

Looks like a strong turn out this year. I am on page two of the honor boards as of today, that’s fun.

[anomad]

Stating the obvious doesn’t usually piss people off, I think you’re on safe ground. Spam is annoying.

There was a good rant, er discussion, about the spam recently if you want to check it out: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?12398-Why-Do-Spammers-Like-This-Forum-So-Much

[anomad]

I pulled 15k. No unusual aches or pains, which is good. Over the summer I was rowing on my telework day pretty regularly. Hopefully that will benefit me this year.

[anomad]

@jctonett 168545 wrote:

I don’t mind being hijacked…

I’m sometimes just happy some other riders will talk to me… to @huskerdont’s point.

Other riders talk to me all the time. Usually “passing” or “on your left”… But every once in a while a brave rider will say good morning or have a good ride.

[anomad]

@huskerdont 168513 wrote:

Weather? Personalities? Drivers? Do tell.

Not to hijack jctonett’s intro thread… but I lived in a rural part of Nevada (much different than Vegas) and I have lived all over the place.

My first week or two here I went to the grocery store. The woman parked next to me at the bike rack had a problem with her brakes rubbing. I got out my tools and fixed her bike. She said, “wow, you’re really friendly and helpful, you must not be from around here”. I think that sums it up pretty well.

[anomad]

I moved here from Nevada too. I’m still in shock almost 2 years in.

[anomad]

@accordioneur 168330 wrote:

It’s not a question of being physically able to do it. It’s a question of finding time in the day. And gina, the donation only kicks in once you hit the 100k. From the Concept2 web site: “For every person who does at least 100k during the challenge (50k for adaptive athletes or athletes aged 16 or under), Concept2 will donate $.02 per kilometer (1000 meters)”

P.S. It is sad that they have to clarify that a kilometer is 1000 meters.

Gotcha. Time is premium!

[anomad]

@ginacico 168328 wrote:

Me neither, but for myriad reasons I really need to do some time on an erg. As I read the rules, there doesn’t appear to be any downside to falling short of the goal (they’ll donate $.02/km until you reach 100k, then it goes up to $.04). Am I reading that right anomad?

Their 2017 charities are all particularly noble causes, IMO, so I’d be glad to use the challenge as motivation and contribute whatever I can.

Correct. You can choose the distance the suits your preference. In the early years of the challenge they offered free t-shirts to those who participated. Then they said, “hey everyone has more than enough t-shirts” and made it into a charitable effort. I usually let them decide which charity to pick.

accordioneur, you can do it! Just dial back to an endurance pace, just like on the bike. My personal best on record was 500k a few years ago. It kicked my butt into shape. Even so, I wasn’t anywhere close to the top of the leader boards. I took a whole week off work just to row my pants off that year. Last year with riding to work I still managed 10k a day. Weekends were easy, but after a 12 mile rainy cold dark ride home, an hour on the erg takes just about all I can muster.

This year I am taking a few days off after thanksgiving and having a shorter commute so 10k a day will be completely doable.

[anomad]

Light and motion went above and beyond for customer service. They sent me a 150 Dollar gift certificate and free shipping, even though I sent them my receipt showing I paid well under that for the light.

I’m thoroughly impressed.

[anomad]

@streetsmarts 167718 wrote:

RE whether I have a master link: how would one know this? would one … ask, when the bike shop puts on a new chain? (learning…learning)

Look at what is stamped on your chain, Shimano? Kmc? Sram? If it’s not Shimano there’s a solid chance you have a link that can be removed without tools. It’ll look different than all the other links. Removing and installing a chain is a good skill that you can learn at home with a chain tool and/or knowing how a quick link works. Figure out what you have and spend an hour with it. I’m not in Alexandria for the time being or I’d offer to swing by and help un#uck your chain and give you a few pointers.

Removing the crank (as suggested) or removing the chain are the best options for serious chain suck. Learning to shift comes with experience and will almost eliminate those issues. But even us old guys screw up once in a while. I did it this summer dropping into my triple and shifting in anger. When mountain bike triple groups were fairly new to the scene it happened all the time.

I dig the park tool videos if you have some time to spend on YouTube.

[anomad]

I would have yes or no questions like “Are eBikes cool?”

That would keep out a ton of spam.

[anomad]

I agree with you on the round beam shape. Shining the light up in the air just annoys others. Not really an issue with helmet mount.
I might try one of the Raveman brand lights that uses lenses like the special ed light. http://a.co/cBDu3E1

The vis360+ switch was what broke last night. Pretty sure they’ll replace it, but of course I took it apart. The rubber nub on the headlamp sticks down in the housing to a tiny chip board. The switch tab broke right off the rest of the board. The cord from the front to rear light is a point of weakness too. But it hasn’t failed yet and it’s something I could fix myself if it did. Overall I really like both lights on the helmet, just grab and go and supplement if you need more lights.

[anomad]

@ursus 167443 wrote:

I am on my second Light and Motion light. The first died after about four years.

Four years is good. I could be happy with that. The urban went after two or three years and the vis360+ died today after less than a year. The Taz lights are all still good.

One is none if you’re depending on your lights. When I was doing field work at night I carried 3. This was well before led technology came around. I only had to break out the sacred third light once. But it allowed us to fix two broken lights and keep working and not feel our way out of the woods that night. The other guy only had one… He would have been screwed.

[anomad]

I describe such women as having huge “euphemisticals”.

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