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So sorry to hear about your bike Though it may be a small chance, I do hope you get it back.

Here’s a good thread, if you haven’t already seen it, with some info about stolen bikes and things to do when your bike is stolen.

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?61-Put-the-Brakes-on-Bike-Larcenies!

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Had a blast! Thanks so much for putting this together

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@Arlingtonrider 25078 wrote:

Can we send someone in a car to give you a ride over???

i’m on my way from Suitland, if someone needs to be picked up, text or call 301-471-6436 and I can swing by.

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I flagged this photo as inappropriate

http://greenbelt.patch.com/users/jeff-lemieux/photos#photo-7631900

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About 10 years ago when I was in the Army, I used to mentor troubled teens in the Cycle Across Maryland Teen Challenge Program. I alternately mentored and co-coordinated/mentored the programs for Anne Arundel and Howard counties (only 2 schools though). Recently I reconnected with one of the “troubled teens” I had mentored. He was just promoted to sergeant in the Army. I was a sergeant in the Army when I mentored him. We chatted over Facebook a bit, and he told me that I was part of the reason he is now an Army SGT. Cycling has not only changed my life, but through cycling I was able to change other lives.

There was one girl in particular, her name was Kemi. She was in our program for all 4 of her high school years. When one of her teachers found out she was participating in the program, she was amazed. “Doesn’t she cause all kinds of trouble? Can you control her at all?”. Kemi was not only an exceptional teen in our program, but each of her consecutive years in the program she was a “mentor in training”, keeping all the OTHER trouble kids in line. She went on to not only graduate high school, but college as well and is now a teacher. Here’s an old article mentioning her. (Marty Soveroski and I took turns as coordinator). Here’s another article (with Kemi included) where I spoke about how 7 of the 9 students completed the century ride the previous year, 60 of the miles in the rain (it rained the entire tour).

The program finally ended, and so did my cycling for about 10 years. Last year, I dropped 40+ pounds, and started cycling again. Now it’s about pain for me. I have pretty nasty arthritis in my facet joints in the spine from L2 to the SI joint. When I’m cycling, I don’t feel that pain. I also am in better shape, and have noticed that when I don’t cycle for a few days, the pain is quite a bit worse. As is my mental ability to deal with the pain. So for now, cycling is a massive quality of life improvement for me. I was getting quite depressed over the constant, unrelenting back pain. I go for these procedures where a long needle is inserted in to the joints in the spine, heated by radio frequency, and the nerves are destroyed by the heat. It’s torture. It’s depressing. Cycling is a major part of my efforts to keep the arthritis from completely destroying my quality of life. I believe I have literally saved lives through cycling.

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I woke up this morning and felt lazy I have a hard enough time biking 20 miles when I’m not feeling lazy! So, I drove to work LOL. If anyone needs to lock anything up in a vehicle, I have room in my little black Chevy Sonic.

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thanks! I’ll check it out. I’ll probably ride it this weekend just to see what it’s like

oh man, I just zoomed google maps in on that area, there is no way I want to ride that part! It looks like an area where I saw a news clip of a cyclist that got killed. I’ll need to avoid that for sure

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Sorry for the last minute RSVP. See you there!

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This would be the commute:

Bike to New Carrolton Metro: 19.5 miles

Bus to Bowie Park-n-ride: 15 minute bus ride

Bike from P-n-R to Job: 3.5 miles

Showers are available at the facility (I recalled after looking at building info). It’s a bit longer of a commute than I’ve got now, but I’ve got that lovely Miyata 610 with a An-Atomica saddle arriving tomorrow, rack, etc. It will be all set and ready to go by the start-date. I also have the personal time to commit to doing this. My kids are grown, I’m newly single with few distractions and only a Diablo 3 requirement (seriously, don’t mess with my D3 time!). I’ll at least give it a few attempts to see if I can pull it off. My current 20 mile commute hasn’t happened as often as I wanted because I found that carrying everything in the Chrome bag I bought was a bit hard on my back (arthritis, etc). I was sort of down that the easily commute-able Alexandria job couldn’t move faster (found out they were interested) with an offer and this job wanted an answer. Yeah, I think I’ve convinced myself I can do it.

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@GuyContinental 24781 wrote:

ShowerPill or Action wipes… just ordered my 4th case of the year

At some point I need to post a before/after when I’m muddy from my new CX commute detour- you’d be amazed at how well they work. Except for the very hottest days (which suck even with a shower) I haven’t really missed not having one. BUT I do have a door and an office fan…

Just did a search on the facility on our intranet, and found out there is a shower. I worked there for about a year back in ’07 or so and had totally forgotten about the shower. I’m looking in to the possibility of mixed-mode commute now, maybe bike-to-bus or something.

Hmm, it looks like if I can cycle to the New Carrolton Metro station, I can catch the B21 bus from NC metro to the Bowie Park-n-Ride, a 10 minute bus ride. This is actually work-able!

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@creadinger 24766 wrote:

Oh man! There goes my “commuting buddy”. There aren’t many of us who ride east of the Anacostia and even fewer who head up the hill into Suitland. Best of luck in your new job! You can still ride on weekends at least.

I’ll still ride during the week! LOL At least for now, it’s plenty light out when I get home to go for a nice 10-15 mile ride. Unfortunately, I haven’t been riding to work nearly as much as I wanted to. Trying to carry everything on my back turned out to be a bit much given my spinal arthritis issues. Hence why I bought the Miyata, only to realize my cycling commute just got nerfed.

The reason I posted this thread was to get some sympathy over my commute losing its options (no metro, cycling distance), but most everyone is trying to find a way for me to actually still bike! I’m going to re-think my assumption that I’m stuck driving, so please keep the suggestions coming! One other issue I need to look at is the lack of a shower at my new location. It’s also kind of remote, so not sure what alternatives are nearby. It’s on Melford Boulevard in Bowie.

just found out, there is a shower…

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@DaveK 24732 wrote:

Hate to hear that anyone’s job is expendable but it doesn’t get much better than a week between jobs after an unexpected layoff. My record was 6 months and that took a thousand-mile move. I hope the new position treats you better, and please don’t be a stranger!

fortunately, I did get a bit more notice. I knew from the government client before my company did, and started my search immediately. The contract was to end July 31st, so I beat the drop-dead date by a week. To be fair, I’m a skilled senior IT engineer. Even with my resume offline, I still get several emails and calls a week wondering if I’m on the market.

I’ve really gone over all the options for commuting. Even thought about moving, but I had just signed a new lease. The only possibility would be either a mix of drive-then-bike or take metro. Metro would have me taking the Red line in to DC, then Orange out to New Carrolton or MARC, then bike. Metro’s rules about bikes during rush hours kind of kills that option.

The Alexandria job said they’re interested, but want to interview other candidates. That position was found through the same consulting company I’m taking the offer through, so I can’t switch even if they decide to make an offer. It is, however, a government contract. My history has been a year or two (at best) before the contract is up and I have to move on, so this is only a temporary block to bike commuting. I might even try to find a viable route, despite the mileage (though I think the commute times are a bit much). Yeah, I’ve thought through all the possibilities, and not getting a quick offer in Alexandria is getting me down a bit. I even bought a new Selle An-Atomica saddle for my new commuting steed!

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@GuyContinental 24689 wrote:

Wow- that’s rough. Taking a generic “‘Bethesda” to “Bowie” google map the bike directions have 74 turns with 71 of them under a mile and the longest single road only 3 miles… That. Is. Awful.

http://goo.gl/maps/GLlu

it’s worse:
http://goo.gl/maps/jddN

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@RESTONTODC 24664 wrote:

If I every need to find new job, below are my requirements by priority.

1. Accessible from bike trail
2. Locker and shower
3. Secured bike rack
4. Flexible working hours so I can join the happy hours

99. Salary.

Good luck on your new job!

There was another job I interviewed for that just couldn’t turn around their offer fast enough. It’s in Alexandria near the King St. Metro, which would’ve been nice. The salary was a bit less, but benefits were very good. I just couldn’t get an indication if they were even interested, and the other offer was ticking down, they wanted an answer. I couldn’t risk losing that offer for a “possibility” that the Alexandria one was going to make an offer. So, my priority was 1) job, 2) the other stuff lol

I was only kidding about leaving :p I do wish there was some more convenient way to get to Bowie from Bethesda, but I just don’t think enough people actually do that commute that it’s worth it. At least I’ll be going against the flow of rush traffic, for the most part.

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@KelOnWheels 24560 wrote:

Congrats! Bring back some glaciers.

Didn’t you hear? They all melted! Maybe he can bring back a water bottle full

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