[brendan]

Had to wait for the delivery guy to drop off the wedding rings this A.M., so that was a *nice* delay before starting out…

…but I still felt it was safest to re-install the barmitts for this morning’s ride, just in case I hit heavy sub-40 degrees rain while heading west. However, I only got a little sprinkle on the ride. Fingers crossed that today’s the last barmitts day…until next winter, anyway.

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[brendan]

um, actually

One can coast on a fixie. You just need to find a safe place to stow your feet/legs and have really good timing to get them back on the pedals without leading to total carnage…

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[brendan]

@skins_brew 111815 wrote:

I have to tread lightly here. I work for a small company, but I am new to this particular contract. Apparently the had to let a guy go the other week due to his hygiene issues.

Yikes.

Action wipes work well for this largish very sweaty man.

Finding a large/accessible bathroom stall for cleanup/changing after arrival is key, preferably in the common area. I shower before I leave, use industrial antiperspirant spray, always put clean cycling clothes on in the morning, carry all of my clean work clothes/shoes in rubberized drybags* on my cargo bike, cleanup (with actionwipes/otherwipes) and change in the largest bathroom stall I can find.

I end up putting the sweaty (and/or rained-on) cycling clothes/shoes back on for the ride home, but no one other than me has to deal with that (well, except for the occasional bike commuter evening meetup), and then I shower again when I get home.

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* a non-cargo bike could probably do something similar with the waterproof ortlieb panniers. But you might want some smaller waterproof drybags for keeping sweaty clothes separated from other things in the ortlieb (or vice versa).

[brendan]

My old project office in Reston had no shower. Actionwipes were my go-to product, been a year without them and using competitors, but now they’re ramping production back up so I’ve got an order in for replacements.

My new project office in Herndon has a gym, but the sub-contractor business owner hasn’t signed the paperwork for employee (or, in my case, guest) access to it, so I’m still on the wipes-wagon. Not in a position push to for it, as I’m a non-paying guest in that office who isn’t required to be there, just likes to work with people on my team (and bike commute).

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[brendan]

Comment #1 for the win:

“The guy doesn’t know the law, but he does have a gun. Maybe they can request $8 million to make a replica Beach Drive so that they can receive training on it.”

Oh snap.

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[brendan]

You: riding west across the IOD.
Me: riding east across the IOD.
Everyone else: crowded-ly crossing the intersection on foot.
You: moving left.
Me: moving right.
You: moving right.
Me: moving left.
You: widening your eyes.
Me: braking to a complete stop and saying “I’m stopping.” with an exasperated-at-myself tone.
You: kinda grinning at the ridiculousness of it all.
Us: proceeding without hitting each other (or anyone else) in the crowded crossing.

Well, that was dumb, and I gotta say it was at least partly (mostly?) my fault.

[brendan]

@consularrider 111479 wrote:

Note that that they don’t have this year’s route up yet, but in the past you had to make your mind up more like mile 60 since I think that’s where the two routes split just after rest stop #2. I preferred the 2014 route over the 2013 version.

True, but my recollection is that there is a SAG van that patrols the route for cyclists who aren’t going to make it back in time, and gives them a choice of a ride or removal of their rider #.

Fear of the van catching up to me was what got me to the finish line before dark in 2011…

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[brendan]

Speaking of Surlys…note that the 26″ LHT/Disc Trucker handles substantially different than the 700c LHD/Disc Trucker. If you’re not super-tall, there are really three varieties of Surly to compare: the Cross-Check, the 700c Trucker and the 26″ Trucker. I say this only because a lot of discussions of the CC vs. Trucker are A/B comparing the 700c models only which might be misleading if a 26″ Trucker is a better fit. You might be surprised by how the 26″ trucker rides.

[brendan]

This is reminding me of the time that G. Gordon Liddy showed up in a Miami Vice episode.

Also, I was down on Vermont Ave at VACO today, so who knows, maybe I got sucked up into one of the driving shots? Hmm.

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[brendan]

@americancyclo 110811 wrote:

the answer is always ‘rain cape’

The answer is “you’ll feel awesome once you get home and shower”*

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* (and complain about the rain/fog online, which I did…and now I feel awesome).

[brendan]

Starting 8:45pm-> (eastward bound):

W&OD from Herndon to Custis to DC is free from snow/slush except for about perhaps 100 feet or so total a few places out west. I put my feet down a few times but uncertain if it was really due to the slush or to the combination of slush, rain and FOG.

That fog was something else. It was an odd combination of ground fog and vapor coming off areas that had nearby snow.

Combined with the light rain, that led me to ride without my night-time cycling glasses for the entire ride, because the fog was just sticking to them! I ended up keeping my head turned a bit left or right to get side-light from my helmet mounted bike light. If it pointed directly ahead, it made it impossible to see the trail, because it was illuminating the fog too much.

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[brendan]

You: stomping the ice out of your clipless shoes just east of American Dream Rd (Lane? Boulevard? Promenade?) underpass in Reston this morning.
Me: “Snow in the cleats??” (or something similar)

Last time that’s gonna happen to any of us for quite some time. Yay!

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[brendan]

@vern 110592 wrote:

This morning my butt found a connection with the ice on the WOD adjacent to the tennis courts just past Shreve.

Considering today’s 60-ish temp in DC, this is probably overkill, but: planning to keep the studs on one more day for the ride out to Herndon tomorrow (telecommuting today), then swap the balloon tires back on for Wed/Thu commutes out there. Fingers crossed!

[brendan]

@seunpu 110459 wrote:

Trail was plowed and great from Reston to Smiths Switch. It was packed snow (wet on the way back). All plowing stopped after at Smiths Swith (which is right before the park equipment building). It pretty impossible after this point even with studs It’s just too slow. I looped over the W&OD west of Ashburn and it still was a mess. I might check again in the morning to see how far I can get out since this my normal weekday ride.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8044[/ATTACH]

Thanks! Keep us posted (here or more preferably in the March Trail Conditions thread). Would like to get back to my weekday commute out there this week!

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[brendan]

The trick about keeping the rear wheel loaded is important. I had more trouble today riding the cargo bike, particularly on slushy/icy uphills, because I had little to no cargo, depending on the segment of my ride. Since the rear wheel is much farther away from me than on a standard bike, it was harder to keep it properly weighted to prevent spinning.

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