[brendan]

That looks more interesting than my x-rays. Uh…so did they not put screws into the middle two positions…and then put a screw in at 90 degrees through bone w/o a plate?

[brendan]

Calories!!!!!!

Brendan

[brendan]

@TwoWheelsDC 51763 wrote:

Honeybadger6 just finished the Cap2Cap century in Richmond (her first!). Although the forecast called for thunderstorms, we saw nary a drop of rain, and it ended up being warm and pretty sunny all day. It was a little breezy, which made the last third or so a bit of a bear, but Meg managed about a 15.5mph moving average.

Love the cap to cap! Hope y’all stopped to get some bike bling at the lunch stop!

Brendan

[brendan]

@hozn 51769 wrote:

Nice! I would volunteer my building’s shower, but it is 3 miles west, so no better situation. I guess this weather (esp humidity levels) is representative of summer mornings.

Is the big dummy the bike you plan to use for this commute?

Thanks.

Yeah. It’s my most comfortable ride. I can go a bit faster on the road bike, but the dummy is more flexible in terms of carrying things I might need to make the day work. The components tend to be more heavy duty as well. And I like the brakes better.

Brendan

[brendan]

So, I took the advice I give to all prospective bike commuters, which was to do a dry run of your bike commute over the weekend. Took about 1h10m door to door from Wilson & Danville in Clarendon to the work address (1801 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA) on the big dummy. Didn’t time the ride back, less concerned about that time.

Going a bit slower than I used to, but that’ll improve over time as I get back in shape and the collarbone heals.

That said, besides being super sweaty, my lower extremities, shorts and shoes were pretty grimy by the time I got there and even more so by the time I got home. I have a front fender too, though it might need to be adjusted to be a bit closer to the wheel. Plus, there were all the gnats matted into my arm and leg hairs…

So, a shower will be a must. Just need to find one nearby. Googling, the only gym I can find reasonably close by is about 1.5 miles further west, which seems non-optimal.

The office is a project-partner location (my employer pays the project partner for our cubicle space), so I don’t really think I have any pull in terms of making facilities appear in-house.

Brendan

[brendan]

Partial to my neighborhood just across the river, but CD Cellar, a used CD shop which also carries some vinyl and Galaxy Hut are just one block from each other. And the latter is just downstairs from my apartment, is tiny and has 20 rotating beers on tap, plus some good bottles. What are you looking for in a bar?

There’s a Revolution Cycles on the same block, but it’s not really a hang out place, though they do some shop rides on evening and weekends.

Brendan

[brendan]

Oops, posted to wrong thread. Deleted!

[brendan]

We did it last year. It’s fun and social.

Biggest negative I can think of is that there wasn’t really a good place to put all the bikes at some stops and sidewalks, patios, etc. got blocked.

Brendan

[brendan]

@mwhatley 50672 wrote:

If you were to offer up one sentence/piece of advice for people who are interested in biking to work; what would that be?

Via friends, I read this list yesterday. It’s not one sentence/piece of advice, it’s a list of DO’s and DON’Ts…but perhaps it can help?

http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/kristin_butchers_guide_to_introducing_new_people_to_bike_riding_without_rui

Update: that list is more geared to leading your perhaps-reluctant friends on rides or getting them to join social rides, but perhaps a few items are useful.

Brendan

[brendan]

@Justin Antos 50572 wrote:

And by the winter you’ll have the Silver Line as backup plan, direct from Clarendon to Wiehle Avenue station (Weihle and Toll Road, 2 blocks from the trail). Congrats on the new job Brendan!!

Thanks (and more Likes!) to everyone on the congrats. Aside from my hobby business which won’t be marketable for more than a year or twor (re-purposing optical disc duplicators into CD ripping robots via home grown software, selling the software, used/new-ish robots or both) which paid rent for a while, I’ll have been out of work since mid-2011. I’m bracing for culture shock and reminding myself to remain calm and cool about the stresses of work. Hoping to make bike commuting part of the stress shield.

The new metro station will be wonderful as a backup/time-crunch/didn’t-install-studded-tires-and-bar-mitts-early-enough-to-bike-through-snow plan. I’m 3-4 blocks from Clarendon Metro so it’s a straight shot to Wiehle Avenue which is super-close to the work location, but I’ll need to make sure that doesn’t make me lazy: I’ve been off the bike for nearly 8 months out of the last 16 months so far due to fractures, healing and doctor’s orders, so I have a LOT of riding to catch up on.

Brendan

[brendan]

You had me worried and confused for two seconds at “…paving of the billy goat trail”, but then my mental process caught up and saw you were writing in general about a desire lines trail in Arlington, not THE BGT cared for by the NPS in Great Falls. I should read for comprehension, not emotion!

Brendan

[brendan]

I live in Clarendon, so 15 miles each way. The closest gym I can find via google would add 1.5 miles west on the W&OD and 1.5 (slow, easy, non-sweat breaking?) miles back east. Not optimal.

Being a super-sweater, I’d really prefer to have a shower, esp. because I keep sweating for 10 minutes or so after I get off the bike. I already have a supply of showerpill/actionwipes, but not sure if I have a useful place to wait during cooldown. I also need to get a feel for the sink rinse and clean/dirty/wet clothes storage options.

I really don’t want to car commute, but a coworker on the project lives a few blocks away so at least we can carpool. Looking at the bus routes from Clarendon, I can’t seem to google map anything reasonable, I think the fairfax connector isn’t included in the public transit mapping. I’ll have to map it the old-fashioned way.

And if I end up having earlier core hours, I might take you up on the posse idea.

Brendan

[brendan]

@DaveK 50559 wrote:

So after I’ve coughed up all that from my head, I’ll tell you that I ride exactly like you do. I treat the entrance approaches to the circles as a roundabout should be treated and I yield to the traffic in the circle. If I see an opening that’s safe, I’m going to take it and take my place in the center of the lane in traffic.

Same here. I also filter forward at the light if it seems safe to do. Safe filtering can depend on timing: if I think the light may be about to change, I’ll wait in the queue.

Brendan

[brendan]

Saw this on washcycle yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVW-YAQCSVs

Link to washcycle post and too-short comment thread: http://www.thewashcycle.com/2013/04/sunday-video-removing-the-traffic-lights.html

Brendan

[brendan]

Ok, maybe a little too much implicit snark on my part. It’s definitely a dismount and walk your bike moment. And hopefully your bike isn’t packed too wide in back.

Brendan

[Author]

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