[bikenurse]

@KLizotte 8189 wrote:

Tell the manufacturer wizards that they need to come up with a cable and u-lock design that is super strong and super light. Hauling around a heavy duty U-lock is a form of weight training I could do without.

And tell them they need to produce more bikes for short women. Trust me, any lady under 5’2″ has a hard time finding frames that fit properly, esp since most bikes seem to have a men’s style crossbar.

Kathy – the vertically challenged

I talked to some of the manufacturers about women’s bikes. Really – most of them were just a different color…. however, I did ride a sweet felt carbon women’s model (Greenbeltbike has a picture above) that fit me like a glove (50cm – my road bike is a 51 and my cross bike is a 49)…. The cockpit was slightly more compact and the down tube slightly more angled. And it was a nice color even! I am 5’5″ so a bit less vertically challenged. Here’s the bike (the one I road was blue/white – great paint job) http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2012/Fit-Woman/ZW-Series/ZW6-21039.aspx

[bikenurse]

@Greenbelt 7902 wrote:

For PG commuters, I can report that the NW Branch trail between 38th street and Route 1 is fine at the current river levels, which this afternoon and evening were about 3.0-3.5 feet on the river gage. It looks like the NW branch in that section never went over its banks and didn’t flood the trail, even though the gage got as high as 4.5 feet early this morning it looks like. The trail is closed with caution tape, but the river wasn’t on or near it, so not a problem to go around the barrier.

The NE Branch from Alt Route 1 to Decatur Street is a different issue. This afternoon when the gage read between 5.0 and 5.5, there was still at least 18 inches of water on the trail under the railroad bridge for about a 30 or 40 foot stretch. Quite a bit of mud and sand under the Alt Route 1 bridge from when the water had been even higher, but no river overflow on that stretch. The trail was taped off, and probably not a great idea to go under the tape at those levels, although certainly passable. Lowest gears only — 18 inches of water produces a fair amount of drag. Not that I tried it, of course.

Glad you didn’t get swept away in the flash flooding….

[bikenurse]

I have a men’s small and I am a size 4-6 woman. It fits fine and looks great. Wore it for the first time today thanks to a gift from Greenbelt. See Greenbelt’s video posted today if you want to check it out.

[bikenurse]

you’re pretty hard to keep up with, even with the super hero cape and the fat tires

[bikenurse]

The vest and backpack makes you look a bit kyphotic in shadow, and the “cape” though not exactly fashionable, does make you more visible (and you really weren’t entirely visible at dusk, even with the blinkies). It’s kind of a neon osteoporotic super hero kind of look. The backpack by itself is black and invisible. The blinkies are good, but it is hard to know what you’re looking at (from a drivers perspective) when all you can see are a few small blinking lights.

[Author]

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