[brendan]

The Bike Rack DC has Saturday and Sunday rides. The Saturday ride is 30ish miles, while the Sunday ride is more road bike/drafting specific and a 40 miler (sometimes w/ a 60 mile option for a smaller subset of folks).

(edit: oops, too slow)

Brendan

[brendan]

@Dirt 4880 wrote:

Great comment Brendan. I notice a lot of people unclip ahead of time as they approach a stop light. That doesn’t help with unplanned stops, but it does help make it so you’re doing fewer things all at once. By the time you’re scoping traffic and getting ready to put your foot down, you’ve already been unclipped for 5 seconds.

The Big Dummy presents other issues…. especially if it is loaded. I use road pedals and shoes on my dummy… which probably isn’t the best choice. The road shoes are a bit slippery on pavement. When the bike is fully loaded that can make waiting at stop lights a bit of an adventure. I might have to put the MTB pedals on the dummy the next time I take it out and see how that works.

Yeah. My clipless shoes are Lake winter shoes (SPD), a pair of shimano mountain biking sandals (SPD) and some standard bontrager shoes (SPD) – I’m new to clipless pedals since October 2010. Only the bontragers have an issue of the cleat sticking out enough (or the lack of surrounding tread) to skid sometimes when I put my foot down and I’m not at a full stop. Presumably the issue isn’t quite as bad road shoes/cleats, which I have never tried. SPD seems like a good compromise.

[brendan]

On the big dummy, the lower speeds and BB7 brakes (that can stop a train on a dime) allow me to shift-down, unclip and brake correctly all the time. I only fall over if I manage to lean the wrong way, which becomes rarer and rarer over time. On the road bike, however, I prioritize the unclipping and braking over down shifting since the brakes can sometimes require a lot more attention (earlier application/longer engagement/more strength) when coming to a stop. Plus brifters make it difficult to actuate both down-shift and braking in parallel. I learned the hard ways it’s better to be stuck in a high gear at the stop light than to overshoot the stop line and/or fall over.

Brendan

[brendan]

Oh jeebus. I never ride through there just on principle.

Brendan

[brendan]

I did my first couple of years of (my recent return to) bike riding, including my first couple of century rides, using standard pedals with nylon clips and cross-training shoes. Went to powergrips for a while, esp. for winter riding with my hiking boots and double wool socks.

With that said, padded shorts and a non-cotton top are essential. Tops designed for cycling make it much nicer: bright colors and even prismatic reflective material for traffic, pockets on the back and venting (including a partial or full front zip). Cheap sunglasses are fine to deal with sun, bugs, debris and wind. Gloves to fight off numbness and for grip on long rides. And a helmet.

But mostly: just keep riding.

Brendan

[brendan]

I’ve debated in my mind the “best” way to split lane overtake in DC on roads with more than one lane going my direction (e.g. in georgetown). I generally do it between the two travel lanes when it appears relatively safe, and never in the door zone – and it had never occurred too me to even be looking to the left in the door zone for doors. Granted, someone could open their doors in between travel lanes too, but it seems less likely to happen…though you could get taken out by someone trying to change lanes from a stop there…

Brendan

[brendan]

When I rode that section a few times last week, my only concern was that while the netting/fencing blocking the westbound entrance to the old bridge was orange, the fencing blocking the eastbound entrance to the old bridge was black. Granted there were three orange barrels across the trail there suggesting one should not proceed past them…but the black fence itself is invisible at night…

Brendan

[brendan]

From the long ride I did last Monday in up to 98 degree weather (e.g. when we passed BWI), I learned: it’s much cooler to be moving at any speed than stopped, even in the shade, since the air flow that you generate makes sweating much more efficient. Oh and: carry and drink as much fluids as you can: my road bike had two bottle cages in the normal places, plus two attached to a seatpost holder. 24 ounce bottles too…and it was barely enough.

Brendan

[brendan]

Yup. On my arlington <-> leesburg loop ride, if I can make it through leesburg without stopping for lunch, I’ll stop at carolina brothers. Eat the sandwich there, and have my cole slaw and mac & cheese when I get back to arlington.

Brendan

[brendan]

@CCrew 4220 wrote:

Airzound for the win

I’m a fan of the double bell…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnL4fjMzsSU

Of course, everyone needs a bit more training.

I’ve followed pedestrians slowly on the bike when coming upon a congested area (or a complex tactical mix w/ kids/dogs/etc.). If I follow too long with my (noisy) bike, sometimes they move off the trail and I have to tell them “no, keep walking, I’m waiting for oncoming traffic to clear” or “it’s my responsibility to wait”.

Generally, no matter how wide the trail, I find passing folks while oncoming traffic is also passing them to be utterly moronic and won’t do it (often to the annoyance of cyclists behind me).

I’ve screwed up a couple of times, though. What happened was that I thought I was clear to pass (and belled/called it out) until I got closer when I realized I couldn’t really do it safely. I called out “stopping” or “slowing” (just in case someone is tailing too close) and hit the brakes. This inevitably alarms the folks I’m trying to pass (darn squeaky brakes). Then I apologize for the sudden noise. And get a tongue lashing. Which I deserve.

Brendan

[brendan]

I’ve noticed something slightly alarming when taking the path to cross the 14th street bridge southwestward from DC: the path widens at the bridge connection with the left half going on to the bridge path and the right half leading to a set of steep stairs down to the routes below the bridge. The angle makes it difficult to notice the path turns into stairs until you get to the first stair, though I’ve never heard of accidents there: http://goo.gl/maps/3AkL

Brendan

[brendan]

Or there’s the going too far option some of us have chosen: a Surly Big Dummy (or some other xtracycle setup). I keep some dry bags in the side pockets in case I have to bring something home in the rain that shouldn’t get wet.

Brendan

[brendan]

Nearly every time I ride. I’ll probably have permanent but nearly invisible scars on my mid/lower shins for life.

[brendan]

Twice in two days, earlier this year, the same pack of 4 or 5 deer were about a mile or so east of vienna, hanging out on the north side of the trail in the same spot. Both times they started running east as I approached, along the north side of the trail. Both times I had to slow to a crawl or stop because they clearly wanted to exit the area to the south, crossing the trail, and I didn’t want them running over me to get there.

Be careful out there. And keep an eye open for the suicidal bunnies.

Brendan

[brendan]

@Brendan von Buckingham 4034 wrote:

Southside side of Memorial Bridge, eastbound.

Thanks, that’s my route into parts of DC. Good to know.

Brendan

[Author]

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