[Bruno Moore]

Yay! No more “where the eff is Shirlington?” No more “okay, you’re going to cross this highway interchange by the Pentagon,” no more attempts to navigate a frozen over MVT, just fun dodging busses on M Street (and the disaster that is the M Street Cycletrack)—or having actual fun avoiding it all on the C&O and laughing at all the eejits in their cars honking at one another and hating their lives.

Expect us.

[Bruno Moore]

Hangon, hangon, hangon—does this mean that other Strava activities (ice skate, windsurf, roller ski, yoga, etc) can be counted? I think there’s a can of worms that I may just have to exploit at some point…

[Bruno Moore]

I love pedal assist bikes. Anyone who tells you they’re not “real” bikes needs to take a joy ride on a Faraday. Anyone who thinks it’s cheating to use pedal assist needs to borrow an EdgeRunner 9e or 10e and three kids and get schlepping up to Marist Hall at the top of CUA’s campus. Anyone who thinks a 13-pound carbon Wunderfahrrad or custom-made titanium blingbike with electronic shifting, Garmin, and/or power meter is more sporting or honest than a fully loaded Spicy Curry or retrofitted bakfiets should probably have their head examined after they pull it out of the dark, stinky place they’ve been keeping it.

[Bruno Moore]

I will be doing a Pointless Prize.

It will be coffee related.

I doubt anyone’s surprised.

[Bruno Moore]

@PotomacCyclist 129006 wrote:

FYI – Bixi went bankrupt, not Alta. Bixi was a supplier/contractor for Alta. I don’t believe Alta was ever in any immediate danger of going bankrupt. But Alta did sell off their bikeshare division to REQX. That was renamed Motivate.

I biked around College Park last week, for the first time ever. Doesn’t the University have over 37,000 students (undergrad and grad) plus more than 9,000 staff? 46,000+ people concentrated in a geographically small city, with most of them under the age of 30. That would seem to be enough to support a CaBi outpost. Wouldn’t it?

I know the Purple Line is supposed to include a paved trail extension between Bethesda and downtown Silver Spring. Are there plans to have any bike trails along the Purple Line east of Silver Spring, into College Park? It’s a bit of a hike. Most casual cyclists should be able to handle that distance (about 5-6 miles?), but it might just be far enough where most people wouldn’t bike the trip. I’d also guess that most people wouldn’t bike from College Park to downtown DC, especially on a slower CaBi bike. Are there are any really popular bike traffic routes in the general area, other than within the main campus, and between the campus and the Metro station? Is there a lot of bike traffic between the campus and Greenbelt?

I’ll be interested to hear how successful the Zagster program is, and whether CP and UMD decide to join CaBi in a few years (in place of or in complement to the Zagster program).

46,000 people, not all of whom live on campus (or even anywhere near it—grad students may show up from Australia once a year), etc. The population of CP is usually estimated at around 30k, and, given that the city stretches for about four miles along Rhode Island Avenue, not necessarily that small. Most plans for Bikeshare tend to concentrate around downtown and the campus, with an outpost by the Metro, maybe some in Old Town or Calvert Hills when the Cafritz development goes in; not much if anything north of MD-193/Greenbelt Road, save perhaps at Greenbelt Metro, about three miles and change from the Stamp Union by bike.

Plans for the Purple Line Trail, last I heard, was to run it the entire length of the line. This is part of the reason why, despite being the most deadly intersection in the county, we’re not trying to make the University Boulevard/Riggs Road intersection from Hell in Adelphi less lethal—it’s going to be ripped up during Purple Line construction, and a bike path put in. Ditto trying to forge connections between the NEBranch and Sligo Creek, which would connect College Park to Silver Spring and Takoma, where many students live and work. Of course, Governor Hogan has cut funding for the project pretty drastically, insisting that “unnecessary” features be cut…

To be perfectly honest, I’m not optimistic.

As far as popular bike routes—HECK YEAH! I mean, I’m one of many people who commutes from CP to DC (or vice versa) every day, and, as so many people who did the Cider Ride discovered, there’s some really nice infrastructure in my part of the world. Granted, once you’re out of the ATHA, it all just suddenly seems to die—heck, even within the area, you go from “really great!” to “nuttin” each time you cross a jurisdictional boundary (I usually cross about nine on my way in to work)—but in CP alone, we have the Indian Creek, Paint Branch, Trolly, and NEBranch trails, plus bike lanes, signposting, speed humps, and planning for more bike and pedestrian infrastructure and initiatives.

Campus to the Metro? Down the hill, cross US1 take Trolly Trail south, left to Metro. Mile and a half from the Stamp, IIRC. Cake.

CP to Greenbelt? Eff That Noise. The most direct route, 193, is best undertaken if you hate the idea of continued existence. Even the racers at Greenbelt Park will take back ways to avoid it. Usually, you either take the sidewalk, your own personal back way, or dismount and walk through Greenbelt Metro.

And thanks for catching my Subsidiary Error.

[Bruno Moore]

From the meeting in Greenbelt (the place, not the poster…though he was there too), the deal is that CP gets 3 years for the price of 1 if they go with Zagster. Alta Bikeshare was in the process of going bankrupt during the bid process (they got bought by Motivate/REQX Ventures afterwards, but too late to submit a bid; while there was some talk of reopening the process to allow the now solvent Motivate to bid, that never happened), so they weren’t considered.

In discussion, it seems like this may be—emphasis on the “may”—something like a stopgap/low-risk pilot program. CaBi needs to expand outward into Woodridge, North Michigan Park, Mount Rainier, and Brentwood; a few crucial trail connections and wayfinding networks (Cafritz development, Route 1 between Franklin’s and NEBranch, Arundel Road) need to be developed, and College Park itself needs a bit more density before CaBi can really take off. The Zagster system has the advantages of being easily moved, easily changed, and a bit more flexible. It may be three years before CP really has to worry about connectivity with the wider CaBi system; when that day comes, they’ll have learned a few things from this program.

[Bruno Moore]

@dkel 128993 wrote:

I loved the beer challenge, and it was great for Rockford and me to set our sights on it and go all out…but, man, I am NOT doing that again! Seriously, I was spent by #BAFS last year! (But it might just have been a hangover. :p)

Same. Here. By the end of it, I was looking at just how much I was spending on beer (seriously, it was cutting into my coffee budget) and hoping against hope that I was the only one hiding their beerneuring.

I’m a little sad that, by planning and running this coffee-oriented scavhunt I’ve been thinking about, I’m going to disqualify myself from participating in my one-man quest to overcaffeinate all y’alls.

[Bruno Moore]

Regional teams all the way! I still run into and meet up with my fellow Inquisitors out on the trails—which, given that I hadn’t met half of them before BAFS, is kinda impressive. Yes, I know this is Bike Arlington FS, but I also remember having to ask where the @#$% Shirlington was for the opening HH. On the one hand, yes, it might get more Marylanders out in Falls Church and Virginians in Hyattsville (perhaps ending the astonishment people had when seeing how nice biking in my part of the world is during Cider Ride), which would be good. On the other hand, having a team whose members were scattered all around the Beltway and beyond might be a tad tricky. It was hard enough for the Inquisition to schedule meetups at Fishnet and Franklin’s; I can’t imagine how tricky tri-state coordination might be.

[Bruno Moore]

@GovernorSilver 128744 wrote:

Interesting thread.

The Kona Private Jake that I test rode comes stock with a 40T chain ring as part of its 1×11 SRAM drive train. Climbing on it took more effort than the other test bikes though, because its largest rear cog was 32T. I would have loved to try its brother the Kona Rove ST, which also has a 1×11 drivetrain and 40T chainring but with a 36T as the largest cog.

Strange thing is, I’ve never run out of gears on the low end of my Private Jake—done some mountain biking, three ‘cross races, the GAP, some local commuting, ‘cross practice, that kind of thing. Where I have almost run into trouble, though, was taking a supernice carbon Jamis Supernova Team with Force CX1 out to Fairland; while Ellie has a Mere Mortal friendly 40/11-32 gearing, the Supernova has a 42-tooth chainring…which means I never left the bottom three gears when on dirt. Usually just kept it on the bottom one, to be honest, though I was still able to outclimb about anyone else out there that day (a problem, since I can’t descend worth dirt). Could be that I use clips with Ellie and can get more power, could just be that I’m used to how she rides, as opposed to an unfamiliar demo bike, could be that I run her slightly wider tires tubeless and thus wayyyyyy lower (25-32 psi) than I did with the pinchflattable demo (~50, iirc), but those two teeth seem to have made more difference than I would have thought.

I do sometimes run out the top end on pavement, however, like the opening sections of the Met Branch southbound after 8th NE. Not usually a problem, though. On the GAP, I was able to sustain a long (~3 miles) solo drag chasing my dad in the top three cogs over level but well-maintained dirt; that wasn’t an easy effort, though it was sustainable. When using this bike on dirt, in other words, I’ve never felt the 1x to be a loss, and, when racing, I appreciate the benefit when I hear the sounds of straining front mechs, clattering as chains fall off, and swearing from behind me as one more piece of equipment I never have to worry about breaking fails on someone else’s bike.

I’d also argue that the touring brother of the Private Jake would be the Sutra LTD, which has the 36/10-42 Rival 1 drivetrain kinda like the PJ. If you’re looking into touring 1x—and yes, there’s quite a bit of discussion of it in bikepacking circles, though mostly of the “can we pull it off yet?” variety—that’s a good place to start.

[Bruno Moore]

@elbows 128858 wrote:

One more question, if I may. How terrible is Bladensburg Rd from the Arboretum to Maryland?

Purgitorial to Hellish.

I do it pretty regularly; it’s okay on Saturdays, less so on Sundays, clear late at night (but watch for potholes and the pitch black Bladensburg Waterfront Trail on your way back), and choked and miserable weekdays.

You’re almost better off taking Montana up to 18th, using the climbing lanes to get to Varnum, then going north on Arundel Road through Mount Rainier at 22nd/Eastern/Varnum before crossing the bridge at 38th and taking the NE Branch to Shortcake. It’s how I’m planning to get to work once Bikeyspace opens up in Ivy City.

…and yes, Shortcake is awesome. So are Franklin’s and Vigilante, both of which might have bike-related business stories of their own. I know Chris Vigilante bikes to the roastery from DC, and Mike Franklin had a bit of a “grrr, bike path” to “BRING ON THE CYCLISTS!” conversion once people started locking up on his racks and drinking all his beer.

[Bruno Moore]

Oh, worry you not. There will be a Brünø Coffee Challenge. I’ve been planning it since the last HH of BAFS15. Now, let’s get BAFS16 up and running…

(Why’d our Team Assignment Mistress have to up and move to MSO?)

[Bruno Moore]

All I’m sayin’ is that three kids, at least one of whom was standing up at some points, had greater spudity than WABA’s executive director.

[Bruno Moore]

Duly noted. In the meantime, I know there’s that Anacostia course you’ve been working on, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to make one work out near Colmor Manor…

[Bruno Moore]

Illy is just evil; that 21-25% grade at the beginning just saps you for the second kickup. There is no good or easy way to ride that kind of grade.

Most of our hills around here are short, frequent, and sometimes steep, so it’s hard to train for sustained climbs. Of course, the same could be said about the Netherlands—so perhaps heading out to the BARC on a windy day and staying out of the drops might be your best option.

[Bruno Moore]

The rear tire on Valentine the Inschwinnerator is a Marathon. I’ve had it for, oh, 3,500 miles or so? Run over beer bottles, off curbs, on dirt, etc. No flats. It’s a bit hard rolling, not as supple or maneuverable as the Vittoria Zaffiro I used to have (and still have on the front…6,000 miles or so after I put it on), but those Vittorias do get flats.

Marathon Pros? I’ve seen half inch shards of glass in those. No flat.

[Author]

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