[cyclingfool]

@vvill 100500 wrote:

There’s also spinlister.com although I haven’t used it, and I’ve gotten the impression that it doesn’t have the critical mass of users required for it to be successful.

Good recommendation as well. I had forgotten about it. It may not have the critical mass yet, but it does work if you can find a bike. I know someone who rented out their mountain bike through on spinlister in the past, or at least had it listed.

[cyclingfool]

@rcannon100 100491 wrote:

Good used Bikes:
* Phoenix Bikes – a youth organization in South Arlington
* Ye Old Bike Shop on Pershing in mid Arlington

Add to list: Velocity Bike Co-op in Del Ray (Alexandria)

[cyclingfool]

@scoot 100481 wrote:

Agree with cyclingfool, but there is one big caveat. Make sure there is CaBi coverage in the areas you want to visit.

Important caveat.

[cyclingfool]

@vern 100474 wrote:

Thanks, and likewise. It was fun. I was telling Dickie afterwards while riding down the MVT that I really didn’t feel like going to work afterwards. I just wanted to ride some more and call it a day. Alas…

I know I’m not the biggest fan of my current job, but I thought most everyone felt this way at the end of the morning commute, except perhaps on the crappiest of weather days.

[cyclingfool]

Two rides a day? Not sure why you thought that, but Capital Bikeshare has no such limit on usage. You can have bikes out all day if you want, and as long as you dock each bike w/in 30 minutes, you won’t have to pay any overage fees — just the membership fee for the membership type you choose (daily, weekly, monthly, annual — whatever the offerings are).

If you need to ride for more than 30 minutes at a time, you can daisy chain trips together. Ride bike 1 from station A to station B. Dock bike 1. Undock bike 2 and ride to station C.

Unless your GF has a lot of secure storage space and you feel the need to keep a cheap bike at her place, it seems to me like your best option is CaBi.

[cyclingfool]

No helmet?! That rider’s gonna die! :rolleyes:

[cyclingfool]

@Greenbelt 100425 wrote:

Suggest pointless award for in-commute FFWB (fully frozen water bottle). Or maybe just a good slushy, since the physics majors will probably say that most of us aren’t outside long enough to freeze a WB solid, even on longer commutes, with all the shaking motion. To verify, must have post-commute video. -Jeff

And no sandbagging it by putting the water bottle in the freezer overnight pre-commute.

[cyclingfool]

@lordofthemark 100352 wrote:

This was my second after dark commute. Better this time. I am getting more used to riding at night – plus it seemed like the joggers on the MVT were better lit this time.

Biggest problem though – when I am riding south bound on the MVT, at one of the spots wher the SB bike lane is very close to or pointed toward the NB auto lane on the GW parkway – and the auto headlights semi-blind me, at least when I look back to the (relativel, with my 350 L&M light) dark trail. Not sure the answer to that, other than running a brighter light. I noted this is why I feel so much more comfortable when I turn from the MVT to the 4MRT – no more auto headlights (except for that one stretch near Glebe)

I’ve been riding this stretch daily for 5.5 years on my bike commute with all varying degrees and qualities of lights, from tiny headlamp to strong battery-powered LED headlights and good dynohub lights, too. I have a helmet with a visor. I try not to look at the car headlights as much as possible, but even then sometimes there’s no avoiding them, especially when the trail dips down such that the cars are basically right at eye level. Sadly, I’ve found it’s just a big ball of suck, and there’s not much you can do about it besides take it easy and make sure you can see enough ahead of you to slow and react to trail traffic as needed. I find that the light from car headlights on that stretch is generally as bad as, if not worse, than the most obnoxiously aimed bike headlights I encounter on the trail.

Come to think of it, this presents a stronger argument for me going back to the Crystal City – Potomac Avenue -Del Ray commute route more often than I have been lately to avoid the nuisance car lights.

This song often seems to come to mind as I’m riding along there. I also find sweet relief when I duck off onto 4MR.

[cyclingfool]

@Mikey 100323 wrote:

Flat tire on kids cargo bike – first world problem

Or a real third world problem. #childlabor #hardknocklife

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7044[/ATTACH]

[cyclingfool]

@rcannon100 100295 wrote:

The concern is not that your self reported mileage will be higher than Strava. That is not sandbagging. The concern is that your self reported mileage will be less than what you are showing in Strava. THAT is sandbagging (makes you appear weaker than you are, for the purpose of giving your team an unfair advantage).

While no benchmark is going to be perfect, we need a benchmark.

While overreporting miles may not be a nefarious plot to try to boost one’s team’s peformance in the standings, the point of handicapping is to produce teams that are all at least “in the same ballpark” statistically speaking. So, if Rider X’s fall mileage suggests he’ll be doing 80 miles a week, but he ends up only doing 40 due to unforeseen or unpredictable circumstances beyond X’s control (change in commute, e.g.), X’s team is in effect being given an unfair disadvantage, so it is not without consequence if the goal is to balance the teams.

In the end, the contest is about having fun and riding bikes during the colder weather months. If the contest is not perfect, it’s not the end of the world. I’m in no matter what. I even threw my hat in for randomized teams, so I don’t care all that much. Even a poorly performing handicapped system has the potential to level the field more than a randomized one. But “reverse unintentional sandbagging” is not a victimless occurrence.

[cyclingfool]

@dasgeh 100286 wrote:

Some of us have stopped futzing with Strava while there has been no reason to futz with Strava (i.e. no NBC or BAFS)

Also, some of us have predictable changes in our mileage between now and next year (change in work location). Wanna be on my team?

I’ll join. Between you and me, we have the beginnings of Team Unpredictable Miles.

[cyclingfool]

@chris_s 100146 wrote:

Might be worth taking a look at the Breezer Beltway Elite.

@AFHokie 100188 wrote:

Who do I tell to shut up and take my money?

Nice looking bike, BUT… what ham-fisted numbskull installed those fenders? The curve is so far off from the curve of the tire and the wheel. You’d think for an official sales photo shoot, they’d make sure that that aesthetic detail was taken care of. Maybe I’m just OCD about the curve on fenders, but that just screams out to me.

[cyclingfool]

@jrenaut 100143 wrote:

No need to read up. Just join and be assimilated.

Resistance is futile.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7035[/ATTACH]

[cyclingfool]

@Steve O 100111 wrote:

PM me if you have any ideas about how to get them to you. Might be able to transfer through someone at FCCII or the like.
Or if you are planning on doing the Hains Point 100. Or the Plaid ride. Or something.

Let me finish my master’s capstone by Friday and then maybe I’ll have a clear enough head and schedule to think that far ahead.

[cyclingfool]

@Steve O 100093 wrote:

No, not a good idea. This just causes a slippery (haha!) slope. What about days with more than x” of snow? Those might be considered tougher than just the cold. Or days that are 33 and raining…or sleeting; IMO, those are the worst days of all.

Better than messing with the simple point system, if you are inclined to honor the truly courageous, offer a special prize. Last year 30+ idiots earned “bicycle icicles” for riding on the day of the polar vortex. (BTW – I still have 5-6 of these to give to those who earned them but whom I haven’t seen or do not know.)

I think I may be on of those 5-6. I never make it to any of the happy hours and despite my dogged determination to ride through thick and thin last winter, I missed the awards happy hour, too. Didn’t realize I had an outstanding prize to claim!

[Author]

Posts