[cyclingfool]

My morning commute: spent sitting in a metro car.

On the plus side, I should get my repaired frame back from the venerable Bruce this evening, so I plan to be back in the saddle again tomorrow AM.

The weather may be crummy, but I need to get out there and ride. I’m going into withdrawal!!!

[cyclingfool]

@CaseyKane50 70202 wrote:

Here is a picture of the ramp.

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To use the ramp, you will need to slightly tilt your bike to clear the metal handrail.

Anyone tried this with fully loaded panniers? Or a Burley trailer in tow? Or with a Bakfiets? Or, perhaps, on one of these?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4143[/ATTACH]

All with exposed cleats on cycling shoes on a rainy day…?

I feel like it’s too easy for the people that design and build this stuff to forget that not all bikes have only two wheels and that some bikes might have other things attached to them, be it luggage or trailers. Many of those very plausible scenarios seem be overlooked in the ramp design from my quick study of the ramp pics…

[cyclingfool]

@consularrider 70204 wrote:

Actually it’s effect is not worse than the mess that was the I-395/I-495/I-95/Wilson Bridge project was for drivers and that went on for years. They are removing a big obsolete piece of infrastructure and it would be dangerous to be riding under it during the removal process and will, if all goes as promised, provide better cycling accomodation. Unfortunately, given the state of the cycling infrastructure as currently built, I don’t see what better detour they could come up with in the short term. For me the real problem is the NPS and lack of convenient connectivity to the Mt Vernon Trail.

Oh, come on… there’s only 1.1 miles between Four Mile Run and the Crystal City Connector Trail or 2.1 miles from FMR to Old Town Alexandria. What do you think the MVT is, some sort of important piece of urban cycling infrastructure??? Oh, wait… :rolleyes:

[cyclingfool]

@CaseyKane50 70179 wrote:

Signs were posted eastbound on the Four Mile Run Trail just before the trail splits to go under the bridges and at the top of the new stairs and ramp. I didn’t notice any signs as you come off of the Mount Vernon trail.

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Bridge B with the construction equipment is in the background.

Out of curiosity, are there signs for those coming onto the trail from Route 1, as one would do if they came up Commonwealth Avenue from Del Ray and tried to get onto Four Mile Run on the Arlington side?

My bike is still out of commission, as I’m trying to make arrangements with the welder to fix up the frame, so this is probably a moot question for me until next week, and I usually go up Potomac Avenue anyway, but it seemed worth asking.

[cyclingfool]

@Tim Kelley 70131 wrote:

You’re from the Isle of Man? Why aren’t you faster???

The Manx Tank?

[cyclingfool]

@ShawnoftheDread 70009 wrote:

It would seem to be a pretty difficult way to enforce stickers, since they’re only required of vehicles registered in Arlington, and I’m pretty sure that intersection is traversed by lots of other Virginia residents.

Other NoVA jurisdictions also have decals, and my understanding is that they coordinate so that all are using the same color decals for any given year for easier enforcement efforts.

That said, lots of jurisdictions don’t require them, and even if one had an expired decal, it’s probably more likely to be spotted/verified/ticketed if your car is parked on-street with an invalid one. (Don’t ask me how I know. :rolleyes:)

[cyclingfool]

@TwoWheelsDC 69942 wrote:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Make the right turn onto Lynn a “right on green arrow only” and you basically solve the problem. Add some red light cameras for good measure and call it a day.

And square off/bump out the curb more to really force motorists to slow down for the turn and see what’s in the crosswalk…

[cyclingfool]

@PotomacCyclist 69910 wrote:

On the 1500 block of M Street NW, the lane will be installed as a “traditional” bike lane.

Damn church!

[cyclingfool]

I might be able to see the station in front of Al’s Steak House w/o even leaving my apartment! Who needs Spotcycle?!

Once it’s in, it’ll be time to finally consider an annual membership.

[cyclingfool]

sent as PM instead

[cyclingfool]

@consularrider 69854 wrote:

What do ya’ll do to your bikes? In 50 years of riding, I’ve never broken a bike frame. I came close when I t-boned a car that rolled through a stop sign back when I rode on sidewalks in my misspent youth. The front fork bent a little as did the top tube, but the bike worked fine. Luckily it was stolen a couple months later and I could get a slightly better bike.

In my case, I was just riding along. I was totally surprised it happened. And while I know that it happens, I’ve been surprised how many others have reported also having frames break. My frame shows nothing other than the slightest bit of superficial rust, and that is all on parts of the frame nowhere near the break. I do not hop curbs or anything of the sort. In my case, the pop that turned out to the breaking of the frame occurred ***gasp*** as I rode over the ~4″ drainage grate that crosses the Crystal City Connector Trail on the airport side of the bike/ped only tunnel, not exactly a jarring impact for a mountain bike frame riding on 2″ tires. Guess it was just a case of $#!T happening to an almost 20 year old frame, though I assume rough riding would increase the likelihood of failure.

[cyclingfool]

@ShawnoftheDread 69808 wrote:

In short, there is some portion of us who would be complaining about poor bike infrastructure even if we lived in Denmark.

No doubt. Many of us would be up in arms that the the 2.5 km green wave for cyclists on the arterial street Nørrebrogade is designed to facilitate travel at a 12 mph speed, when we (ELITE cyslists?) ride faster and thus have to stop at lights along the way or slow down.

[cyclingfool]

@Rootchopper 69817 wrote:

Have you tried your local hardware store? My hardware store has o-rings in many, many sizes. I buy them for use with my Sigma bicycle computer. I always carry a couple extra just in case.

This is what came to my mind as well. Well stocked local hardware stores are high on the list of a cyclist’s friends… all kinds of nifty items from o-rings to metric bolts can be had in small quantities for a very reasonable price. Don’t try Home Depot, you’re liable to have to buy 20 of whatever item you want because there are no self-service bulk bins like at a local hardware store.

[cyclingfool]

@hozn 69735 wrote:

Actually breaks like that are apparently very easy to repair on carbon frames…

I stand corrected then, much as it pains me to have a what is apparently a steel frame myth busted. 😮

[cyclingfool]

@DismalScientist 69716 wrote:

I had a similar issue. See this thread: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?5067-Frame-repair&highlight=dropout+weld

I see we’ve discussed this before!

Bruce is the guy I’ll be going to. Glad to hear he does good work. Someone spoke highly of him in a forum entry over on bikejournal.com. Sounds like I’m making the right decision re: welders here.

No rust in my case, just metal fatigue, I assume. The frame’s from 1995, but I’ve only had it since April. I’ll have to wait until I get it back to see how badly the paint is damaged/melted. The frame’s black, and part of me is considering a powder coat job on it in the next year or so if I decide to keep it instead of buying another Surly LHT frame, so I may just shoot some black spray primer at it to keep the metal coated with something in the meantime.

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