[Brendan von Buckingham]

@kwarkentien 118220 wrote:

If it wasn’t painted, it wouldn’t get as slick but it also would be more subjected to the elements. However a good treated lumber product should hold up for a fair bit.

Treated lumber is rot resistant because of the chemicals it is impregnated with. However this does not prevent the wood from cupping, twisting and curling as it swings from low (winter) to high (summer) humidity seasons. Treated lumber tends to be from young, quickly grown trees. Wood from such sources is recognizable because it has very few growth rings per inches and is especially vulnerable to warp. If you have a pressure treated deck or fence and you see a board so twisted and curled that it pulls the nails out, you’ve seen what I’m describing.

Scoring the wood to help traction (as also suggested here) would actually help stabilize the wood too. Floorboards, when scored along the length of their underside, help relieve the internal stresses that otherwise build up and warp wood as its moisture content fluctuates.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@ian74 117756 wrote:

Today was my first commute back to work since the first week of April and the birth of our first child. I’m dreadfully out of shape…again. However it was so nice be back on the path. It’s the first time I’ve ridden up the CCT since the leaves opened up. It’s so beautiful, peaceful and quiet. With the exception of me panting, grunting and swearing…

So stinkin’ cute

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8836[/ATTACH]

Put a baby picture on the back of your id lanyard and wear it when you commute. If a driver ever wants to argue with you, showing him the baby picture usually stops them in their tracks. Works for me.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Put a baby picture on the back of your id lanyard and wear it when you commute. If a driver ever wants to argue with you, showing him the baby picture usually stops them in their tracks. Works for me.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

My office worked on those a few years ago. They’re kind of random. They get hit all the time. Here’s the one from Westmoreland Circle, June of last year. [ATTACH=CONFIG]8886[/ATTACH]

[Brendan von Buckingham]

My guess: over-correction at high speed. Easy to roll-over a vehicle that way. Happened right in front of me on the Beltway couple years back.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@Dirt 117514 wrote:

I had an interesting experience while driving around doing errands on Friday. It was interesting enough that I blogged about it. It gave me a good opportunity to be a PAL while driving.

New Blog Entry: http://lovemycommute.blogspot.com/2015/06/we-all-need-to-relax-out-there.html

If you’re curious about the PAL Ambassador program, come check us out! It is a program done by BikeArlington and WABA to make the streets of Arlington County safer. It is also a heck of a lot of fun.

See you out there.

Pete

I read the blog post. I was curious what you meant by this: “I…chose the correct lane for the speed which I was traveling.”

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@oldbikechick 117069 wrote:

I rode on the bridge in the morning and the evening. I was paying attention in the morning since I had read the articles and it was exactly as described. Towards the middle of the bridge – they have closed off one car lane on each side and about 4 feet of the sidewalk next to the car lane. There is still plenty of room to bike and get around pedestrians. I was only on the south/east side of the bridge but I think it was the same on both sides. In the evening I had completely forgotten about it and was thinking about something else and I know I crossed the bridge, but I have no recollection of it, so I don’t think it affected me much!

Pretty much agree. The sidewalk is three panels wide, each panel 4 feet wide. At the center of the span, the row of panels along the curb is closed, but this line was already substantially obstructed by lamp posts and poor paving conditions. For the length of the closure, it’s not much of a change or loss of bicycle space. There are some new pinch points however where friction between cyclists and pedestrians will increase. Just have to pass smarter and clearer.

One trick is that construction is only at the center of the span. On approach it will look like traffic is very slow and cyclists comfortable in traffic might be tempted to use the road and split the lanes through traffic. However, once traffic clears the construction at mid-span, it gets a third lane back and gets right back up to speed which would put a cyclist in an uncomfortable spot. But if you’re really Cat Sixin and can hold 30 mph (which I’ve see occasionally), go for it, I guess.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Cool animation of the bridge skeleton and how it should operate

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@pfunkallstar 116847 wrote:

you are doing it wrong.

That’s actually my go-to call-out to cyclists who are, well, doing it wrong. Especially the salmoning variety.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

It was actually a TBM Avenger torpedo bomber. Here’s the cockpit video of his approach over Palisades, his aborted turn into the Mall, and his emergency landing at National. Pretty neat.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Me: Morning commute off of Memorial Bridge. Stopped at the red at Independence to cross over to West Potomac Park.

You: Non-moving Mercedes pointing eastbound. I’d normally say heading, but you weren’t heading anywhere even though you had the green. All the cars behind you were forced to go around you.

Me: Engine trouble? You seem awful calm. A little too calm. Are you asleep? Oh my god, what if you’re dead? Oh well, one way to find out.

WHAP WHAP WHAP on the hood.

You: “Huh, what? Oh right.” And off you zoomed. At least you had the green again.

Wake up calls: I’ll just put them in the category of intangible benefits–like picking up road debris–that cyclists provide to our driving cohorts.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Soccer, always and forever; high school, college, men’s and co-ed leagues here in DC, indoors/outdoors. I gave it up for a couple of years when my boys were born. I just got back into it now that the prospect of playing for an over-40 team seems like an achievement and not a cop-out. I just joined a friend’s team, but the bastard lied to me. It wasn’t over-40, it was over-30. Still, even though cycling and soccer are mostly different muscle groups, my cardio kicked the butt of all those 30ish whippersnappers.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I second all those maps. The route is very manageable. I’ve been doing it daily (inbound in a.m.) for 3 years.

One tricky spot not mentioned is near the Arlington Cemetery Metro station. Your route will put you on the southside sidewalk of Memorial Avenue. There isn’t a better option. Traffic coming off George Washington Parkway have a stop sign, but half of them only look left and roll the stop sign not even thinking that traffic or pedestrians from the right is a possibility. You must make eye contact with drivers and be certain that they stop before you cross. Even cars that stop are only looking left and hit the gas again after a split second. After that spot you have your first chance to cross to the proper side of Memorial Ave.

The route between Rolfe Street and Pershing is the new Fort Cass bike trail. It’s much better than the bike trail on the other side of 50, but bobco85 is very correct. You must use extra caution at Rolfe since oncoming traffic coming off of 50 has the right of way and coming fast. It’s easier inbound, but still a unique enough intersection you have to pay attention inbound too.

Pershing is very comfortable for cyclists. You’ll have it down in 3 or 4 passes. Don’t be afraid to take the lane on your frequent downhills; at least stay out of the door zone.

Between Thomas and George Mason there’s a pedestrian tunnel under 50. I assume it goes to the Arlington Hall Station campus. That would let you avoid the left turn off of Mason.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Today would have been another good day for some Mobile Emergency Bike Stations (trademark-pending) at Rosslyn.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

Me and 12 other people had the two baseball diamonds near South Cap and I St SW all to ourselves. It was a great spot because the planes banked south right around us. The P-51s really hit that turn with power. Awesome display.

[Author]

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