[brendan]

@ebubar 84482 wrote:

I’ll confirm that the towpath is fine for my entry level road bike (Jamis Quest Comp). Actually set a Strava PR on the towpath the other day!

Hmm. I don’t know the strava terms, but if PR had anything to do with speed, I hope it was a weekday (or other low-usage time) or farther out west…

The towpath inside the beltway (and/or near great falls) and mt. vernon trail are two areas where I don’t think it’s worth challenging my past speed records.

hopefully not too much of a buzzkill,
B

(

[brendan]

@NicDiesel 84342 wrote:

I will never understand why on the weekends tons of people set up RIGHT NEXT to the Portajohns for their picnics and plane watching. Vomit city.

I can only assume it’s the kind of smell that you get used to if you’re under constant exposure.

I figure I know why they put the porta johns there instead of further away from the trail (personal safety/visibility for night portajohn users). But I’d suggest putting them another 6 feet or so back, just to reduce the crowding in front of them on nice weekends.

As for the toddlers (and the older children who should know/be taught better) traffic jams, we ended up off-trailing it saturday evening on our return trip as the trail was hopelessly full of non-moving families staring at the sky. Also, kids bikes and scooters just abandoned in the middle of the trail (really, parents, REALLY?). Made me almost want to mount a cow-pusher on the front of the bike. But even jokingly, that’d make me a jerk.

B

[brendan]

A friend posted to fb about this thursday night: “I watched yet another bicyclist go down on H St last night – this time a hit and run. Biker friends – G & I now have contra-flow bike lanes (thanks, DDOT!). Use them.”

[brendan]

@Tim Kelley 84327 wrote:

Welcome to the forum! Was that you who had originally reached out over Twitter? You’ll get lots of good advice here!

Spend several weekends trying out bikes at all the different bike shops in your area. Test rides, 10 minutes each, at least. Bring your own helmet.

Let the bike sell itself to you, not the salesperson. Also, you’re trying out the stores to figure out which one you want to be your repair and maintenance shop.

B

[brendan]

To the officer stopped at the red light on 11th St. as I was sprinting down the right lane of Rhode Island with 10s left to spare on the green light (as per the pedestrian signal).

I emergency stopped because you turned your lights on, started moving forwards and hit your blitz-blatz-blitz warning to cross traffic that you were going to cross against the light. I love my disc brakes but I don’t like braking so hard that I start skidding before stopping. Esp. while riding a half-loaded cargo bike.

What made it less of a “oh crap” moment and more of a “ugh! what a jerk!” moment was that even before your completed your left turn, you turned your emergency lights and noises back off.

Not cool man. Not cool.

[brendan]

Heading south from 14th St. Bridge towards the airpart yesterday…for a moment, the smell of bar-b-que was really nice…and then it was sewage bar-b-que. And that was a couple hundred yards up the river from the porta-potties, so I stopped using my nose. The combination of good food smell plus…that…made it so much worse.

[brendan]

@lordofthemark 84259 wrote:

My tires did not really seem low, but thought I might as well top off. Not only did it not work, but I managed to drain all the air from my front tire and ended up with a flat. So I walked the bike to back to Bikenetics, where I also go to tell them how well it has worked out for me. I was meeting my wife in Shirlington, but she spent more time than expected in synagogue, so I still got so Shirlington ahead of her.

That pump (just west of lee hwy/s. washington street, east of little falls st.) is always broken. When I see folks with bikes/strollers/etc. stopped there, I stop and invariably use my frame pump to pump up their tires.

B

[brendan]

Unless you’re friend, family or law enforcement, I feel strongly that you shouldn’t touch other people’s cars.

a) it really freaks people out, and they will act irrational. partly because it induces a flight or fight reaction to a breach of a place considered “safe”.
b) it’s not a perfect analogy, but how would you react to someone tapping on your bike when you’re stopped at an intersection waiting for a light? Would that seem threatening?

In general, I prefer to report them rather than engage. It’s just not worth the physical risk.

B

PS – to me it’s clear that while he was in an unmarked car, he wasn’t involved in an under cover investigation, per se. it was blowhard bluffing on his part, most due to him reacting to factors a and b above.

[brendan]

@cyclingfool 84011 wrote:

I’m jealous, both for the ride, but mostly for the panniers. And orange, too. When my Axioms die, I plan on getting some Ortliebs. I’m torn between orange and red. Nice choice.

I got Erin the yellow ones with orange dots. Because…dots!

B

[brendan]

The “hose-down interior” is, unfortunately, a legend. It can be sponged down, of course, but there are some electrical harnesses along the lower sides of inner walls that shouldn’t be saturated.

[brendan]

This is totally the appropriate time to suggest going to The Bike House saturday or sunday clinics and learning how to diagnose and adjust the derailleur. Also, several bike shops/stores have free basic maintenance classes.

B

[brendan]

@jrenaut 83725 wrote:

I don’t object to a Big Dummy, but I’m not sure that’s really what’s best for my wife. If we were getting TWO cargo bikes, I’d probably get a a Big Dummy and she could get a Mundo or Xtracycle. And I’d like to build it up from the frame so it’s exactly how I want it. And while I’m wishing I’d like a pony and a bowl of ice cream and world peace and protected cycle tracks criss-crossing the city…

That’s a bike fit conundrum. I don’t think Erin or I would be happy having to share a bike. We’re just too particular collectively about bike fit and/or bike needs. And perhaps more importantly, we’re much different sizes. If you two are closer in size, it might be worth both of you test-riding a dummy.

Our primary bikes are now the Disc Trucker (+ortlieb bags) and the Dummy, respectively, as our commuter/everyday bikes. The O Street Market Giant checkout folks think we’re mad mad mad… (usually after our response to asking if we need our parking passes validated).

Kids might lead to bike changes…but I wonder how much? Addition of a trailer option on the trucker and reconfiguration of the back of a dummy to make it kid friendly?

B

[brendan]

I drove to/from Reston today.

I had intended to ride in today, even put the dummy on the back of the element when I drove back from DC to Arlington last night. I’m moving to DC, so my car is hauling largish stuff back and forth.

It was my last bike commute chance for this week. Then I noticed that I’d left my helmet in DC.

I considered riding anyway, but, again: I’m not allowed any more broken bones and/or trips to the ER due to bike injuries.

There’s always next week!

B

[brendan]

@jrenaut 83714 wrote:

I’ve been talking to another Radish owner who says her husband finds the bike “squirrely” while he has no trouble hauling three kids on the back of his Big Dummy. So maybe I’m still really just having fit problmes.

I’m always reluctant to recommend the big dummy due to the price tag, and I know it’s not on your list.

But it’s a hell of a bike. Can’t ever see loving a ride quite like this one. It just goes…

B

[brendan]

@jrenaut 83691 wrote:

So, front tire was inflated just right, rear maybe a little overinflated. Would that possibly be causing my issues? It’s also possible that my pump pressure gauge is off.

I have to say that, unloaded, it’s a pretty comfy ride. I was remarking to my friend/coworker with a custom cargo bike that riding down 14th Street was a breeze on those big tires. He said his cargo bike rides like a couch. The hill up 15th wasn’t much fun, but my time was 70th of the 108 times I’ve Strava’d that hill, so I’ve definitely been slower on a lighter bike.

I’m kind of frustrated – I can’t carry my kids on a bike that I can’t stop from wobbling. And I’m not sure what else would be causing such a drastic wobble.

That was a picture of an xtracycle Radish, right? a) if so, then it’s not a one piece frame, but a standard xtracycle bolt-on extension (which is slightly wobbly by nature) so it might be worth checking to see if the bolt-ons are torqued-on correctly or b) maybe it’s just the nature of the non-one-piece xtracycle long-tails and riding an edge-runner, sun-cargo or big dummy might be different?

I originally got the radish and the next year they released an updated one that was “more stable”. What year is this radish?

(forgive me if I’m confusing threads)

B

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