[bobco85]

Yeah, the crosswalks on Hillwood Ave there aren’t painted. The kid did nothing wrong, although they might want to practice not running into an intersection (for fear of right-on-red drivers).

Here’s the intersection: https://goo.gl/maps/YSJmDSeFrKG2

Also, why run that red? IME the light cycle there isn’t that long.

[bobco85]

I’ve got a fresh missed connection from this morning.

Me: riding westbound on W&OD in the crosswalk at George Mason Dr
You: driver facing southbound on George Mason Dr, waiting at a red light
(W&OD and Four Mile Run Dr have a green light with about 10 seconds left on the countdown timer)
You: blatantly just start driving through the intersection and run the red just behind me
Me: looks behind me, shocked at what you just did yet relieved you didn’t do it a few seconds earlier
You: now facing southbound on George Mason Dr, waiting at ANOTHER red light; time saved = a few seconds
Was it worth it to do such a reckless thing?

[bobco85]

(Arlington, VA) – At the W&OD Trail crossing of Columbia Pike at Four Mile Run Dr, the Leading Pedestrian Interval for trail traffic has been removed. Drivers turning right off Four Mile Run Dr across the trail do not have a sign saying that they need to yield to trail users (right-on-red is allowed here, too).

Is there a reason from Arlington County why the decision was made to make this intersection more dangerous? (and yes, I know this is a loaded question)

[bobco85]

It was a wet ride, but in the end, 5 of us brave and purple-clad folks rode the route that the Purple Line will take if/when/hopefully/maybe/definitely it is built. My feet officially stopped being wrinkled sometime Saturday night. Bad ass points and my thanks go out to Judd, komorebi, LhasaCM, & lordofthemark for joining me on this tour of all things purple!

Also, LhasaCM was the best-dressed as he had more purple on than even myself (and purple is my favorite color!).

(left) Selfie at the start; (right) a generous passerby saw me struggling to get the earlier photo and offered to take this pic (many thanks!)
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(left) we stopped at Bobby’s Burger Palace in College Park (New Mexico burger with queso sauce, green chiles, and pickled red onions was delicious, and I loved their chipotle ketchup); (right) group pic after we completed the Purple Line route at New Carrollton
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(left) on the way back, we stopped at the East Boundary Stone where I was surprised to see the metal fencing gone; (right) you can tell the part of my leg that was protected by my sock from the road spray
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While riding with Judd across 14th Street Bridge, I saw a couple of flashing emergency lights on the VA side of the river on the GWMP with an ambulance having headed SB, so I went to check it out and saw this. Note the missing chunk of the grey car’s right hood.
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For the next Metro-themed ride I want to lead, I’m thinking something a little more on the VA side of things probably in June (I first need to ride the route again to figure out needed adjustments). I’m feeling a little… silver-y about it 😎

[bobco85]

@drevil 158874 wrote:

Methinks y’all aren’t being creative enough

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I do have a lot of purple bike clothing, including lycra, which I’d totes rock if I was going. Instead, we’re going to the March for Science tomorrow. Have fun!

Everyone needs to screencap and bookmark this post as a reminder that drevil will need to dress like Barney in a future group ride/race where MANY pictures will be taken 😎

Also, I’d say that we’re going to bike circles around you, but I know that many scientists at the march would correct that to convex polygons.

[bobco85]

I finished a new video last night of the snow that we got on Pi Day this year!

The video shows a lunch ride I did where there were some flurries which was nice to bike through. It also shows an evening ride I did with my trailer to go shovel snow where I encountered LSG on the way and met up with komorebi. The video should be short and sweet; enjoy!

[video=youtube_share;N0p2U8HR-mM]https://youtu.be/N0p2U8HR-mM[/video]

[bobco85]

Working from home today, and guess what just arrived!
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@LhasaCM 158812 wrote:

Got it. I think I was getting hung up on low end of the “4-5 hours with breaks” estimate. If we’re thinking similar to the doughnut ride, that’s probably 4 hours or so moving time (it looks like we were around 11mph on average between stops, which included the climb up to Duck Donuts), plus however long we stop at wherever along the way.

Now – to figure out where to tack on 10 or so extra miles (beyond the ride itself and getting to/from the ride) to get to 100km for the trip…

No worries, my focus will be on keeping the group together, so I will slow my pace as needed. Of course, I should warn you, I do like to go off on tangents…

@Judd 158807 wrote:

Bobco… …will be similar to the doughnut

Hey, who are you calling a doughnut! :p

[bobco85]

Didn’t think about it until I read this comment on the Greater Greater Washington article about this, but there’s a specific structure that the potential bike lanes are being rerouted around. (I’ll give you a hint before you read it: what starts with a “c” and is related to reduced bike infrastructure?): https://ggwash.org/view/63150/arlington-may-scrap-new-bike-lanes-on-washington-boulevard#comment_339296

No bike lanes because we need to keep street parking in a neighborhood where everyone has a driveway or a garage.
The detour is so the church can keep its diagonal parking. Parking for a few hours a week is greater than cyclist safety.

When I read it, I immediately looked at Google Maps and BAM! there it was, a block of diagonal parking with signs saying “45 degree parking only on Sundays”

While it’s not proof, it certainly SEEMS to fit with past experiences :rolleyes:

[bobco85]

@Judd 158741 wrote:

the weather is forecasted to be “meh” this weekend.

Considering the last ride I tried to lead had thunderstorms with hail, I’ll take “meh” as a good thing!

[bobco85]

@KLizotte 158723 wrote:

Board & Brew is an awesome place to stop in College Park for food, coffee, etc. Yes, they really do have 500+ board games and a Game Master. And they are totally cool if you walk in wearing bike clothes. The only caution I have is the floor is really, really slippery by the bathrooms if you have bike shoes on! I love this place.

Awesome, thanks for the recommendation! The location isn’t much out of the way of the route, and I can lead the group to it between the Campus Center station and the East Campus station. There are also a few other options in that spot, too, including Bobby’s Burger Palace (that’s Bobby Flay) and NuVegan Cafe. I’ll leave it up to the group to decide (I’m cool with any of the places).

Also, FYI for those interested, you can see maps of parts of the Purple Line on the MD DOT site here: http://www.purplelinemd.com/en/maps We will be following the proposed route as closely as possible.

[bobco85]

2 updates for the ride:

1. I created an event for the ride on Facebook to help with tracking who will be going (I’ll check both this thread and Facebook) which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/events/211211132708321
2. I just ordered some purple socks to wear for the ride. Apparently, it’s difficult to find purple men’s cycling socks for size 13 feet :p

[bobco85]

This article, having no cited sources or any sort of evidence to back up the claims, is pretty shallow and doesn’t say much more than, “Cycling is habit-forming. Don’t neglect other aspects of your life.” I’m looking forward to the day celebrities will be able to spend a week at a Malibu Beach house clinic to “recover” from cycling addiction 😎

Cynicism aside, let’s have some fun with this! How would the list of symptoms read if, say, we changed the activity?

Driving can become a negative addiction when:
– It becomes a coping mechanism, not a pleasurable activity
– A spouse or partner initiates conflict about how the car gets more attention than him or her
– It is used to medicate a disagreeable mood (sometimes it seems to cause it)
– The hours and miles steadily increase over time to abnormal levels (I have a coworker who commutes from Winchester, and I used to know someone who would commute from close to Richmond!)
– Hostility is expressed over missed sessions
– Mileage increases after attempts to reduce it
– You literally believe there’s no such thing as “too many cars” (is this the AAA motto?)

[bobco85]

Before the ride, I took the role of Easter Bunny and rode the route in reverse, dropping eggs off along the way. Each multi-colored egg had a colored frog light and piece of paper with a number between 1 and 18 on it for the special prize drawing to take place at Brookland’s Finest.
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The first egg I hid (Judd found it; interestingly, he got the first and last eggs on the hunt); an egg near the Benning Rd bridge that everyone else missed
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I thought this tooth-shaped bike rack outside a dentist’s office was really neat; taking our bikes onto the patio at Brookland’s Finest
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Me and the robot library; some jerk parked their car in the middle of the Mall, encased it in a lit box, and hired a cop to watch it :p
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Thanks again, Steve, for hosting this ride; it was a lot of fun!

[bobco85]

New Surge, new video!

Quick notes:

• Surge 14 will run from Saturday, April 15 through Sunday, May 14
• No Yellow Rush Plus service
• Phase 1 (April 15-29)
  • Greenbelt & College Park stations closed
  • Free shuttle buses between Greenbelt, College Park, and Prince George’s Plaza stations
• Phase 2 (April 30-May 14)
  • Greenbelt station closed
  • Free shuttle buses between Greenbelt and College Park stations

I made a bike route video to show how to get around the affected stations using routes on the west and east sides of the tracks, so hopefully that will help with wayfinding. I did routes between Greenbelt, Beltsville, College Park, Prince George’s Plaza, and West Hyattsville for this. The nice thing is that there is a lot of bicycle infrastructure to be used to get around.

Here’s the video. Enjoy!
[video=youtube_share;KurxQcE0ZOg]https://youtu.be/KurxQcE0ZOg[/video]

[bobco85]

Cool video! It looks like y’all had a grand old time on one of nature’s playgrounds. I really liked the rear-facing shots and stream crossings.
@drevil 158567 wrote:

I keep forgetting John!

Yeah, the bridge is sketchy. Just go straight and lay off the brakes and you have less chance of going into a death wobble

That bridge looks perfectly fine from the side, but when you were in first-person mode, I could see the gaps in the center that would definitely catch a skinnier tire. Still, I wanna ride across it someday!

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