[cyclingfool]

Thanks for posting this. I’m a grad student in planning, and a tool like this would have come in handy last year in one of my courses where we worked on developing some recommendations for bike infrastructure. Fortunately, we had a guy in the class who worked for a traffic engineering firm and was able to make up similar cross section illustrations quite easily with some software at work, but I’ll keep this in mind for other activities…

[cyclingfool]

@americancyclo 60751 wrote:

Chrome Pista for $200. If I was 5’9″ like the seller, or shawnofthedread I’d pick this up real quick.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/bik/3997785477.html

He apparently doesn’t want the Bianchi Vigorelli to sell since the subject of the ad post is “4 Mountain bikes and 1 Fixed-gear” when it’s clearly 3 MTB, one road bike, one fixie for sale… :confused:

[cyclingfool]

I commute later in the AM than most, leaving my apartment at 8:30 (or sometimes a few minutes after that even), once I’ve spent some time with and done my share of caring for our one year old son. This morning I hit the road at 8:45. Dark clouds were all around, but apart from a brief sprinkle around Crystal City, it was a dry ride in. The sprinkle was just enough to help cool me down… like nature sweating for me. Psyched about the predicted cooler temps the rest of the week!

[cyclingfool]

@DismalScientist 60392 wrote:

The frame has been painted and here is a picture of the weld:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3430[/ATTACH]

Looks good! Where’d you get the paint job done? It’s powder coat, I assume?

[cyclingfool]

@TwoWheelsDC 60318 wrote:

I passed a tandem trike on the Custis this morning…basically, it was a trike with the front wheel removed and hitched to the back of another trike, but with a connected drivetrain. Very strange. The way it bumped down the trail and how the riders had to lean into the corners, made it look like an olympic bobsled going down the trail, only with mirrors and a bell.

I saw one of those several months ago near the 14th St Bridge. From afar, I thought it was two trikes REALLY close to each other because my mind didn’t even conceive of a tandem recumbent trike. Then I got closer and saw what it was. Strange indeed.

If you rode one, would you change your name to FiveWheelsDC? :p

[cyclingfool]

Drove to work for literally the first time in years as I’m driving to Richmond mid-afternoon and need to beat traffic.

Traffic wasn’t bad since I came in to work much earlier than usual, but I really missed the ride, especially since my v-brake conversion the other night has me extra infatuated with my bike right now (I forgot what REALLY good brakes feel like).

I saw a few cyclists along the way and was jealous that they were out on two wheels. Tomorrow… tomorrow…

[cyclingfool]

@jrenaut 60148 wrote:

Can I really machine wash these and not iron them?

You iron/get stuff ironed?! You have much higher standards than I do!

The only things I have that ever ever get pressed/ironed are the couple suits I have and wear a few times a year when I get them dry cleaned. Shirts and slacks or khakis just go from dryer to hanger to rolled up in pannier for the bike commute.

[cyclingfool]

@thucydides 60118 wrote:

(I guess some folks checked the weather.)

Nope. I just thought I’d replace my brakes and brake levers last night (doing a canti to v-brake conversion on my bike), and it took me WAY longer than I had anticipated, so I stopped around 3 AM, halfway done, and said, “Screw it. I’ll taking metro in the morning. I need at least a few hours sleep.”

So my bike sits at home in a state of half-completeness. I would have loved to ride in today’s rain. My fenders haven’t been properly initiated yet.

I’ll finish the project tonight, come hell or high water, the latter of the two being the more distinct possibility given the downpour I got caught in walking from metro to my office.

[cyclingfool]

@CPTJohnC 60048 wrote:

This morning, leaving the house, I almost felt cool. Another way to put that: It was incredibly pleasant riding in this morning. I was amazed how few other cyclists I encountered. The August vacation season must be in full swing.

I saw fewer coming up the the stretch of the MVT I rode along this AM than I normally do. Thought there would be more since this is about the best weather one can ask for in DC in early August.

Between what we saw and what consularrider saw, contradictory anecdotal evidence is abound!

[cyclingfool]

Pulled from comments in the linked article (I love this retort):

Anonymous
August 1, 2013 at 10:59 am
Ride your bike in the street, you follow the traffic laws. Otherwise get off your bikes and walk…
Reply

slim
August 1, 2013 at 11:25 am
If we held drivers to this standard there would be 10 cars in DC.
Reply

[cyclingfool]

@ShawnoftheDread 59696 wrote:

I have a 1 1/8 inched threaded stem, so there are far fewer parts available.

There is always this route. I did something similar with my 1″ threaded so I could use regular old 1-1/8 threadless stems.

http://www.ebikestop.com/profile_conversion__254mm_1_18_fork_to_286mm_1_18_threadless_stem-SM6402.php?PARTNER=GOOGPS&gclid=CN39iI6q2rgCFY5r7AodUVgAnQ

That said, this seems to be the only adapter for 1-1/8 threaded. There were several options for 1″.

Anyway, just a thought.

[cyclingfool]

@ShawnoftheDread 59688 wrote:

I’d like to do a drop bar switch like this to give my commuter a bit more range and comfort, but I’m not sure I could get a short enough stem to make the longer reach to the hoods work.

I’ve got a 90mm 107 degree stem and I’m quite comfy so far, between the angle and the relatively short length, though I’ve got longer torso and shorter legs than your average human. I have seen stems as short as 60mm online, and there may be even shorter ones I’m not aware of. I’ve ridden flat bars, riser bars, butterfly trekking bars, and drop bars, and I find drop bars by far to be the most comfortable option, so I was glad to get this conversion done.

[cyclingfool]

This is my new (to me) steed. 21″ 1995 Trek 830 MTB frame built up pretty much from scratch. This (at least for the time being) replaces my Surly LHT, stolen in in March. I’ve been riding the Trek for a couple months now. The drop bar conversion was very recent. Before that I had trekking bars on it. Fenders just added, too.

Once I swap out the canti brakes for v-brakes(in the next week or so — parts already ordered), budget dictates that I’ll be done tinkering with it for a while, though it still needs a Brooks saddle, front rack and eventually a new front wheel with a dynohub and dynamo lighting. Long-term goals. All components (besides seatpost and headset) would swap over directly to an LHT frame for 26″ wheels, if and when I spring for a new Surly frame. That said, this old Trek frame is growing on me, and with the same Cro-Moly steel as my old Surly, the ride is nice. Plus I have the pride of knowing I’ve done all this work myself. Between wheel builds, bike build, and tinkering, I probably have around 50 hours of love put into this thing.

Sorry for the poor picture quality. My phone’s camera leaves much to be desired, and the attached picture was taken in the basement/bike storage area at work (read poor lighting).

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3392[/ATTACH]

Other pics and build progress photo-documentation here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10757602@N08/sets/72157633495812347/

[cyclingfool]

@creadinger 59349 wrote:

I’d be interested to know if you get a response or even resolution about this. The wife and I rode that way a lot the past 2 years on grocery trips.

In the mean time I’d just suggest taking the lane as you ride north on Crystal Drive. We routinely took the lane in that area, especially on Clark St. because of the number of charter buses, tour buses, hotel shuttles and taxis blocking bike lanes, car lanes, walking lanes, and any other type of lane you could think of. That area is a mess sometimes and the EPA shuttle is a small part of the challenge. I hope your e-mail will spur some action.

THanks for the reply. I have no qualms taking the lane and I do so there when the shuttle is parked like that. It just seems particularly ridiculous to have an EPA shuttle bus clogging up the works and blocking a bike lane. And, as you point out, hotel shuttles and taxis regularly block/park in CC’s bike lanes… alas.

I’ll post back here if/when I get a reply from someone/anyone at EPA. I suppose I could also alert Arlington parking enforcement if I never hear anything else back.

[cyclingfool]

…pleased with the drop bar conversion I did last night on my rigid MTB commuter/tourer.

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