[cyclingfool]

@chris_s 64625 wrote:

It’s been a few pages, so just to reiterate – this is the cheap-o temporary connection that Alexandria is requiring the townhouse developer to build in addition to tearing down the bridge. Arlington is in the process of designing a better, permanent, bike-friendly connection.

I was fully aware of the temporary nature of this connection when I made my comment. It is more than painfully obvious that this is cheap-o and temporary.

Like I said, I will reserve final judgement until I’ve actually ridden it, but at first glance it looks more like an obstacle course than a connection (even a cheap temporary one).

[cyclingfool]

@ShawnoftheDread 64632 wrote:

What levers did you use? Was it hard to get them to work with the standard v-brakes?

Tektro RL520s. Since they’re designed to pull more cable and work with v-brakes, it was as easy as pie! I had these on my Surly as well, which I’d also set up with v-brakes. The combination is great.

There’s also a practically identical (as far as I can tell) offering from Cane Creek that accomplishes the same thing for $20 more for a set of levers. Only difference is the branding and the texture of the brake hood.

Of course, it’s only a workable solution if you don’t want brifters and/or are ok with bar end, stem, or down tube shifters. If you do want STI, then the aforementioned travel agents are the solution.

[cyclingfool]

Me: Coming out of the Giant on Monroe Avenue in Del Ray around 10 PM last night.

You: The nice guy who gave me and my bike props. “Nice conversion,” you said (of my MTB turned drop bar touring/commuter bike)

Thank you again for the compliment. It made both me and my bike happy.

[cyclingfool]

@Greenbelt 64594 wrote:

More Interbike highlights

Greg Lemond! Well done!

[cyclingfool]

Others may have had a better view from trail level, but just wanted to add that as I passed over 4MR on Potomac Avenue this AM, I could see a dump truck unloading a pile of asphalt, so the promises of paving today seem to be accurate.

From the looks of it, that serpentine seems more like a test of bike handling skills than a reasonable accommodation for cyclists, but I’ll withhold judgement until I see it completed and/or try to ride it myself.

[cyclingfool]

@consularrider 64525 wrote:

Except the bushy tailed or long ear sorts.

Run away!!!

[cyclingfool]

@DismalScientist 64527 wrote:

We could always change the name bunny to cuterat.

It’s unclear bunnies have any positive attributes besides being cute (although they might be tasty).

Some say the same about squirrel.

[cyclingfool]

@DismalScientist 64514 wrote:

Sorry, but it has a black shirt and has either two wheels or sneakers.

Or that. But it’s not wielding a knife or a gun, nor does it have any premeditated intention to get you.

[cyclingfool]

Sorry to hear about your bike. I lost mine from the basement of my apartment building in the spring. It’s a painful loss, I know. I hope you’re able to track it down.

Tools to help in your bike search that I found along the way:

https://ifttt.com/recipes/229 (get an email alert when a craigslist ad matching your criteria is posted)

http://www.adhuntr.com/ (search all of CL across the country, eBay in one portal)

I have used both of these. While I haven’t had success finding my bike, they’re good tools, and I was alerted a couple times to possible matches, though the ads went down within a few minutes of me asking a couple very general questions about the bike being sold (like frame or wheel size, color).

In the end, different ifttt.com recipes helped me source good deals on a replacement bike frame and a nice used Burley trailer. So, it’s a good tool to know about generally and one I had not learned about until I had to start keeping tabs on things for my bike.

[cyclingfool]

@vvill 64460 wrote:

I’m yet to wear out a saddle.

Me too. My Brooks had almost 6,000 miles on it when my bike was stolen in the spring and it was as good as new (well, better than new actually, since it had been broken in nicely). That, depsite the fact that I’m a heavier rider and not at all easy on my saddle or my bike as a result. I expected that saddle to last me 10’s of thousands of miles and I think that’s a realistic expectation.

I’m actually a bit surprised to see people talking about having to replace saddles every 5,000, 6,000, 10,000 miles.

[cyclingfool]

@jabberwocky 64447 wrote:

…ridiculously low crime rate. Doesn’t mean bad stuff doesn’t happen, but its probably not that likely. I think people these days get too hung up on the fringe stuff happening (because it gets a lot of attention in the news). Probably good not to let that stuff paralyze you.

This. Statistically, I think it’s safe to say that the biggest threat to the safety of a cyclist on an MUP in Arlington, Alexandria, or Fairfax has four wheels, not a knife.

[cyclingfool]

@oldbikechick 64470 wrote:

3) Four Capitol police officers on bikes riding down the MVT. Made me wonder if something was going on.

I’ve seen this before. I assume it’s just a training ride. It’s a bit far from their normal beat for them to be responding to something.

[cyclingfool]

@consularrider 64421 wrote:

Just bumping this thread so that the discussion on the 4MRT issue can move.

I think one of the issues the police may have with this individual is that they kept moving him, but he would come back and continue to sleep in a position dangerous to himself and trail users.

Thanks for moving this over.

I have no doubt that the police have dealt with the guy on MANY occasions. I passed the guy almost daily both morning and evening for weeks on end at one point, it seemed. But last I checked the police still have a responsibility to treat people (especially those involved in non-violent crime) with some respect and show some restraint when it comes to being physically rough. I don’t claim to know all the details of the police’s history with this guy, but their reaction just seemed over the top to me. That’s why I feel guilty now for not stopping and serving as a neutral observer to keep violent police behavior in check potentially. And that’s not to say it got particularly violent; it just felt like it was going in that direction from the ten seconds of interaction I witnessed as I passed, ten seconds which also led me to believe that the homeless guy was not putting up any sort of resistance to the officer.

[cyclingfool]

You: The guy along the MVT this AM right here who seemed to be using a small garden trowel to collect a water bottle full of the soil/sand runoff that collects there.

What were you doing that for? Curious minds want to know!:confused:

At first I saw you on your knees at the side of the trail and your bike a few feet away and was going to slow to offer assistance with a bike repair, but that was not necessary.

[cyclingfool]

@Arlingtonrider 64329 wrote:

I’m very dismayed to see a post linking that homeless guy with an old thread heading about a stabbing on a different section of the trail.

If you see a homeless person who seems to pose a danger on the trails (with the homeless person you mention, we were most concerned about running over him), please contact ASPAN (the Arlington organization that knows and helps homeless people) and/or the police, and please do not post it under a thread about an old stabbing and scare people from riding the trails.

More biking on the trails is more eyes and more safety. I understand that everyone is freaked out by the Navy Yard incident but let’s not turn that into a reason not to ride and/or not to do the right things when we see someone who needs help.

P.s. I hope that we can continue this conversation, if we do continue it, under a different thread heading – not this alarming one.

May I suggest that people contact ASPAN instead of the police unless the guy is threatening your safety or that of others. I saw the ArlPD giving that homeless guy a really hard time last spring one evening on my way home from work. In hindsight, I feel guilty because I didn’t stop to witness to what was going on and make sure they didn’t take do anything too rough to him. While I don’t like the way he slept near/on the trail (out of concern for him being struck by a cyclist), the police handling of the situation seemed a bit aggressive for my liking, and there was another officer heading to the scene as I pedaled towards the Rte. 1 underpass.

Just sayin’.

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