[billy]

@brendan 2961 wrote:

I’ve actually been surprised at the number of joggers/walkers with headphones in who actually gesture the “pass signal received” gesture. A minority of them, to be sure, but I guess some folks don’t leave it on 11 like I do…

Brendan

i generally expect joggers with headphones on to have the volume on low enough to hear at least a little bit above their tunes.

[billy]

i still call my passes, but it definitely seems like a dying art. just the other day, i was biking across the 14th st bridge and came up behind a group of joggers that were jogging 2 abreast, thereby blocking my passing lane. i probably could have squeezed through, but i wanted to make sure that i didn’t zoom by them on the left without making sure they knew i was coming first, so i slowed down and call my pass. the joggers acknowledged.

as i’m about to make my move, i take a quick glance over my shoulder, and i see another cyclist quickly approaching in a passing position. i hit the brakes, and this guy blew by all of us, totally cutting me off. i was pretty annoyed, but also glad that i looked before passing.

[billy]

@OneEighth 2903 wrote:

Roll your clothes, but not tightly. Leave shoes and belts in the office. Heavy overcoat and spare gloves, too, if you have the space and intend to ride year-round. Over the years, I have found that if your dress shirt collar, pocket, and cuffs stay flat, you will be fine.
I just put the rolled up suit, shirt, tie, etc. in a plastic bag to protect them and carry the whole mess in a Timbuk2 backpack.
Easy.

i don’t wear a suit, but this is more or less my method – fold/roll up slacks and shirt, throw in my big ol’ timbuktu backpack.

it’s worth nothing that this method works best with wrinkle resistant clothes. i also tend to take the metro into the office if i really need to dress nicely, because i am a total sellout.

[billy]

@Rootchopper 2827 wrote:

I’ve been bike commuting to L’Enfant Plaza from Virgina for years and I almost always take the Case Bridge to L’Enfant Promenade. Coming off the 14th Street bridge I take a left at the Jefferson Memorial and backtrack to Ohio Drive. Left on Ohio, left on Buckeye, left to go south on I395. At the on ramp, get on the sidewalk at the curb cut on the right side and ride over the Case Bridge alongside I-395. The views of the Washington Channel are nice. This route dumps you out at Benjamin Banneker Circle at the end of L’Enfant Promenade where you can take a right and glide down to Maine Ave. I much prefer this to riding on Maine Avenue directly from the Tidal Basin area because it avoids some pretty messy traffic merging and squeezing into narrow lanes on Maine. It’s also better than Independence because it avoids lights, tourists, buses, etc.

Awesome, thanks! Will definitely give this a try. Will need to figure out the best way to get over to Banneker Circle to my office, but this seems like a pretty workable route. Independence is generally not that bad, in my experience, but I always hit at least 1 light, and sometimes barely escape death dodging cars or buses at 12th Street while heading east in the morning.

@Just161 2835 wrote:

This is definitely important as foot traffic will be increasing exponentially over the next 6 weeks around the 15th/Wallenburg/Tidal Basin “pinch point.”

Good point. I generally don’t have too much trouble on the way into the office, as it is early enough, but I’m sure the ride home will be miserable.

[billy]

Aha, thanks for the visual. That definitely clears things up a bit. I never really go down that way, but might be something worth exploring. Much appreciated!

[billy]

i recently purchased a bike with a wobbly wheel for cheap. part of the issue was the rear cones were loose, but the wheel was pretty damaged from being ridden on while wobbling. i ended up replacing the wheel, which was about $50. the bike now rides just fine, for the most part.

[billy]

how do you all secure your bikes with a u-lock? i have a mini u-lock and i’ve been using this strategy for a while:

A U-lock should go around the rear rim and tire, somewhere inside the rear triangle of the frame. There is no need to loop it around the seat tube as well, because the wheel cannot be pulled through the rear triangle.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

i still feel kind of nervous about not securing the frame, so i prefer to get both the seat post and the rear wheel, but this only works on one of my two bikes when using my mini u. what do you all do?

[Author]

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