brendan
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DC->Reston commute, as usual for a Tuesday. Layered up, headed out very late due to morning calls…which means it wasn’t as cold as it could’ve been had I left earlier.
But still..holy moley the wind. I was a bit…sluggish.
Was almost at the Custis / W&OD intersection, when…snick. Rear derailleur cable snapped. Stopped to check…and yup, yet again, it snapped inside the shifter. Fourth time in a bit over a year.
I re-adjusted my front triple to improve its shifting and decided to keep going rather than unload the entire cargo bike and run the replacement shifter cable, particularly because I’d probably have to disassemble the rear shifter to get the cable end out. A bit too cold to do that on the side of the trail unless I had to.
So I went from a bit sluggish to just plain sluggish…
I did stop in at Bikekinetic (and gave pete a whatup nod!) to see if they had any shifters in stock. Nope, but I knew it was a longshot. Same with Spokes in Vienna.
Going to replace the cable (I’ll move the bike into the downstairs lobby first) before heading back home tonight.
Very glad I brought an extra set of warm dry biking clothes for the trip home today. And the cable and cable cutter, like usual.
@dasgeh 86629 wrote:
Don’t forget “child bike trail along tow bars” like the Trail Gator. They allow you to turn your kids bike into a trail-a-bike, which gives them a separate bike when they want. I don’t have personal experience with them, but there’s always the interwebs.
PS. We love the WeeHoo, in part because of its large weight range.
Heh, might be problematic with coaster brakes on the kids’ bike…
B
@PotomacCyclist 86559 wrote:
Why are there so many cyclists going the wrong way on the L and M St. cycletracks? The tracks are clearly marked as one-way, and these people can see bike traffic headed right into them in the narrow track. And yet they still go the wrong way in the cycletracks. It’s not that hard to head one block north or south to go in the other direction.
Funny. I was just about to say that it’s a lazy human nature thing but still…why not be slightly less lazy and do what I did in Clarendon which was to “become a pedestrian” and ride a block two or three blocks on the sidewalk on Wilson (slowly) instead of having to go over to Clarendon Blvd., bike two or three blocks, then head back up to Wilson.
But then I remembered that sidewalk riding is illegal in the central business district in DC!
Maybe more illegal than salmoning in the cycletrack?
Ahem.@americancyclo 86523 wrote:
even if it’s not the LPI for the direction I’m going? :p
Seriously, what was section b) *intended* to mean, because it’s literally saying something almost useless. Section a) also seems problematic, as it appears to me to indicate that I can use the LPI as permission to proceed *unless* there’s a contradictory sign or…traffic signal?
Am I just not well versed in decoding the law here?
Is this too pedantic:
“(a) A bicyclist may cross at an intersection while following the pedestrian traffic control signal for the bicyclist’s direction of travel unless otherwise directed by traffic signs or traffic control devices.”
Literal translation: you can use the walk signal to proceed unless it is contradicted by other traffic control devices (such as a stop light).
“(b) A bicyclist may cross an intersection where a leading pedestrian interval is used.”
Literal translation: a cyclist can cross an intersection where a LPI is installed. It doesn’t specify if a cyclist can cross an intersection where an LPI is not installed, nor does it state anything about whether the LPI is turned on, turned toward the cyclist or presenting any state information to the cyclist.
B
@dkel 86426 wrote:
The polar vortex didn’t even slow me down (#BAFS), but the pollen might be my undoing:
I’ll be calling the ophthalmologist, and if I have to go to her office, I think I’ll drive.
If the eye doc is going to dilate your pupils, I suggest walk/metro/bus/cab instead of bike or drive…
But yeah, Tuesday night, my eyes looked like that and I didn’t even realize it until I went to take out my contact lenses.
B
@consularrider 86440 wrote:
REI has a good deal right now on the Garmin Edge 800 bundle. The start switch button on my Edge 500 is starting to be finicky, so maybe time to replace it after almost four years and 40,000 miles.
…which means that it’s likely there’s another one on the way…yup, Garmin 1000. With a bigger screen for the over-40 set with failing eyes like me.
B
@dasgeh 86477 wrote:
I would love to see local jurisdictions decriminalize minor violations, like stop sign running, for bikes, like they did for small amounts of pot. Even leave the laws and on the books, just be clear that they won’t be enforced absent special circumstances (like causing danger to others).
I wouldn’t be surprised if DC has nearly decriminalized it. I’m generally sheepish about slow-rolling through stop signs and stop/look/go for red lights when there is law enforcement around, but I’m convinced the local officers in DC have been told to de-prioritize enforcement on cyclists due to the things I’ve seen happen in front of law enforcement that get ignored (perhaps with suggestions to pursue only if the cyclist is clearly causing danger for him/herself or others).
One big example I can think of is that participants in the dc bike party rides only tend to get in trouble for open container/public intoxication infractions, and not for the dozens (or perhaps grosses…) of traffic infractions that are easily observable.
B
Does that light have a leading pedestrian interval (LPI) walk signal (walk signal 3+ second before green light for parallel traffic) during which you proceeded?
If not, you got a verbal warning for breaking the law, which is about the best as it gets. If it happened to me, I wouldn’t feel it was worth likely changing that into an actual ticket to engage the officer.
I say this knowing that I often make a similar decision to proceed regardless of LPI (and timing) or not.
B
PS – my favorite story is a cyclist friend of mine rolled up to a deserted red light in dc, and was then joined by a two wheeled police officer who rolled up right next to him. I’m assuming my friend was aware of the officer, which would have explained why he just stayed there instead of proceeding after checking to see if things were clear.
I can’t recall if it was a bike or motorcycle mounted officer. The officer said something along the lines of “what are you waiting for?” My friend said “it’s a red light, officer.” To which the officer responded, “bike rules.”, smiled and proceeded through it. As did my friend…
