[cvcalhoun]

@Supermau 93595 wrote:

Ha! It really screws up pool season. Now it’ll get all hot, but the pool is about to close!

Clearly, you need to join our Y. The outdoor pool is open all year round!

[cvcalhoun]

@83(b) 93567 wrote:

Just….grrrrr….

http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/08/cyclists-lets-talk-about-shoaling/379232/

Honestly, I love it when people shoal me! I know I’m pretty much the slowest cyclist in the city, so they will have to pass me sometime. And shoaling me when I’m stopped at a light anyway is less hazardous than passing me in a narrow bike lane while we’re both moving.

At the same time, I doubt the author of this article would appreciate it if every time he stopped his car at a light, someone zoomed around him, forcing him to pass the same person every block.

[cvcalhoun]

@creadinger 92750 wrote:

His hand gesture just seemed arrogant to me. I mean I guess people do this type of move in pelotons (none I’ve ridden in), but I’ve never known anyone who just HAD to get over right now just so he could pass somebody. If someone puts out a stop sign to me like that I’d be more taken aback and surprised and probably would not immediately drop back either. It’s the car version of – “I need to get over because if I don’t I can’t pass people, you’re in my way, and I’m coming over anyway, so watch out. Dick move. He could have waited until the other guy passed.

Sorry, I don’t recognize him.

What he did was the internationally approved signal for “I’m moving [or turning] left.” It is the cyclist’s (or driver’s, if the turn signals are malfunctioning) equivalent of a left turn signal. Thus, I cannot agree that use of the signal on its own is “arrogant.” Of course, as with a left turn signal, it does not excuse the person from checking behind him before moving left, and does not permit the person to cut off someone behind him.

[cvcalhoun]

@ShawnoftheDread 93097 wrote:

It is just as legal. That is to say, they are both illegal.

That depends on your jurisdiction. In Virginia, a left turn on red from a one-way street to a one-way street is legal. Apparently, the same is true in Maryland, but not DC.

[cvcalhoun]

Since I’m lacking in imagination, I tried to explain to my granddaughter Becca that the two bikes were “Bubbe’s bike” (Bubbe=Yiddish for grandmother) and “Samma’s bike” (my wife thinks she’s too young to be a grandma, but her name is Sam, so the compromise was that she’s Samma). But Becca, having spent the day enjoying being pulled around in my trailer, announced firmly that mine was “Becca’s bike.” As my son so tactfully explained, when you ride around in a horse-drawn carriage, no one assumes that the carriage belongs to the horse.

[cvcalhoun]

@newbiehere 92437 wrote:

2. Holy hell, that hill on 20th St NE is horrible. I changed to a lower gear and still ended up walking up the hill in exhaustion with my bike. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that every morning.

Practice, practice, practice! Just start by allowing lots of extra time. Walk your bike and/or stop to rest when you need to. It’s amazing how much less steep the hills will get after you’ve been biking for a while.

[cvcalhoun]

Muscle aches are the most common side effect of statins. And it can be hard to determine whether statins are the culprit, because sometimes it’s a combination thing–statins can make you more vulnerable to muscle aches from exercise. But given that exercise itself tends to lower cholesterol (which is what the statins are designed to do), ceasing exercise so you can take statins is counterproductive. Mayo Clinic has some suggestions for dealing with the side effects of statins:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/statin-side-effects/art-20046013?pg=2

[cvcalhoun]

In what way is it extreme? I wouldn’t know when the thief would be coming back, and wouldn’t want to take the risk of confronting him alone. Plus, what are my alternatives? I can’t get much of anywhere if my means of transportation has been locked up. If I leave the bike to go find equipment to remove the lock attached by the thief, I’m pretty much on notice that the bike could easily be stolen while I’m gone. So this is a situation that requires immediate police attention–not police attention within the next month or so, which is what the nonemergency number produced the last time I used it.

For the record, 911.gov says that an acceptable reason to call 911 is “A crime, especially if in progress.” If a thief has locked up my bike to make it easier to steal later, that’s a crime in progress.

@peterw_diy 92371 wrote:

That seems extreme, even if you were certain it was a thief’s work. Sure, call the police, but not 911.

[cvcalhoun]

@jrenaut 92294 wrote:

Trailer vs longtail is my only experience. The trailer is way more stable – at a stop, you don’t have any extra lateral weight. And if you fall, it’s just you, not the kids.

@Steve O 92357 wrote:

So what?

The authorities don’t tend to look kindly on dropping kids on their heads. No matter how much they annoy you.

[cvcalhoun]

Just to clarify, the eBay ad says it is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Is that temporary (so someone could pick it up in Alexandria instead of Myrtle Beach), or permanent?

[cvcalhoun]

Nothing is 100% safe. I have routinely parked my bike outside (secured by a U-lock) for anything up to several hours in Tenleytown, Columbia Heights, and Georgetown for many years, all without incident. I have had bikes stolen twice, many years ago. Once was at the YMCA on Rhode Island Avenue, when I left the bike for several hours after the Y had closed, and thieves broke the lock. Once was at Medical Center Station, when I locked the bike to a fence and the thieves took apart the fence. I’ve had a bike vandalized once, at Bethesda Metro, when someone removed the brake cables. I have never had a wheel or seat post stolen, even though I rarely bother to lock those. Given that I’ve been regularly riding a bike in this area since 1991, I figure that’s not a bad record. But YMMV. And of course, the more obviously high end bikes may be more of a target.

As for a thief locking your bike in order to steal it later, I’ve never had that happen. And it would seem like a relatively inefficient way of stealing. First off, it assumes that a bike thief would be carrying a spare lock when he was not carrying tools to steal a bike, which seems unlikely. And second place, if I came and found my bike locked with someone else’s lock, the first thing I’d do would be to call 911. So the thief who tried that would risk having the police set up a sting. I suspect that most thefts are crimes of opportunity, and a thief would be more likely to look for a bike later when he had the tools than to try to lock one up in hopes of stealing it later.

[cvcalhoun]

The road at the side of my house was milled on July 31, and the one in front was milled a few days later. They don’t even have signs up yet saying when they will come back to finish the job. Sigh!

@peterw_diy 92219 wrote:

You should talk to your public works folks about that, and the politicians if needed. In Alexandria city, we normally don’t have more than one business day of milled roads unless unexpected bad weather delays the paving phase.

[cvcalhoun]

Bethesda, if you are going to put up signs telling us that all cars must be off the street for “resurfacing,” we expect that at the end of the process, the road will in fact be resurfaced. Instead, they are what I can only describe as desurfaced. The top layer of road has been removed, leaving the sort of corrugated surface that was originally below the top. And that corrugation (which leaves my bike jouncing around and making weird noises) has now been left in place for several days, with no signs that a new surface will be added to the road any time soon. Could you please look up the definition of “resurfaced”? Kthanksbye.

[cvcalhoun]

Another big fan of panniers here. I always have two large ones on the back of my bike. Probably half of one is filled with stuff I want to have with me–purse, U-lock, repair tools, emergency supplies for bad weather, etc. But having two with me at all times means that I can stop and pick up stuff at the grocery store, etc., if I happen to think of it while I’m out. It’s not worth it to me to bike faster if it means I need to go home and then make a separate trip when I have errands to do.

[cvcalhoun]

Hmm… It claims all WABA members got an e-mail about this event. I didn’t, even though I’m a member. And since I have no idea what my membership number is, and there appears to be no way to look it up online, I suspect I’m out of luck on registering.

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