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@Harry Meatmotor 143792 wrote:

Mt. Ida repeats!

May as well do the Mt. Ida – Mansion double. Come back down to Commonwealth via Virginia – Woodland – Russel – Del Ray to make it a loop.

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@wheels&wings 143754 wrote:

Hi Lordofthemark. Don’t believe anything people say about efficiency or using low gears. Indeed, standing is the best way – the only way — to get up those freakin’ hills, ‘cause it aligns your body over your pedals and lets gravity do all the work. No pressure on your joints. It’s just like dancing…upward. And while you’re at it, you might try standing on the flat too. It even works on the descents.
Isn’t this what Ben E King was talking about in Stand by Me? http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/05/ben-e-king-dead-at-76-stand-by-me/392126/

And if you can handle all of that, you can get rid of the seatpost and saddle. You’ll save a bunch of grams and make your dancing skills all that much better.

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@bobco85 143630 wrote:

They officially reduced the speed limit from 35 to 25 mph in March. https://www.alexandriava.gov/localmotion/info/default.aspx?id=90314 Before, the speeds would be 40+, but now the speeds are closer to 30-35 mph which is at least an improvement.

Yeah they also added “strictly enforced” to all the 25mph speed limit signs. I sometimes go that way when I ramble around Alexandria and now that the road is 25mph I confidently take the lane, heading south.

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@ginacico 143326 wrote:

I only ride through there occasionally, but it will be on my daily commute when I move to the Long Branch Creek neighborhood next month.

As currently configured, that intersection requires an excess of caution that most cyclists in a hurry don’t give it. I agree it would be better served by having the continuing direction be more of a gentle curve while those exiting onto S Glebe have to do something more deliberate, like make a left turn. I don’t know how much right of way is there to create better interactions, but to me it would be worth losing (maybe relocating or replacing?) a couple of trees. In fact, those trees are part of the problem as they interrupt the sight lines.

Absolutely. The easy, “saw ready” solution right now would be to lose those 3 trees on the corner.

Looking eastbound as Dickie would do before the intersection.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8445387,-77.0706044,3a,90y,102.17h,86.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sesXb3k7s3ltobHK9YeYFrw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

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Update!!

I got my class III hitch from etrailers.com. The amount of research on that site is amazing. It’s REALLY useful and highly recommended if you need a hitch or any sort of trailer type thing.

I got the hitch installed at MIDAS Alexandria. They originally quoted me about $170, but when they saw how easy it was to do, they only charged me $108. Not bad and since I don’t have a lift or a grinder to widen the holes it saved me time, effort, and money. I don’t plan on towing any big heavy trailers with this, so it should be sufficient.

I picked up a Thule T2 rack from REI, and have since installed that and it all looks great.

[STUPIDQUESTION]We’re going on vacation soon and we’re only taking 1 bike. I can just install one of the bike platforms on the rack right? There’s no reason to put both on there and haul an empty one around for hundreds of miles is there?[STUPIDQUESTIONTIME]

I’ll post a picture later.

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@Kitty 142496 wrote:

Promise not to drop me too hard? :p Worse comes to worse I’ll see you all at the finish

It’s called leading a breakaway off the back.

Have fun all!

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@huskerdont 142957 wrote:

Glad the “screaming like a goat” (awesome phrase, even if I don’t know what a screaming goat sounds like) worked out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIaFtAKnqBU

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@huskerdont 142927 wrote:

But reading comments on the Post about cyclists and pedestrians simply angries up the blood.

Absolutely true. But these are questions on the Ask Dr. Gridlock live blog. They’re not just dumb commentors on a news blurb. I feel like these have more credence as they’re vetted ahead of time and the Post reporter has to respond live.

Which is why I felt they were relevant enough to post here. They may be a good indicator on how angry drivers are about the Lynn/Lee intersection and there may be more enforcement out there soon.

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And this idiot….

Q: The Flashing Red Hand
PLEASE REPEAT: The flashing red hand means that cyclists and pedestrians should NOT start to cross. This is a huge problem in the city.

A: Robert Thomson
I don’t mind repeating it, but out of all the changes we could make to encourage safe behavior by everyone in traffic, I think that this is one of the least likely to be achieved. (Not that any of them look easy. Example: “What does a yellow light mean?”)

I can’t argue about the IoD. I rarely go through it. But in that case it’s simply because Arlington, VA, and NPS have let everybody down by designing a terrible intersection and you’re acting out of common sense and self-preservation. I cannot imagine that these idiots wait for the white signal at every single intersection as they walk around the city.

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If waiting for LONG periods of time at stop lights makes raises your blood pressure then this loaded question on Dr. Gridlock today may get it boiling….

So this person thinks most of you Lynn St. crossers are scofflaws…

Q: meaning of red light with countdown
Reading VA code (§ 46.2-925 and 46.2-904), I am under the impression that red means red, and if it is flashing and/or counting down seconds, it is still red, meaning “you shall not enter’. But every day I see pedestrians and more frequently bicyclists entering the crosswalk on flashing/counting down red (some do it on steady red too, but that’s infrequent). It happens a lot at Mt. Vernon Trail/N Lynn St crosswalk, aka “intersection of doom”. Am I misreading VA statutes, or are they breaking the law?

A: Robert Thomson
Pedestrians and cyclists are not supposed to enter the crosswalk once the red hand starts flashing. And I’ve heard that police sometimes will issue tickets for this. (Haven’t witnessed it.) Any long-time reader of these chats and my columns knows I think people should obey our traffic laws. All of them. But I’m not asking for a law enforcement campaign against people who step out when the red hand starts flashing. I’ll say more about this in response to the next comment.

As we all know that law is utter nonsense. After riding and walking around the area and seeing the ridiculously short white signals at many cross-walks I still can’t believe it exists. I was even beginning to think it was a joke until this. I consider myself a fairly law abiding person but this is one law that I will never follow.

So pulling up to an intersection having just missed the 3 seconds of white, why would anybody stand there with a thumb up their ass waiting while the timer counts down 30 more seconds, knowing they’d have to wait an additional 2 minutes to get the white signal again?! F that! Could you imagine if this was actually enforced?! I think it has been at the IoD on occasion is that right?

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@Fairlington124 142883 wrote:

I question if this is a biking event, or an unrelated political event that happens to involve bicycles. For the record, I do not support the position of the organizers of the event.

I think they use bikes because it’s the easiest way to get around the large perimeter of the blast of a hypothetical small nuclear weapon in DC.

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@washcycle 142797 wrote:

I don’t even think a bush would do it. You would need a wall. If only there were someone who liked walls, but not Bushs.

But who would pay for it?

It would be impressive if this person could get drivers to pay for a wall on a bike path!

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Well it looks like U-Haul is always an option. There’s a specific trailer place in Waldorf, and I’m waiting on a quote from Midas right now. Interestingly, the shop we usually go to (Curry’s on 4MR) doesn’t do hitch installation.

Yeah the problem with the dealer is they won’t put on a bolt-on hitch. They take off the back part of the frame and put a new one on with a hitch which means taking off the bumper and all that crap. So they won’t do the cheap option even if I told them I wasn’t going to tow any boats or trailers full of gravel or anything.

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@huskerdont 142766 wrote:

ETA: I was just looking around online and there is some information out there that the Subaru head gasket problem may have been fixed for 2016. Of course, they’ve known about this forever and the dealer told me it had been fixed for 2015. Anyway, may or may not be an issue.

Thanks for the tip! I will keep an eye on it. I’ll get an extra quart of oil to carry just in case.

I don’t think you should feel bad about not doing it. I don’t really want to myself. Besides, we’re on a relatively short timeline as we’re heading out for vacation in a couple of weeks. I have to buy/install a hitch and buy/install the hitch rack, and get used to using it. I’m going go with platform rack as that seems what people recommend most.

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Hey guys. Thanks for all info in this thread but I still have a big question.

We just got a brand new Subaru Crosstrek (our first ever new car) and I want to get a hitch installed for a hitch bike rack.

Where the heck can you get hitches installed?

Subaru can do it for $$$$.

U-Haul seems to be an option but a lot of threads warn about ever letting them touch your new car. Can anyone recommend anywhere else in the DMV?

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