[brendan]

@jrenaut 4033 wrote:

Should have stepped up to the Defy 1 with the air conditioning option. It’s hot out there today.

Learned yesterday that stopping in the heat is worse than creating your own air conditioning by moving along at a moderate pace…

Brendan

[brendan]

The sharp left on the North side eastbound or the curved right from the South side eastbound?

[brendan]

@jrenaut 4002 wrote:

So now I have a brand new Giant Defy 3 hanging from the ceiling the hallway…It’s super awesome that the high tomorrow is supposed to be 95 F.

I’ve heard great things about the Giant Defys – you get a better bike for the same money vs. some of the bigger name brands, from a company that might have actually manufactured the bike for the bigger name brands! Having had those recommended to me, but not yet willing to pay up for one, I picked up a used ’03 Giant OCR 1: my understanding is that the OCR is the forerunner of the Defy. This is in prep for a very long ride in June. Took it out on it’s maiden voyage of a 68 miler in Burlington, NJ last Sunday and did a 120 miler yesterday (dc though Annapolis and back again … the long way). Still need to futz with seat/handlebar adjustments a bit more, but overall comfortable and light. This being my first road bike, it being light made yesterday’s hill climbs in the heat almost tolerable – we were riding by BWI around the time it hit 98. Ugh.

Brendan

[brendan]

@JimF22003 3969 wrote:

I cut over from the Custis trail to my bike shop on Wilson Blvd in Ballston yesterday. I used the bike lanes to get there, and it was fine.

What do people do about that one block stretch getting from the path that crosses I66 to the start of the bike lane on Fairfax? Is that cobblestone stuff supposed to be rideable? I don’t see a good way to get over to the other side of the road without riding down the sidewalk for a bit.

Maybe I’m missing something. Any regulars with some advice on how you handle this?

Are you talking about the south side of the block, heading east from the NE terminus of the bluemont junction trail? I usually just mozey through the driveways of the building(s) there until I can get past the last light before the light at glebe, then cross a lane of traffic so that I can get into the bike lane before glebe. Trying to get over into traffic coming off of I-66 blindly from behind the wall would be insane, and that sidewalk itself is a jumbled mess of danger.

Brendan

[brendan]

@GreyBear 3910 wrote:

The W&OD is two lanes, clearly marked with a center line, no? Then the person who would have to go into the other lane would clearly be the one with the responsibility to yield.

Point taken. But it’s not always so simple, especially at a pinchpoint / narrow. I guess both should yield then.

On the topic of cyclist-on-cyclist conflict, I’m smarting a bit after being yelled at by another cyclist, in Italian (which made it somewhat funny), for stopping at a stop sign on Tuesday night in East Potomac Park / Hains Point. Though, it is the de facto Velodrome for DC…

Brendan

[brendan]

@StopMeansStop 3907 wrote:

I doubt that hills have any basis for right-of-way, but even if it DID, the yield sign trumps that right of way.

Concur.

I was actually thinking about something similar yesterday in the context of good trail manners (not right of way, though), while riding the W&OD. Given a simulated situation where two cyclists are heading towards each other on a narrow path on a sharp incline and will pass each other near a narrow or other kind of obstruction that might lead to a dangerous closeness (to each other, an object or another trail user) unless one of them adjusts their velocity: which should be expected to slow their velocity more?

If I were either cyclist, I know that I’d be reluctant to give up the speed, but it seems to me that in terms of lost work (or even balance), it would make more sense for the downhill rider to be kind and apply their brakes, since the uphill rider is presumably riding harder and more likely to lose control if they have to slow/stop hard.

[brendan]

I’m in a hurry, so I always get the bugs to go…the gnats manage to be stuck all over my body by the time I get home…

[brendan]

I concur with the suggestions of blaze/fluorescent green/yellow/orange tops for anywhere you’re going to be cycling with or intersecting with traffic. I have a couple of these that I wear 99% of the time (w/ pockets & side/underarm venting – in “killer yellow”): http://www.amazon.com/Canari-Mens-Commuter-Cycling-Jersey/dp/B002UBU8U4

I also concur with the suggestion of using general wicking activewear tops in a pinch, but I’d avoid black if you’re going to be out in traffic (mine’s red+grey).

I have a 16? 17? year old set of REI-brand double shorts I still wear most of the time for general cycling. Crotch/Seat padding, lycra on the inside layer and nylon shorts on the outside. It even has front zipper pockets, which I don’t know if you can find any more. I wear underwear with them, even though you’re not supposed to, just in case I need to wear them for more than one day w/o washing.

I only go standard lycra shorts if I still can’t get the wash done in time, or for road bike training.

Brendan

[brendan]

@acc 3805 wrote:

That being said, the trail right next to the building is tricky. To be safe, it is necessary to practically crawl through the area. I don’t want to knock a kid down. At least not one unrelated to me by DNA. I hate scrubbing the asphalt stains out of my jersey and the blood off my knees. Someone told me all the scratches and dings on Spartacus give him character. I think he was just being nice, thanks Dirt. So yes, it is important to note that area and protect yourself and folks who are completely unaware of our presence. They are focused on entering and exiting the building and not on the path.

Best wishes,
Ann

Yes. I always take that section super slow, as I understand why it is natural for folks entering/exiting the community center and/or play/fields area to assume that getting to/from the parking lot is just crossing a sidewalk and not a paceline path…but I do also ring my bell obnoxiously when there’s a crowd of kids just hanging out blocking the trail.

There was one trip out there where kids were hiding in the bushes throwing tennis balls across the paths of passing cyclists. That’s really outside of the norm for the area, though.

Brendan

[brendan]

Hehehehe…friends and I are considering doing a “The Warriors” bike tour of NYC…

[brendan]

@JimF22003 3723 wrote:

I find cycling is good to maintain my weight, but it doesn’t really help me lose weight by itself. I ride a lot (8500 miles last year) but I can easily “out-eat” my riding. Over the course of the summer I might slowly lose 5 to 10 pounds. But to really lose weight I think you need to control your food intake. I doubt any exercise on its own can make up for too many Big Macs and the inevitable fries with that.

Can’t compare biking to swimming. I do know that I can ride a bike for 8 hours a day. I used to be able to run for an hour at the most till my knees gave out. I don’t know how long the average swimmer swims, but it’s probably not 8 hours, or even 1 hour. So for long, sustained effort, which uses up a lot of calories, I think biking may have an edge.

Yes to all of that above…and add to the bonus that every hour I’m biking is an hour I’m not sitting on the couch…esp. sitting on the couch snacking. One caveat about out-eating a ride: I find it’s nearly impossible to eat enough to keep up with the output of an all day ride and you can work up to doing that once every week or so if you’ve got time on your schedule. Way easier than working up to all day running/swimming…

Also, a rule at home is: movies and TVs only when I’m on the treadmill (treadmill is directly in front of the TV). I do, however, work and waste time on the internet while sitting, which is definitely problematic.

Still: down from nearly 270 to 185 over the past three years though modified diet (with inevitable backslides) and biking/treadmill. 16 more to go to the target.

Brendan

[brendan]

@Mark Blacknell 3714 wrote:

If anyone reading this would like to sell me a 58cm Traveler’s Check for cheap . . .

…for cheap! ha!

They are oh so pretty. And oh so versatile…

Brendan

[brendan]

@baiskeli 3619 wrote:

Republicans ride bikes?

Yup, some even bike commute! http://www.commutebybike.com/2011/05/09/on-parking-and-bikeshare-not-all-republicans-think-alike-if-at-all/

Brendan

[brendan]

There are days I’ll brave pretty much everything, (though I’m really down about the weather predictions for this week). The two things I don’t mess around with are tornadoes and lightning.

Brendan

[brendan]

@consularrider 3328 wrote:

No bike lane on MacArthur Blvd. There is a bi-directional sidepath that runs from the Anglers Inn to the Brookes Lane intersection (I think).

You might be able to work the capital crescent trail in there as an alternate path instead of the C&O, unless it takes you too far out of the way. Alternately, you could ride the C&O for a shorter distance and then move over to the now-parallel capital crescent trail for the remainder of the ride. Google bike directions is infuriating in that it makes it difficult to remove clara barton parkway (not a good idea for most folks) and c&o canal (not a good idea for skinny tires or clothing you don’t mind getting filthy) from the route.

Adding a couple of middle-of-the-ride destinations, I kind of massaged it into giving a semi-useful route here, which follows macarthur down to the MD/DC border and then jumps over to the capital crescent trail…

http://goo.gl/maps/TLNm

Brendan

PS – when passing through the lincoln memorial / washington monument corridor, I prefer to take the southerly route on the memorial, the reflecting pool and the monument on the paths. Seems somewhat less complex to get to the eastern side of the monument.

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